Ontario Will Accept 100 Entrepreneurial Immigrants
The Canadian Government’s Economic and Fiscal Update was announced earlier this week, and immigrants are a big part of it.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland reviewed the policy measures Canada is pursuing to recover from the pandemic and noted that immigration is a cornerstone to the country’s economic growth. “Our government is committed to bringing in 411,000 immigrants in 2022, the highest number in Canadian history. To help support this effort and reduce processing time for permanent, temporary resident, and citizenship applications, we are investing $85 million in our immigration system.”
Earlier this year, Budget 2021 announced significant changes in immigration – such as refining the Temporary to Permanent Residence program, replacing of the outdated Global Case Management System, reforming Express Entry, spending more money on Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and improving employment outcomes of racialized newcomer women.
There are many benefits to revamping the current systems. For example, with a reformed Express Entry program, the immigration minister would have more authority to select candidates based on the labour market’s needs. Likewise, more money going into the Temporary Foreign Worker Program would increase employer compliance inspections and prevent worker abuse.
On the provincial level, the Ontario government plans to accept 100 entrepreneurial immigrants in the next two years, with the condition that they spend $200,000 on local companies before applying for immigration. Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said the entrepreneurs will be selected through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). The initiative is estimated to cost the government around $6 million.
