Lower immigration quotas raise fears in Manitoba

The federal provincial nominee program, essential to Manitoba’s population growth, is being drastically reduced. The number of places allocated this year is reduced by half, which could affect local businesses and worsen labor shortages according to the provincial government.

This year, Manitoba will only receive 4,750 places for the provincial nominee program, half the number it was allocated last year.

Each nomination could represent an entire family, as chosen candidates may be accompanied by their spouse and dependents.

Provincial Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino condemned Ottawa’s decision to cut a program that helped attract skilled workers to Manitoba to fill vacant positions.

Businesses tell us this will hurt Manitoba’s economy and worsen labor shortages in many parts of the province she said in a statement Friday evening.

We will continue to work with the federal government to advocate for Manitoba’s immigration needs and priorities and explore all avenues available.

The province tried to avoid the reduction

The province announced that it was informed of its new quota on Thursday.

The federal government had previously indicated it would halve its immigration targets for Canada’s provincial nominee programs, from 110,000 nominations in 2024 to an annual target of 55,000 for the next three years.

However, Manitoba, which relies heavily on this program, was pushing to avoid any cuts.

Malaya Marcelino, in fact, had asked the federal government for 12,000 appointments, an increase of 26% compared to the 2024 quota and almost double the 6,325 appointments allocated to Manitoba in 2022.

In an interview at the beginning of January, she explained that it was necessary to attract more immigrants to fill the serious and persistent labor shortages across our province .

We need everyone we can attract she concluded.

Ottawa’s decision to reduce provincial candidate quotas comes as the Liberal government cuts immigration numbers across all sectors to stabilize population growth and ease pressure on the housing market.

The measure mainly targeted the country’s largest cities, where the housing supply is insufficient.

But Marcelino said her province should not suffer.

What is happening in other parts of Canada is not what is happening here in Manitoba. You’re trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist here in Manitoba and creating a new one for us she said.

Before the quota announcement, Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal MP for Winnipeg North, said in an interview that Manitoba was getting by relatively good in terms of welcoming immigrants and managing the housing crisis, but he clarified that the number of arrivals should still be limited everywhere.

With overall immigration levels falling, the number of candidates [des provinces] entering the country is restricted he said.

According to statistics from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, more than 70% of Manitoba’s immigrants in 2024 will come from the provincial nominee program.

The province collects a $500 fee from each candidate.

The nominee program was created in Manitoba in 1998. Other regions across the country have since replicated the program.

Ms Marcelino has already declared to CBC News that if the number of Manitoba applicants for 2025 was reduced, she would ask the federal government to direct more of the economic immigrants it accepts to her province.

With information from Ian Froese