What needs to change to attract, hire and retain more immigrants in Atlantic Canada?
OTTAWA — Businessman Joe McGuinness knows all about coming to a new country. Both he and his wife are immigrants. He’s from Ireland. She’s from India.
“I know what it's like to go through the minefield,” he says.
“Now, here I am as an employer and it's fantastic to see how immigration ... is good for Canada, it provides us great diversity and a great labour force.” McGuinness is co-owner of Legendary Hospitality.
It operates well-known Halifax haunts like Durty Nelly’s and The Stubborn Goat, as well as the newer Antojo Tacos and Tequila.
McGuinness says it’s been a struggle to find qualified workers for the restaurants, so he’s been relying on newcomers.
“Canadians, for whatever reason, do not seem to want to work in the kitchen anymore. Even here in Nova Scotia, there's a community college and people get trained but they don't stay,” he says.
“There is a huge demand right across Canada for cooks for chefs and being able to bring them in under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot has been very beneficial for us.”
Announced in 2017, that three-year program aimed to bring up to 2,000 additional primary immigrant applicants and their families to the region.
Subsequently, it’s been extended and expanded, doubling in allocation and planned to run until 2021.
Under the pilot, employers apply for designation and work directly with newcomers who are already living in Canada or wish to immigrate during and after becoming permanent residents.
The pilot’s recent extension is a signal as to why attracting newcomers to Atlantic Canada is such an important piece of policy.
Growing populations mean growing opportunities and economies. According to Statistics Canada figures, population growth in the Atlantic provinces has remained close to zero in recent years.
With more young people leaving the region, especially for larger centres, governments have looked to immigration to boost the population, fill jobs, and reinvigorate the economy.
“We've got a ... significant amount of job vacancies, 6,000 in New Brunswick alone, and we simply don't have the number of people in the province I'm from or in the region to meet the needs that employers have,” says Matt DeCourcey, Liberal MP from Fredericton and parliamentary secretary to the minister of Immigration.
“We need new people to come in and fill those jobs. Without immigration, we simply don't have the ability to sustain nor grow our economy in the years to come.”
Janet Dench is executive director of The Canadian Council of Refugees.
Historically, she says, Canada has had great success with immigration, especially when it comes to people settling permanently.
It has been a role model for many countries, she says.
Unfortunately, however, Dench says that trend has shifted over the last decade as Canada has brought more people in on a temporary basis.
This is especially prevalent in Atlantic Canada, she says.
“There has been a big explosion in the numbers of temporary foreign workers. We've had (those workers) for a long time in terms of the caregiver program or seasonal workers, but it's been expanded much beyond that. So there's been a whole population of people who are here on a temporary basis who don't have full rights ... don't have access to certain services and also have the opportunity to be with their families.”
Dench says it doesn't serve the long-term interests of communities when people come for a short term and then are forced to leave.
“We’ve been pushing for the government to, to revert to having people come as permanent residents, and part of that means recognizing that we have economic needs that are at all skill levels or qualification levels. (That means) not taking permanent residents based only on having degrees and professional qualifications, but also people who can meet the needs that employers are identifying in the region.”
Immigration is a shared responsibility between the federal government, the provinces and territories.
The province handles the stream focusing on so-called economic immigrants — those who are immigrating for job opportunities.
Lena Diab, Nova Scotia’s immigration minister, says Nova Scotia has had recent success by crafting streams that match labour needs, for example physicians and early childhood educators, as well as programs targeting international students wishing to stay.
“We've got to keep working closely with our federal partner to ensure that we have pathways that support our own provincial needs, and we've got to keep developing those because life is not static. Things keep changing and we've got to keep changing when they do.”
Diab also cites the immigrant pilot as a way Nova Scotia has been increasing the number of newcomers to the province.
According to DeCourcey, a number of policy points have been key to the pilot’s success.
They include involving employers in the process, allowing spouses and dependents to come to Canada with the applicant, allowing for work permits to be issued upon arrival, and providing an opportunity to quickly apply for permanent residence status.
“Those are significant policy changes that we're seeing bear fruit in the way that people are staying in the region once they get here,” he said.
McGuinness points out that being able to work with the province’s immigration office to help guide potential employees to the right immigration stream has saved him a lot of headaches.
“I don't want to waste my time with an applicant who sends me a resumé from Mexico and says 'I’d love to work,' and then find out that, no, they don't qualify,” he said.
“The Office of Immigration can look at it and say, ‘This person is better off applying through this route or this route.’ So, from that point of view, it's been beneficial.”
This article originally appeared as part of a SaltWire Deep Dive into “Employment after immigration.” To read our Deep Dives, visit this publication’s website and click on the” In-Depth” tab.
This article originally appeared March 21, 2019, as part of a SaltWire Deep Dive into “Employment after immigration.” To read our Deep Dives, visit this publication’s website and click on the” In-Depth” tab.