Ontario Immigration Calls On Federal Government To Double Provincial Allocation To 13,300

Ontario immigration wants its federal government immigration allocation to double within two years.

Canada’s most populous province wants the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program’s allocation to hit 13,300 by 2021, up from 7,000 this year, in response to a skilled labour shortage.

The request has been made by letter, from provincial Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli to Canada’s new federal Immigration Minister, Marco Mendicino.

It comes after the province received an allocation increase of only 50 in 2019, despite a request for an increase of 1,000.

The Provincial Nominee Program works by provinces nominating candidates for permanent residence to the federal government.

Ottawa sets allocation limits for each province on an annual basis.

The most recent immigration levels plan, published in October 2018, forecast an increase of more than 10,000 places for PNP immigrants by 2021.

The target for 2019 is 61,000 immigrants, rising to 71,300 by 2021. It is not known how the increase will be divided among the provinces.

Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program Immigration Levels Targets

2019 – Target	2020 – Target	2021 – Target
61,000	67,800	71,300

Ottawa recently introduced the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot to help bring immigrants to smaller communities struggling with ageing populations and shrinking labour markets.

Of the 11 communities signed up to the RNIP, five are from Ontario. Two of the five – Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay – are currently open to applications from candidates and employers.

RNIP: Participating Communities

Community	Community website
North Bay, ON	Coming soon
Sudbury, ON	Coming soon
Timmins, ON	Coming soon
Sault Ste. Marie, ON	www.welcometossm.com
Thunder Bay, ON	www.gothunderbay.com
Brandon, MB	Coming soon
Altona/Rhineland, MB	www.seedrgpa.com
Moose Jaw, SK	Coming soon
Claresholm, AB	Coming soon
Vernon, BC	Coming soon
West Kootenay (Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Nelson), BC	Coming soon

Ottawa also plans to launch a Municipal Nominee Program in the coming months after a pledge made in the run-up to the recent federal election.

With an allocation of at least 5,000 immigrant per year, the MNP would allow communities to handpick newcomers who meet specific labour market need.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program features nine immigration streams across three categories: Human Capital, Employer Job Offer and Business.

It offers nominations to candidates both with and without profiles in the federal Express Entry pool.

Colin Singer

Colin Singer is an international acclaimed Canadian immigration lawyer and founder of immigration.ca featured on Wikipedia. Colin Singer is also founding director of the Canadian Citizenship & Immigration Resource Center (CCIRC) Inc. He served as an Associate Editor of ‘Immigration Law Reporter’, the pre-eminent immigration law publication in Canada. He previously served as an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Quebec and National Immigration Law Sections and is currently a member of the Canadian Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Colin has twice appeared as an expert witness before Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. He is frequently recognized as a recommended authority at national conferences sponsored by government and non-government organizations on matters affecting Canada’s immigration and human resource industries. Since 2009, Colin has been a Governor of the Quebec Bar Foundation a non-profit organization committed to the advancement of the profession, and became a lifetime member in 2018.