Tag Archives: Manitoba

Manitoba Premier: Western Provinces Ask for Increase in Immigration Limit

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A crop field near Winnipeg, Manitoba. The western provinces of Canada called on the federal government to raise their provincial nominee program caps in a meeting on Monday (Shahnoor Munmun)

Canada’s western provinces called on the federal government to remove the caps on their provincial immigration programs on Monday, according to a recent Bloomberg News interview with Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger.

Selinger said the limits the federal government places on the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) are making it difficult for them to fill their labour shortages:

“We’ve seen some changes that have potentially put a crimp in our ability to grow our economies and have people living in our communities.”

A PNP is a province specific program that allows the provincial government to nominate foreign nationals for permanent residency. Each PNP is limited to nominating a certain number of individuals per year, with each province’s cap being determined by the federal government.

Canada’s western provinces, which have one of the best performing regional economies in the developed world, have over the last decade been allowed to nominate a steadily increasing number of foreigners per year.

The first PNP started as a pilot project in Manitoba in 1997, and has subsequently expanded to all of the provinces, with the provincial governments looking to it as a way to counteract the ageing of their populations.

Immigration Pushes Canadian Province’s Population Growth to 40 Year High

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Cold winters have historically discouraged Canadian immigrants from settling in Manitoba, but a path to permanent residence through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program has increased the number of immigrants arriving in Manitoba and led to its largest population increase in 40 years this year

The population of Manitoba, a province in Canada’s prairie region, increased by 16,227 people over the last 12 months, which is the most in 40 years, according to the Manitoba provincial government.

The arrival of 15,199 immigrants to Manitoba over the last 12 months, the highest number since 1946, was the main reason for this year’s record population increase.

Many of the immigrants arrived through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), which allows temporary residents with six months of work experience in Manitoba to qualify for nomination by the provincial government for permanent residence, subject to meeting official language proficiency requirements for semi-skilled workers.

Manitoba has historically drawn a low percentage of total Canadian immigrants due to its frigid winters and lack of any coastal cities, which tend to be favoured over inland cities.

To reverse this trend, the Manitoba government has been requesting that Citizenship and Immigration Canada increase the cap on the number of immigrants the province can nominate through its provincial nominee program from the current 5,000, to 20,000 by 2016.

Provincial Government in Canada Criticizes Remarks About Immigrant Investor Program

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A river walkway in Winnipeg, Manitoba’s largest city

The provincial government of Manitoba on Tuesday shot back at critics who have said the NDP government’s management of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) for Business has been a failure.

Among the critics are Manitoba Progressive Conservative immigration critic Bonnie Mitchelson and the former program manager for the MPNP for Business, Randy Boldt, who say that a report showing that only 20 percent of foreign investors nominated for permanent residence by the Manitoba provincial government have made their required investment points to a total program failure.

The government criticized those statistics as misleading and inaccurate, stating that immigration through the MPNP for Business is a two-step process, with the province first nominating individuals, and the federal government then admitting the individual, and that investor applicants only make their investment after the second step is complete.

The government says that the 20 percent figure is for all applicants who have completed the first step and been nominated by the Manitoba government, and includes many who have yet to complete the second step. Figures that only account for those who have completed both steps shows 60 percent of applicants end up making their investment.

The program requires all immigrant investor applicants to provide a $75,000 deposit, which they forfeit if they do not meet the program’s requirements of investing $150,000 into a Manitoba-based business within two years of arriving in Canada.

The Manitoba government says that $200 million has been invested into the provincial economy through the program since it began in 2000.

Canadian Farmers Income Increased by 53% in 2011

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Canada's prairie provinces produce the majority of agricultural products in Canada. The province of Saskatchewan is sometimes known as the 'breadbasket' of the country for producing nearly 60 percent of grain grown in the country

Canadian farm income increased by 53 percent in 2011 from 2010 according to Statistics Canada. Realized net income, meaning farm income after operating expenses and depreciation, amounted to $5.7 billion last year, with farmers making gains despite a large increase in costs.

The 2011 gains follow a 19 percent increase in income in 2010 and a 19.6 percent decline in 2009 following the global financial crisis.

Agriculture and agrifoods is an important sector of the Canadian economy, accounting for 8 percent of its GDP, over $40 billion in export revenue, and nearly one in eight jobs in the country.

Canada is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world. Its prairie provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, produce a bulk of the agricultural products in the country. Nearly 60 percent of Canadian grain is grown in Saskatchewan, while nearly 50 percent of Canadian beef is produced in Alberta.

The prairie provinces have outperformed the rest of Canada in economic growth over the last several year and have among the best labour markets in North America.

A New Microloan Program For Immigrants Launched in Manitoba

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HRSDC Minister Diane Finley at a press conference announcing the microloan pilot (HRSDCanada)

A new Manitoba pilot, launched on Friday, will offer low interest loans of up to $10,000 to recent immigrants who are enrolled in training and career development programs. Recipients will be given five years to repay the microloans, and can use the money for living expenses, educational fees, fees related to licensing, and tools, equipment and work clothes.

