Immigration strategy to mimic Quebec
Ontario minister likes neighbour’s plan to target newcomers to fill labour gaps, foster growth
The province will seriously pursue an immigration strategy similar to Quebec’s, which allows it to pick and choose its own immigrants, says Ontario’s immigration minister.
“If I had greater devolution power, I could better respond to the needs specific to the province,” Charles Sousa told the Star after he received a government panel’s recommen- dations on how to fix Ontario’s immigration woes.
“There are definitely gaps,” he added. “Different sectors, different municipalities are crying for skilled labour. Every province wants greater devolution power.” On Wednesday, the 13-member government-appointed panel presented a detailed report outlining the challenges faced by Ontario’s economy and its newcomers, whose earnings have been in de- cline while their unemployment rate is on the rise. The panel spent seven months looking for solutions to address declining immigration to the province, skill shortages and the falling economic performance of newcomers in Ontario. The report made 32 recommendations to assist the province in determining how immigration can best support Ontario’s economic and labour market growth. The panel — comprising economists, people working in immigrant settlement, and corporate and industry leaders — said Ontario needs to attract at least 135,000 newcomers a year, raise the ratio of skilled workers and take charge of immigrant selection to keep its economic engine running beyond 2014. “The federal government may require the province to create a legislative and regulatory framework to govern its role in selection process- es,” the report said. “Other provinces are considering joining Quebec in enacting immigration legislation.”
Quebec, for the most part, runs its own immigration programs, setting its own annual quota and screening its own immigrants before the final stamps from the federal immigration department, whose role is to oversee security and medical clearances.
Meanwhile, Ottawa has limited Ontario’s ability to select its own immigrants by capping the annual quota for provincial “nominees” at 1,000.