Low Nomination Numbers Make The Post Pandemic Recovery Harder
Since Ontario welcomes the majority of the country’s immigrants, its Minister of Immigration wants more control over the province’s immigration rules. Ontario has always seen the highest number of new residents – just last year, it accepted around 45% of Canada’s new permanent residents.
This year, about 211,000 immigrants are expected to move to Ontario, but only 9,750 of them will be nominated through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
Approximately 378,000 job openings will simultaneously go unfilled.
This is why Ontario’s Immigration Minister, Monte McNaughton, wants more control over the economic class selection, CIC News reports.
The province argues how the low nomination numbers make it harder to maintain the pace of the post-pandemic recovery. Currently, there are more than 330,000 job vacancies in Ontario, and the unemployment rate is at 5.3%.
So, it does not come as a surprise that the Minister wants more PR cards issued to immigrants through the Provincial Nominee Program and to double the amount of OINP nominations. Since the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement expires this fall, the Minister might just get what he wants.
What is Canada – Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA)?
Just like they do with many other important aspects of running a nation, the federal and provincial governments work together on immigration issues. The COIA, which assigns duties to both governments, is an example of a collaboration between the federal and provincial administrations.
Even though the federal government decides who immigrates to Canada, the provincial government can set the selection criteria for the new permanent residents. Usually, those criteria align with the economic and cultural needs of the province in question. This also includes the labour force needs in the province. If the Minister manages to get the new agreement in motion, it will help set new eligibility criteria for the PNP program and achieve the goal of accepting those whom the labour market needs.
The Provincial Nominee Program
The program was introduced in 1998 to help smaller provinces meet their economic needs. Back then, the majority of immigrants would move to Ontario, Quebec, or British Colombia, making matters harder for the Atlantic and Prairie provinces. With the PNP and the ability to set eligibility criteria, the provinces have a chance to choose their immigrants and improve their economic situation. Currently, the PNP is one of two major ways of economic immigration to Canada, along with Express Entry.
However, now the PNP presents another issue: forgetting province size.
As mentioned above, Ontario can nominate only 9,750 people, which makes it more difficult to target the people needed and to fulfill the demands of the provincial labour market. Simple math tells us that 9,750 people is not a lot when compared to the total amount of landed immigrants in the province, which results with accepting immigrants in a high saturated market.
The new Express Entry system should assist this issue too. The IRCC is supposed to start holding draws based on market labour goals early next year. The new bill, called Bill C-19, is supposed to help Canada choose its new residents according to its economic and labour market needs.
Considering that Express Entry is the go-to way for applying for a PR card, one can assume it will also play a role in the PNP as well.
Job Vacancies And Application Backlog Still Going Strong
Meanwhile, the backlog of applications is still very much present in the IRCC. There are currently over 2.4 million people waiting for their applications to be processed. Job vacancies are also set to increase, especially in the health care sector, making application processing and accepting targeted immigrants even more crucial.
