Citing a nationwide labor shortage, several provincial immigration ministers say they want more control over the immigration process and have sent a letter to their federal counterparts calling for change.
Ministers from Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are asking Sean Fraser, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, to allow their provinces to select more immigrants “with the skills they need most” in a letter sent Tuesday to the evening.
“We need the ability to respond to the rapidly evolving needs of specific areas and communities, with a flexible system that can adapt to changing economic and humanitarian needs,” the letter states.
Ahead of a meeting with Fraser and fellow immigration ministers in Saint John, NB, they say Canada needs to do more to attract and retain workers, especially in skilled trades. They say provinces should be able to hire workers and offer them good local jobs.
The letter says provinces know their local economies best and can choose newcomers to Canada who have “the best chance of success.”
“We are facing a global race for talent as people around the world look for a better place to build a life for themselves and their families.”
Of the 198,085 people who immigrated to Ontario last year, the province was allowed to select 9,000, about 4.5 per cent, through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, which “recognizes and nominates people for to permanent residency who have the skills and experience needed by Ontario’s economy.”, according to the ministry.
Monte McNaughton, Ontario’s minister of labour, immigration, training and skills development, told CBC Toronto that the province wanted the federal government to double its allocation to select 18,000 skilled immigrants from the 211,000 coming to Ontario this year.
He was given a 700 raise.
According to data provided by Ontario’s labor ministry, most of the four provinces with the highest immigration numbers in 2021 had similarly low percentages of immigrants who were allowed to select. Alberta received 15% of its 39,950 immigrants, and British Columbia 9.3% of its 69,270 newcomers.
The only exception was Quebec, which selected 55.8% of its 50,170 immigrants.
McNaughton said other provincial ministers “are in the same boat” regarding the labor shortage, but the most serious challenge is in Ontario, where 378,000 jobs are unfilled. He said the province is focusing on two sectors: health and skilled trades.
“So it makes more sense for the provinces, particularly Ontario, to have a say in the skilled immigrants we need to fill those jobs,” he said.
Several routes to permanent residence
In June, Fraser announced the federal government was working to create a faster path for temporary workers to become permanent residents.
For eight months during the COVID-19 restrictions last year, the federal government gave 90,000 essential workers, frontline health workers and international students a fast-track path to permanent residency.
The federal government offers several pathways to permanent residency that are typically designed to attract and retain skilled labor. One example is the Atlantic Immigration Program for skilled workers and international graduates of Canadian schools who want to live in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI or Newfoundland and Labrador.
The program was piloted in 2017 and made permanent this year.
Nova Scotia was able to welcome more than 1,500 more immigrants this year through the Atlantic Immigration Program and its provincial nomination program. However, it still faces a labor shortage in skilled trades.
Ahead of a meeting with federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, several of his provincial counterparts say Canada needs to do more to attract and retain skilled workers. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
McNaughton said Ontario is processing applications under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program within 90 days, compared to the federal government which takes up to 42 months in some cases. He also said the province was the first to recognize international credentials for certain professions.
“So whether you’re an engineer, whether you’re an architect or whether you’re a skilled trades person, we’ve now removed the Canadian work experience and really simplified the language test requirements,” he said.
“So we want to make sure that the new Canadians who are here in Ontario are already working in fields that they’ve studied.”
McNaughton said Ontario wants to make sure it fills the skills gap in the province, while also supporting immigrants who arrive through other streams, such as family reunification or as refugees.
“Immigration is not a silver bullet, but it is a key part of the solution to the labor shortage.”
McNaughton said the labor shortage is contributing to the high cost of living for Canadians. He pointed to a “looming crisis”, with one in three people in the trades over 55.
“I think this is the biggest economic challenge we have as a province and as a country.”