The Manitoba government is contributing $250,000, while Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), through its foreign credential recognition loans pilot, is providing $1.2 million for the initiative. The two year pilot, called Recognition Counts! Micro Loans for Skilled Immigrants, will be administered by Supporting Employment and Economic Development (SEED) Winnipeg, a non-profit agency with a mission to increase economic development in low-income communities.

The goal of the program is to help immigrants get the qualifications and licensing necessary to work in their vocation in Canada. One of the first program enrollees is Dr. Esam Beshay, a dentist from Egypt who will use the loan to complete the process for getting a license to practice dentistry in Canada.

The microloan program is similar to the Immigrant Access Fund, a program funded jointly by the provincial government of Saskatchewan and HRSDC’s foreign credential recognition loans pilot to provide microloans to recent immigrants for education and training programs.

Canada Has Fastest Population Growth in G8, Driven By Immigration and Led by Prairies

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The Prairie provinces, prospering from their abundance of natural resources, led Canada in population growth in the year ending June 30th, 2012. Two thirds of the world's potash reserves are near Saskatoon, pictured above, the largest city in Saskatchewan.

A Statistics Canada report released today estimates that Canada’s population grew by 1.1 percent in the year ending June 30 2012, giving it the fastest population growth among the G8 countries.

In comparison, the second fastest growing population in the G8 was that of the United States, which grew by 0.7 percent over the same period. Japan, with its shrinking population, had the lowest population growth rate, at negative 0.3 percent.

The largest source for Canada’s population growth was immigration, as the country has continued to sustain the highest immigration levels in the world as a percentage of its population.

Among Canadian provinces, Alberta saw the fastest population growth, at 2.5 percent, as the province, which has the highest per capita GDP in Canada, continued to lead the country in inter-provincial and international immigration and natural population growth.

The economy of Alberta has benefited in recent years from a booming oil sector as production in the Athabasca oil sands, which is one of the largest oil deposits in the world, continues to ramp up.

Other Prairie provinces also saw rapid population growth, with Saskatchewan and Manitoba’s populations growing by 2.1 and 1.2 percent respectively.

A recent Fraser Institute study found that Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have the best labour markets in Canada, with the lowest unemployment rates and fastest employment growth in the country, thanks to strong performance from their resource sectors.

Alberta Has Best Labour Market in North America -Study

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Suncor Energy Centre in Calgary, Alberta. Alberta has seen the fastest employment growth in North America according to the latest Index of Labour Market Performance report by the Fraser Institute (Chuck Szmurlo)

A new Fraser Institute study finds that Alberta tops all Canadian provinces and US states in labour market performance.

The report, by Nachum Gabler, Niels Veldhuis, and chief economist for the Fraser Institute, Amela Karabegović, rates jurisdictions by five indicators: average total employment growth, average private-sector employment growth, average unemployment rates, average duration of unemployment, and average labour productivity.

In the overall index, Alberta received a score of 8.9 out of 10, higher than any other province or US state. Saskatchewan came second in the rankings, with a score of 8.3, and Manitoba ranked 5th, with a score of 7.2.

All three high-ranking provinces have enjoyed strong employment growth thanks to booming natural resource sectors. Alberta leads the provinces in oil production, followed by Saskatchewan. All three have large mining and agricultural sectors which have benefited from rising commodity prices on the global markets.

In addition to having the best employment growth and the sixth lowest unemployment rate in North America, Alberta’s ranking was helped by low unionization rates, low dependence on the public sector to provide jobs, a low minimum wage relative to average wages, and, among Canadian provinces, the most labour flexibility provided by “worker-choice laws”, which prohibit mandatory payment of union dues as a condition of employment.

Alberta also placed first in Canada, and sixth overall, in labour productivity, with a GDP per worker of $131,040. Newfoundland & Labrador ranked second among the provinces with a per worker GDP of $129,547, and Saskatchewan ranked third with $120,372.

One factor that the study’s authors consider important in labour market performance but did not include in the Index of Labour Market Performance is the number of working days lost to labour disputes.

British Columbia ranked last among all jurisdictions in this metric, with 105.5 working days lost per 1,000 workers, due mostly to strikes by public sector unions.

Company Gets Fined $12,000 for Hiring Illegal Immigrants

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The "Three Amigos" worked at a Shell gas station in Thompson, the largest city in northern Manitoba (Bobak Ha'Eri)

In a case more reminiscent of American immigration woes, a Manitoba company has been fined $12,000 for hiring three Filipinos in Canada illegally.

The workers, Antonio Laroya, Arnisito Gaviola and Ermie Zotomayor, began working for a Shell gas station owned by 5896941 Manitoba Limited in northern Manitoba after they were laid off from their jobs in Alberta.

The company owner, Adnan Chaudhary, attended the civil motion.

The three Filipino workers, nicknamed the “Three Amigos” in their Thompson, Manitoba community, were ordered deported from Canada in May 2011 and barred from returning for one year.

They are now attempting to get work permits to resume working in Canada.