Provinces across Canada are using their right to set the criteria of their Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) as a way to both attract desirable immigrants – and to ensure they will not move to other provinces, says a Université de Montréal political science professor.
In ‘Stand By Me’: Competitive Subnational Regimes And The Politics Of Retaining Immigrants, professor Catherine Xhardez explains that every provincial and territorial government in Canada – which she calls a subnational unit – works to both pick those immigrants it wants and also sets criteria to ensure they will remain in that jurisdiction and not move elsewhere in the country.
PNPs allowed 108,620 foreign nationals to gain their permanent residency last year
“Subnational units take policy actions to not only attract immigrants but influence or hinder their internal mobility,” writes Xhardez.
“Downstream, provinces employ settlement and integration services to encourage retention. Upstream, provinces fine-tune their selection streams to choose migrants who are deemed more likely to stay.”
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Under Canada’s two-tier immigration system, foreign nationals can gain their permanent residency through the federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC), as well as the PNPs of the 10 Canadian provinces.
The latest Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data reveals 108,620 new permanents immigrated to Canada under PNPs last year, comprising 23 per cent of all permanent immigration in 2023.
“Of all the federated entities in the world, Canada’s provinces have the greatest say in immigration matters,” notes Xhardez.
“They have used their autonomy to develop policies for attracting, recruiting, selecting and receiving immigrants, as well as distribution strategies to spread newcomers across their territory.”
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows immigrants to enjoy essentially the same freedom of movement as Canadian citizens and so they are free to move from one province or territory to another.
Provincial governments, though, very much like to retain their immigrants and help their businesses meet their labour market needs.
Among the provinces, British Columbia currently has the best five-year retention rate for immigrants at 86 per cent, followed by Quebec at 85 per cent and Alberta at 83 per cent.
The province struggling the most to hang onto its immigrants is Prince Edward Island with a retention rate of 31 per cent, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador with a retention rate of 46 per cent, and New Brunswick at 50 per cent.
“As the competition for talent intensifies, Canadian provinces continue to refine their approaches,” says Xhardez.
“The effectiveness of these policies and their impact on the country’s demographic and economic distribution will remain subjects of study and debate in the years to come.”
In some instances, candidates who do not qualify under one of the federal programs may qualify for admission to Canada under a PNP.
Some candidates may also qualify for a temporary work permit in the interim, allowing for early entry to Canada for the applicant and their accompanying dependants.
Many of the large provincial programs face problems with processing delays. Canada attracts considerable interest from potential new immigrants, far surpassing the processing capacity of immigration programs.
Skilled worker programs at provincial level require employers to first try to hire Canadians
The Express Entry system has successfully tackled processing delays, while many of the provinces are now choosing to open and close their popular streams periodically throughout the year to avoid large backlogs.
Under some provincial programs, candidates are nominated by a prospective employer and, once approved by the province, are subject to an expedited process.
In the initial stages, applicants can receive temporary, renewable work permits to enter Canada while they are being processed for permanent residence.
The skilled worker-based provincial programs, with the exception of Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, generally require an employer to sponsor the applicant for admission to Canada.
Without a government-approved employer sponsorship, the application will either not be approved, or will be routinely passed over in favour of applications with an employer sponsored approval.
Sponsoring employers under most provincial programs must demonstrate sufficient efforts to hire local Canadians and offer competitive terms and conditions of employment that are relevant to a particular occupation.
Between provinces, variations exist in the terms and conditions of employment to qualify to sponsor a foreign worker.
To qualify as a sponsored employee, the position being filled must generally conform to a National Occupation Classification (NOC) TEER category 0, 1, 2 or 3; or alternatively, must meet the terms of a particular pilot project designed for a specific critical skill shortage identified by the province.
Pilot programs within the provinces are designed for low skilled workers and are limited in scope. Most of the provinces have variations of pilot projects for low skilled occupations.
