Ottawa boosts previously cut immigration number in Manitoba but ‘it’s still not enough,’ NDP minister says

Manitoba needs many more economic immigrants if it’s going to achieve Premier Wab Kinew’s goal of becoming a “have” province by 2040, the provincial labour and immigration minister says.

After chopping in half Manitoba’s 2025 allocation of nominees — which the province relies upon to recruit and retain skilled immigrants — the federal government announced last week Manitoba is getting a 30 per cent boost.

The increase of 1,489 nominations brings the total for 2025 to 6,239. That’s after the number had dropped to just 4,750 this year. It was 9,500 in 2024.

The increase “bolsters” the nominee program’s capacity to address provincial labour market needs “and deliver on Manitoba’s strategic priorities,” the provincial government said in a statement last week.

“It’s still not enough for what we need in order to grow and to continue to thrive here,” Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino said Wednesday from Toronto, where she was attending a meeting with her federal, provincial and territorial counterparts.

“We’re not letting up until we get what we need for Manitoba. Immigration is a big economic driver for our province, and with the goals and plans and the strategy that we have as an NDP government, this is a vital piece of it.”

Canada began to reduce its immigration rates last October, when it announced the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan. It lowered the target for permanent residents in 2025 from 500,000 to 395,000 in an effort to reduce pressure on housing and infrastructure.

Marcelino said she’s been lobbying the federal government for a larger allocation since the province’s number was cut in half. Manitoba was not alone. Saskatchewan’s allocation was cut from 8,000 to 4,000, and Alberta saw its number reduced from 9,942 to 4,875 during the same period.

Marcelino said Manitobans have presented a united front, with business and municipal leaders writing letters that earlier this year she presented to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Lena Diab to pass on to Prime Minister Mark Carney.

She said impacted communities and sectors desperate for skilled workers have banded together to get their message across to Liberal MPs in Manitoba.

“The focus is still very unified when it comes to this push for more economic immigration specifically,” she said.

Unlike some other provinces, nominees are the “lifeblood” of Manitoba’s economy, which relies on skilled-worker immigrants to maintain its population and standard of living, she said.

However, the province has to push annually for an increased allocation from Ottawa, which controls immigration, she said.

“I think they do understand that they can’t treat all the provinces in the same way and that we all have different needs and we have certainly different economies and different kinds of issues that we’re facing,” Marcelino said.

“For example, the housing crunch, the higher youth unemployment rates and things like that that other provinces are experiencing, we don’t experience to that same level. We have one of the lowest unemployment rates and youth unemployment rates.”

And Manitoba is relatively affordable compared to some of the other provinces, she said.

She wants the federal government to transfer some of its own economic immigrant allocation to Manitoba so it can increase its number of provincial nominees.

“Provinces know best what our specific labour needs are, not the federal government,” Marcelino said.

“The kind of respect and consideration I’m asking from the federal government is what I have been doing for our rural strategic initiatives and those rural municipalities.”

She said they tell the province how many nominees they need and can manage, then it’s set out in an agreement.

“That way, it’s not me telling them, ‘Hey, here’s a whole bunch of immigrants that you should have in your location.’ That’s not going to work. They’re the ones that know what their housing situation is, what kind of labour shortages that they’re facing specifically,” she said.

The “mini” provincial nominee program succeeds in rural areas “because these folks punch above their weight,” Marcelino said. “With just a little bit of help like that, they can go far.”

The premier’s goal of becoming a “have” province by 2040 that no longer needs federal equalization payments “is an important vision to have for our people in Manitoba,” she said.

“We’re going to do that by growing our economy, and immigration has a big role to play in that. That’s why we keep pushing so hard. What this is about at the end of the day is our lifeblood here in Manitoba.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca