Ontario seeks to double its allocation of immigration candidates that it can nominate for the Canadian permanent residence. It wants to increase the number from 6,650 this year (2019) to 13,300 by 2022.
Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Immigration Minister, had requested for the increase through a letter he recently sent recently to Marco Mendicino, his new federal counterpart. The PNP permits the territories and provinces that participate to nominate a set number of Economic-Class immigration candidates every year for the Canadian permanent residence.
The program’s annual admission targets guide the participating provinces to nominate a number of immigration candidates. These targets are developed by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The admission target for 2019 is 61,000 new Canadian permanent residents. This value has increased from 2018’s target of 55,000.
The PNP’s Admissions Target for 2020
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) receives the largest allocation among participating Canadian territories and provinces. Its target for 2020 is 67,800. In Ontario, the target has been raised to 7,350. This is an increase of 700 nominations from its 2019 target of 6.650.
Falling Short of Labour Needs
The OINP sent an email statement revealing that its allocation over the past several years has failed to meet the actual labour needs in Ontario.
The statement states that Canadian employers have shown significant frustration since the limited number of allocations has frustrated their efforts to hire foreign talent. As a result, the development and sustainability of Canadian businesses have been affected significantly.
The OINP revealed that the letter addressed to Marco Mendicino proposed a collaborative development of a multi-year planning process as it aims to meet the OINP’s allocation goal of 13,300 in 2022. The body awaits for the feedback from the federal government
Furthermore, the OINP is exploring other ways that would enable it to exercise greater autonomy and control over the selection of immigrants to Ontario. However, the OINP did not explain how it will distribute the additional nominations among its immigration stream. It also did not comment on the number that would be dedicated for each of the three pathways aligned with the federal Express Entry system.
