Manitoba must step up on immigration

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/03/2016 (3658 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last week’s announcement by Immigration Minister John McCallum that the federal government will be reducing the number of job-ready economic immigrants to Canada will require Manitoba to change its immigration program to take over for the federal government’s lack of vision on this issue. The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce’s Manitoba Bold document provides a number of ideas to ensure Manitoba will be able to continue to invest in the immigrants we need.

Why the federal government has chosen to reduce the number of job-ready economic immigrants to Canada is perplexing. Instead of increasing the number of job-ready economic immigrants — immigrants who are chosen to come to Canada for their ability to become economically established in Canada — the federal government has chosen to increase the number of non-economic immigrants to Canada (refugees and family-class immigrants).

While there are benefits to increasing the number of family class immigrants and refugees to Canada, what the federal government has failed to recognize is increasing the number of family immigrants and refugees does not mean it has to decrease the number of job-ready economic immigrants.

The federal government’s refusal to bring in the immigrants Manitoba’s economy needs requires the province to change its immigration provincial nominee program to better respond to the needs of Manitoba businesses. Two things must be done.

First, as suggested in the Bold plan, Manitoba must bring back the “employer-direct” program that existed about a decade ago. That program allowed Manitoba businesses to make job offers to qualified foreigners looking to become permanent residents to Canada. The advantage was businesses only had to deal with the provincial government when it came to choosing job-ready economic immigrants. Under the current system, these businesses must deal with both the provincial and federal governments’ immigration bureaucracies.

Manitoba did away with employer direct partly because the process of bringing in foreign workers who could transition to Canadian permanent residency was much easier. That’s because in the mid-2000s, the federal government’s bureaucracy was faster and more transparent. As well, decisions on requests filed by Manitoba businesses were made by officers located right here in Manitoba.

Today, these decisions can take months to get through the federal bureaucracy. Businesses looking to bring qualified immigrants to Canada are victims of changing criteria that are not often disclosed, and the decisions made regarding who is best for the local economy are made by officers outside the province.

Bringing back the employer direct program means immigration decisions will be faster and more predictable. More importantly, decisions on whether a job-ready economic immigrant is necessary at a business will be made by Manitobans.

Secondly, Manitoba Bold calls for Manitoba to expand the pool of potential foreign-worker recruiters to include professional human-resources recruiters.

When Manitoba first introduced laws to regulate foreign recruiters in 2008, it restricted who could be a recruiter to individuals in two professions — lawyers and immigration consultants. The problem with this approach is lawyers and immigration consultants are not trained or educated as recruiters. Despite this concern, one of the beliefs at the time was Manitoba’s legislation regarding foreign workers was so good it would be the model all provinces would follow.

Today, eight years later, we see, while many provinces have followed Manitoba in a number of areas, only one (Nova Scotia) has followed this province’s lead on that issue. As a result, recruiting firms are bypassing Manitoba and, instead, are working to recruit qualified foreigners for businesses in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and elsewhere.

In addition, for HR recruiters who do operate in Manitoba, it is necessary for them to partner with a lawyer or immigration consultant in Manitoba to do business. This increases the recruitment cost to Manitoba business while businesses outside Manitoba do not have to bear this additional cost.

There is a saying that one should “go big or go home.” By announcing it will be decreasing the number of job-ready economic immigrants to Canada, the federal government has clearly indicated it is going to “go home.” It’s now time for Manitoba to step up and “go big.”

Reis Pagtakhan is an immigration lawyer with Aikins Law in Winnipeg.