Manitoba failed in its efforts to welcome thousands of potential newcomers last year, but the federal government is giving the province another chance to approve the same number of skilled immigrants through the provincial nominee program.
The province will be able to issue 9,500 nominations in a year, which would be a record number if achieved.
Manitoba’s previous Progressive Conservative government successfully lobbied Ottawa to increase the province’s allotment from 6,325 nominees in 2022 to 9,500 nominees in 2023 to address labour shortages, but the province failed to process about 2,000 applications in time.
Malaya Marcelino, the current NDP immigration minister, has blamed the Tories for not hiring enough staff to deal with the paperwork last year. The NDP was elected in October.
Marcelino said in an interview the province would strive to process the maximum number of nominations in 2024.
“[It] means a lot to many newcomer families. It means a lot economically to our province,” she said.
“Our immigration team is going to be working really, really hard to make sure we fulfil that federal allotment.”
Aiming for federal allotment
Each nomination slot represents one family unit, because chosen applicants can bring their spouse and any dependants.
Since 1998, the Manitoba provincial nominee program (MPNP) has brought skilled workers to the province to fill labour gaps. The program has contributed greatly to Manitoba’s population, bringing in more than 185,000 people.
The province has routinely accepted as many nominations as Ottawa permitted, but that practice ended last year.
The PCs, when asked earlier this year to explain the province’s processing struggles, didn’t provide an answer, but urged the NDP in a statement to have the “political will” to keep the long-running program “trending in the right direction.”
Marcelino previously said the government would expand staffing to speed up processing times, but said this week she couldn’t provide an update until the budget is released on April 2.
“It’s a priority to make sure that the provincial nominee program is running at full capacity and … part of it is to be able to fulfil our goals.”
Marcelino is also aiming to� reduce the time between a skilled immigrant receiving their letter of invitation to apply and then receiving their nomination certificate, which now exceeds the recommended six months. She’s planning for the province to return to the target timeline by the fall.
While Ottawa is again granting Manitoba as many nominees as it offered in 2023, it isn’t the increase the department was expecting.
The Tories struck an immigration advisory council in 2022 that looked at ways to improve the application and resettlement process for newcomers. In a July 2023 update, the council said Manitoba was in line for an increase to 9,880 nominations in 2024.
The province said Ottawa scaled back the allotment as part of its plan to rein in temporary resident numbers across the country. The federal government wouldn’t confirm this information to CBC.
Immigration consultant Rosanna Pancotto is worried about fiercer competition for Manitoba’s slots. More foreign workers are pursuing the option, she said, since the federal government has stopped extending work permits for 18 months — as it did during pandemic restrictions.
It doesn’t help that MPNP processing times have increased, she said.
“I’ve seen many, many applicants that are here, their post-graduation [permits] are about to expire, and they need that nomination to move forward,” said Pancotto, who started the Prairie Sky Immigration firm.
“They don’t have the nomination to provide submission for permanent residency — and now they’re scrambling.”
In 2023, Manitoba issued 7,348 of the 9,500 available nominations through the provincial nominee program. About 1,000 nominations were processed in December alone.