Ontario asks to be allowed to invite more immigrants
The province is experiencing a labor shortage.
The ministers in charge of the immigration system in each province will meet this week with federal immigration minister Sean Fraser in St. John, New Brunswick. Ontario will make a plea to give more immigrants to fill existing vacancies.
There are reportedly more than 370,000 vacant seats in the province, with Ontario able to choose from less than 5% of the immigrant population.
Ontario Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton explains, "Nova Scotia is able to select 50% of their total number of immigrants and again, we’re only able to select 9,700 so less than 5% of our total number of immigrants that are coming, and the labor shortage situation is getting worse."
Not only does he think it is necessary to change Ontario's immigration conditions and allow the province to select more applicants to suit its needs, but also to address the issue of processing times as a matter of urgency.
The Ontario government has offered to help provincial civil service workers process questionnaires so that people can enter the country faster. So far, this offer has not been accepted.
