Advisory council aims to streamline immigration

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This article was published 29/03/2022 (1651 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As pandemic restrictions get lifted and efforts to support growth in the economy are underway in the province, immigration is going to play an important role in that dynamic.

On Monday, Jon Reyes, Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Minister along with co-chair Lloyd Axworthy announced the 20-person membership in the newly created Immigration Advisory Council which is charged with reviewing the entire continuum of the immigration process in Manitoba from promotion of immigration to retaining newcomers.

Membership of the council includes people from settlement agencies, industry and academia and many have their own immigration experiences to draw from.

With the economy facing significant labour market shortages in Manitoba, Reyes said immigration can play a big role in addressing economic growth dynamics.

“We are very excited about immigration as an opportunity that could make a difference in addressing a lot of the problems we are having in terms of getting people with skills and the people we need here,” Reyes said.

The council will make recommendations by the end of the year on improving and speeding up the process as well as retaining folks once they get here.

Axworthy, a former federal cabinet minister, president of the University of Winnipeg and the current chairman of the World Refugee Migration Council, knows a thing or two about international immigration.

“Now is a good time to review the very successful Provincial Nominee Program and figure out how we can lead again in making it a premier program for the country and certainly for our own provincial needs,” he said.

Whereas in the last decade the province welcomed an average of 15,200 immigrants annually – a huge increase from and average of about 4,300 in the 1990s — the pandemic has virtually shut down immigration over the last two years.

Reyes said last year there were 6,300 in the pipeline through the nominee program. He said there are discussions underway with the federal immigration authorities to increase that amount this year.

The current Ukrainian refugee crisis has mobilized the province’s immigration department and staff from across provincial departments. Reyes said Manitoba is in a unique situation of having one of the highest per capita populations of people of Ukrainian decent.

“We know there will be a large influx of Ukrainian citizens that will be coming here,” he said.

Although there are only 25 in the pipeline right now, there has been another 100 who have has some sort of engagement with Manitoba immigration and efforts are underway to provide on-line connections with Ukrainian refugees interested in coming to Manitoba.

On the same day the Immigration Advisory Council was announced, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) released a white paper on Immigration Retention in Manitoba, noting that the industry has more than 24,000 job vacancies and that immigration is vital for the industry to replace the aging workforce.

Among other things, the report notes that while Manitoba has had success in attracting new immigrants and ensuring that they find employment, the province is in the middle of the pack relative to the other provinces when it comes to retaining them.

The CME’s Ron Koslowsky, said, “It’s not just a matter of attracting immigrants. We have to make sure they are welcomed and that we have a good grip on them and they will stick around. Often it can be little things like understanding the needs of the workers; families as well.”

Friesens Corp., the book printer in Altona, has been engaged in recruiting immigrants for more than two decades.

Its CEO, Chad Friesen – who is one of the members of the new advisory council – said the company had been recruiting around 30 people per year, but was completely shut out the last two years.

With the world opening up again it is now looking at increase its recruitment to 40-to-50 people year per year.

Among other things, he said for the past five years the company has had success in bringing in folks from the Philippines who have created their own community support system along with supports the company provides.

And those supports are significant. The company now provides assistance in obtaining first time home owner mortgages and providing car loans for its new immigrant workers, something that banks and credit unions would not do until they obtain permanent residency status which can take two years.

“That is one of the way we are helping foreign works build roots in the community,” he said. “We are not just hoping they are going to stay. We are putting resources in place.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca