The Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba immigration ministers have requested Immigration, Citizenship, and Refugees Minister Sean Fraser give provinces more power over selecting immigrants. .“Provinces best know the needs of their local economies,” said provincial immigration ministers Monte McNaughton, Kaycee Madu, Jeremy Harrison, and Jon Reyes in a Wednesday letter to Fraser. .“We need the ability to respond to the rapidly evolving needs of specific areas and communities, with a flexible system that we can adapt to changing economic and humanitarian needs.”.The ministers said Canada’s labour shortage will worsen as the average age of people in the workforce continues to rise and demand for hospitals, highways, and transit goes up. .They said Canada is in a global race for talent as people around the world look for work. By allowing provinces to select more immigrants with the skills they need most, they said they would be able to “fill crucial gaps and strengthen our local economies.” .“We owe this not only to ourselves, but also to our children and their children,” they said. .“We urge to work with the provinces to improve Canada’s immigration system to meet our economic and community needs.” .The Canadian government welcomed hundreds of thousands of new arrivals into Canada this year..READ MORE: Canada breaks historic immigration record.“Canada has reached its target and welcomed more than 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021, surpassing the previous record from 1913,” said Immigration and Citizenship Canada..“This is the most newcomers in a year in Canadian history.”.Foreign labour may cost Canadians jobs and wages in specific areas and the impact of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program “may be significant” in some markets, according to a ministry report from May..READ MORE: Report confirms immigrant labour negatively impacts wages of Canadians.“Wage suppression might be occurring in specific sectors and situations,” said the report. .The report also suggested migrant labour costs Canadians jobs and higher pay in industries such as construction, trucking, and beauty salons, “where foreign workers are willing to work for lower wages than what a Canadian or permanent resident would consider acceptable.”
