WORK IN PROGRESS:
Immigration programs imperfect, but still important for population growth

Though Atlantic Canada has a history strongly tied to the ebb and flow of migration, the region lags behind the rest of the country when it comes to attracting fresh faces.

Immigrants make up only 3.75 per cent of the Atlantic population, much below the national average of 18 per cent. “While it is home to 7.2 per cent of all Canadians, the region received only 2.6 per cent of immigrants coming to Canada in 2009,” says Constantine Passaris, professor and chair of the Economics Department at the University of New Brunswick.

This is because immigration is a federal process. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is responsible for giving citizenship and permanent residence papers to individuals on a national basis. That more than 90 per cent of new Canadians settle in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec is not really their problem.

However, that hasn’t stopped any of the Atlantic provinces from trying to change the status quo.

While every province is in the game to increase its own tax base and bolster its own economy, promoting immigration has been an official regional policy since 2005. At that point the Atlantic premiers, “in recognition of the benefits of increased immigration and its role in addressing demographic and labour market challenges in the Atlantic provinces… agreed to collaborate on initiatives designed to recruit and retain increased numbers of immigrants to the region.”

As a tool to boost recruitment, each province established a provincial nominee program (PNP). These are exactly what they sound like — agreements negotiated with the federal government whereby provinces are allowed to nominate individuals for citizenship — drastically reducing the wait time when applying to the CIC.

Nominee programs differ from province to province, but generally they provide a way for people with money to invest, those with job offers, and in some cases immigrants with family already in Canada, to skip towards the front of the line.

Given that any of the three requirements are likely to keep individuals in the province once their paperwork is complete, PNP programs are also a great way to increase immigrant retention, decreasing the chance that newcomers will move to Toronto or Vancouver after they settle in Atlantic Canada.

However, these programs have proven difficult to oversee. The auditors general of Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have both warned, in the past three years, that provincial programs suffered from a lack of due diligence.

Additionally, unless prospective immigrants have family or substantial monetary funds, provincial nominee programs are not particularly helpful.

Michael Mersereau, coordinator of the Miramichi Regional Multicultural Association (MRMA) says that in the area his organization serves, Northumberland County, provincial nominees are few and far between. Not only that, but the number of people coming as permanent residents “out of the blue” is declining as well.

The group that is seeing substantial growth, according to Mersereau, is people “coming as temporary foreign workers… they come here on work permits… and then they start the immigration process.”

One reason for the shift might be changes made to the federal immigration process. Based on new rules which came into effect on July 1 this year, only individuals who fall under one of 29 eligible occupations (notwithstanding an offer of permanent employment) can apply for permanent residence as a skilled worker. The program is limited to 10,000 applications per year, with each occupation capped at 500. Never mind that 500 x 29 equals 14,500 — 10,000 is the limit.

This program, commonly referred to as the “cap program”, has New Brunswick Premier David Alward talking about the need for more provincial control over immigration.

“The needs in New Brunswick are very different than the needs in Ontario or the needs in British Columbia. We believe that some national policies … actually are a hindrance to provinces such as ourselves. And if we were able to work with the federal government, had more involvement in them, we believe we would be able to have more success going forward.”

Alward pointed to long distance truck driving and ICT (information and communication technologies) as two examples of areas where he would like to see growth. Neither are eligible occupations under the federal skilled worker program.

This is why when Donnelly Farms Ltd., a family-owned trucking company based in Lansdowne, N.B., needs to hire foreign workers, it hires them through the temporary foreign worker program. Ethel McAllister, director of driver recruiting, says foreign workers make up approximately 25 per cent of her drivers.

Though they come into the country with temporary work permits, she says that most stay. “I would say that 90 per cent of people that come here and into a trucking position, there’s such a need for it here … they might go home for a vacation but they would stay here in Canada.”

Provincial nominee programs might be comparatively puny, but the fact that individuals coming in on temporary work permits want to stay should be taken as a good sign.

By Martin Connelly