Desperate immigration hopefuls implore NDP to help as clock ticks down on expiring student work permits

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This article was published 14/03/2024 (583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Newcomers to Manitoba and skilled workers are pleading with the NDP government to fast track their immigration applications before they are forced to leave, following Ottawa’s decision last year to pull the plug on post-graduate work permit extensions.

Over 100 people rallied outside the Manitoba legislature Thursday afternoon, calling for changes to the provincial nominee program, which they say is raising questions about their future here.

Jasica Tung has lived in Manitoba for nearly two years after relocating from Ontario, where she was an international student.

Tung said she chose the keystone province for its affordability and friendly culture, and found a good career and support network of family and friends in Winnipeg.

While she has no plans to leave Manitoba voluntarily, Tung is unsure if she’ll be allowed to stay beyond the summer, when her post-graduate work permit expires.

In December, the federal Liberal government announced it would discontinue a temporary policy that allowed for 18-month extensions of post-graduate work permits issued to foreign nationals.

Tung opened a file with the Manitoba provincial nominee program last summer but is still waiting for the government to invite her to submit an application. She was one of many demonstrators who shared stories of being stuck in limbo, unable to work without a valid permit, which will force them to leave.

“There are a lot of people who are stressing, because their work permits are expiring soon — maybe next month or maybe next week,” Tung said.

“We are just requesting support from (Immigration) Minister Malaya Marcelino and the premier of Manitoba to implement some strategies… here so we can all get benefits and we can then help Manitoba in its success and development,” she said.

There are more than 20,000 “expressions of interest” profiles in the provincial nominee program system, a government spokesperson said in a statement. The profiles are used to select the highest-scoring candidates to be invited to apply to the nominee program.

The government currently has in excess of 6,500 applications in its inventory, which has driven turnaround times to six months, on average.

Interim Manitoba Liberal leader Cindy Lamoureux called the situation dire and recognized the contributions temporary residents have made to the province over the years.

In question period, the Tyndall Park MLA called on the government to help the hopeful Manitobans and issue nominee certificates to them before their permits expire.

“It is, ultimately, up to this provincial government that will determine whether they are able to stay here in Manitoba or not,” Lamoureux said.

Premier Wab Kinew said it his personal commitment that the government will work with those already in Manitoba to find solutions for them to stay.

“Our goal is to keep people in Manitoba… working for generations to come. We have an open door. Let’s work together to ensure that we can have a prosperous future together on these lands,” Kinew said.

Speaking to reporters after question period, Marcelino said she and the premier met with the temporary workers and students Thursday afternoon to better understand their situation.

“The issue is we have 24,000 applications currently for the Manitoba provincial nominee program and only limited numbers of federal allotment slots. We’re not going to be able to accommodate everybody who is in this position — and it’s a really crappy position,” Marcelino said.

“We’re talking about thousands of workers who are currently working in Manitoba who Manitoba’s economy desperately needs.”

Marcelino said she recently proposed options to federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller to address labour market needs and allow post-graduate work permit holders to stay and eventually apply for permanent residency.

“It would be for them to simply extend their federal work permits to allow these folks to stay here and then, during that time, we would be able to work on processing their nominations,” she said.

She confirmed the government has shifted the policy for its nominee program to focus on candidates who will reside in Manitoba long-term, and additional shifts are expected.

Nearly one in two people who received permanent residency through Manitoba’s nominee program in recent years under the former Progressive Conservative government left the province, the minister lamented.

“We are trying to right that ship right now and it’s going to take some time,” she said. “I was left with a department that didn’t even have enough resources, (for) the first time in our history of our Manitoba provincial nominee program, could not fulfil our federal allotment,” she said.

Saskatchewan took the province’s unused spots, she said.

“That’s not going to happen under our watch,” Marcelino said.

She pledged additional resources for the nominee program in the upcoming budget to be released April 2.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca