Immigrants came out to protest in Manitoba. What caused it?

A group of foreign students and workers is dissatisfied with the local government's decision on the right to permanent residency.

On Jan. 23, dozens of international students gathered on the doorstep of Manitoba's Legislature to voice their displeasure and call for changes to the province's immigration program.

The program offers three main streams:

Foreigners with students' or temporary work visas required changes to the program. Most of them had temporary legal residency permits expiring soon. Each of them had worked in the province for the past 2 years and they were about to apply for the program.

To be invited to participate, candidates must score about 700 points for education, experience, age and language skills. But many cannot meet this requirement because they previously studied or worked outside the province.

The Manitoba program minuses 100-200 points for international students or workers moving from other Canadian provinces.

The protesters are asking for lower scores so that everyone has an equal opportunity. They also demanded an extension of their expiring work permits.

"These are the frontline workers who move here from other provinces to make Manitoba a better place. We want sustainable economic growth in Manitoba, and they're the ones who are contributing to that growth."

Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Jon Reyes also added that he expects changes to the provincial candidate program. The Immigration Advisory Council is exploring ways to improve current policies.

But not everything can be decided by the Manitoba government. There is a certain quota of provincial candidates set by the federal ones. In 2022, the quota was 6,367. The candidates with the highest scores are chosen.