Skilled workers with family ties to Manitoba will get boost in provincial nominee process

Prospective newcomers to Manitoba who already have family in the provincewill soon have a better chance of being approved to live and workhere.

Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino said the NDP governmentis refocusing the provincial nominee program which matches foreign workers with specific labour needs in Manitoba to prioritize applicants with familial ties in the province.

In recent weeks, the government has conducted three provincial nominee draws by selectingonly those candidates with a close family connection to the province. Future drawswill also aim to prioritize family connections, Marcelino said.

To immigrate through the program, the first step for a prospective newcomer is to file an expression of interest.

The province periodically selects people from those expressions of interest who are then invited to apply to the provincial nominee program, and a certain number of those applicants are then approved to come to the province.

The draws are not random, but determined using a ranking scale, with points awarded for a range of factors.The factors that award the highest number ofpoints are having a job offer (500 points) orhaving a close relative in Manitoba (200 points).

The more points an applicant scores, the more likely they'll beinvited to apply to the provincial nominee program.

A draw may focus on expressions of interest from people in a specific area for example, workers in a particular fieldto meet specific needs in the province. Inthe latest draws, the focus was on candidates with close family connections.

"We know that when applicants and newcomers to Manitoba have that strong connection to family and to Manitoba, they are more likely to stay and we'llhave higher retention rates here forthe province," Marcelino said.

"That's going to be really, really good news for us andfor our economy."

Downward trend in retention

While data surrounding the retention of provincial nominee arrivals is lacking, the province uses individual tax filings to determine how many immigrants whether they entered through the nominee program or another stream are still in Manitoba five years later.

As of 2020, the last year in which data is available, the five-year retention rate of immigrant tax filers was 67.7 per centa number that has been decreasing annually since 2014. It's also the lowest percentage in 14 years.

"We've been seeing a downward trend for retention. We've been seeing the highest out-migration rates that our province has been seeing formany years now," Marcelino said."We definitely need to address that."

Since 1998, the Manitoba provincial nominee program has been used to bring skilled workers to the province to help addresslabour gaps. They can also bring their spouse and any dependants.

Marcelino stresses in future draws, the program willcontinue to be primarily an economic initiative.

"All these folksare going to be economic migrants, but they will happen to have strong Manitoba connections," she said.

The head of Economic Development Winnipeg doesn't thinkafocus on family reunification would come at the expense of the program's economic aims.

"One of the things thatwe haven't necessarily recognized historically is that we have an opportunity to pick and choosesome of those top skill sets and also blend that criterion with the family linkages," said president and CEO Ryan Kuffner.

"I think bydoing both, we're not just attracting the talent we need to fill the skills gaps that we have, but we're also maximizing that retention piece, which is critically important when we bring people into the province."

A former Canadian diplomat, Kuffner said he's seen the strength of the country's brand around the world. People want to live here, he said, and Manitoba ranks high in terms of livability and raising a family.

"This is a great place to live, a great place to be, and we need to be bold and confident in selling it to some of the top-skilled immigrants from around the world."

Baker's familyrises to the occasion

Christopher Navarro says he found the opportunity to finally be reunited with his wife and three children in Manitoba.

For the better part of his children's lives, they've been apart. He worked at a higher-paying jobin Saudi Arabia to provide for his family, while they remained in thePhilippines.

Navarro came to Winnipeg in 2020 as a temporary foreign worker and was allowed to stay when his application through the provincial nominee program was granted. His wife and kidsjoined him last year.

"This is the first time we celebrate Christmas and New Year's together, because most of the time when I was working abroad, I needed to miss every Christmas, every New Year, every birthday of my kids," said Navarro, who has lived apartfrom his family, on and off, since 2004.

"Even though I waited for a long time, it's worth it."

His provincial nominee application was bolstered because he had a job offer at Baker's Bowl Bakeshop and his own family connection to Manitoba. His sister owns the bakery.

Navarro likesthe idea that the provincial nominee program will select more people who alreadyhave a Manitoba connection.

He credits his sister and brother-in-law with supporting him and his family in theirimmigration process.

"I always keep telling them that I'll always be grateful that they gave me this opportunity."

Prioritize family, immigration advisory council told

The former Progressive Conservative government struck an immigration advisory council in 2022that looked at ways to improve the applicationand resettlement processfor newcomers.

One of the ideas, which was in progress as of last summer, was to prioritizeprospective immigrants with family connections "at every stage of the process." The advisory council's report alsosuggested those applicants could get a higher score in the ranking scale.

Jodie Byram, the labour and immigration critic for the PCs, who now form the Official Opposition, said she hopes family connections don't become the main consideration for thenominee program.

As labour shortages"in health-care, education, and the skilled trades continue to grow across Canada, Manitoba can't afford to abandon the economic focus of the provincial nominee program," she said in an email.

Manitoba looks to prioritize family in criteria for provincial nominee program

9 months ago

Duration 2:36

Prospective newcomers to Manitoba who already have family in the province will soon have a better chance of being approved to live and work in Manitoba. The provincial government is making steps to prioritize applicants with familial ties.