N.B., P.E.I. seek more skilled immigrants while N.S. sticks to original target

Nova Scotia's immigration department isstanding by a decision to wait beforeseeking more skilled foreign worker allocationsunder a federal pilot program as P.E.I. and New Brunswick have done this year.

Despite leading the Maritime provinces with the number of applicantsit could accept when the Atlantic Immigration Pilotwas first launched, Nova Scotia is now being outpaced by New Brunswick.

Nova Scotia Immigration Minister Lena Diab said her staff have filled 570 of its allotted 792 spots for2018, and are on track to fill the rest by the end of the year.

Until then, Diabsaid there's no need to seek federal approvalfor a larger share of the program, which wasdesignedto bring thousands of immigrants to the Atlantic region each year for three years.

"So we are building momentum, and it takes time," she said."Really, employers and businessesmost of them have nevereverused immigration."

Diab said her officeis maximizing itsprograms, which for the last two years have managed to turn Nova Scotia'sshrinking population into modest growth.

Federal pilot program

The immigration pilot, launched in March 2017, was introduced to bring more skilled workers to the region by quickly identifying employers who need workersand reducingpermanent resident processing time to six months or less.

Each Atlantic province received a different quota of available spots,with Nova Scotia taking the lion's share at 792. However, in 2017, the province only filled 201 of those spots, causing the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration to tweak its strategy for this year.

• Nova Scotia filled just a quarter of its spots under new immigration program

"We have increased our employer awareness and engagement sessions. We are meeting with employers one on one. We're organizing events across the entire province," Diab said.

The province has organized events for employers in Sydney and Guysborough. As well, information sessions were heldat all 10 universities and the Nova Scotia Community College to let international students know they can use the Atlantic Immigration Pilot with an employer.

The Office of Immigration has also partnered with agencies like the Halifax Partnership and Cape Breton Partnership to try to increase the visibility of the program.

• Nova Scotia's population growing faster than it has in decades

In July, the federal government opened 500 additional spots in the program, bringing the total number to 2,500. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canadasaid the spots were given on a first come, first served basis. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island negotiated to take 400 and 100 spots, respectively.

Thatbrings New Brunswick's 2018 quota to 1,046 spots from 646. It has filled 796 so far this year.

P.E.I.'s 2018 quotais up to 220 spots from 120, of which it has filled 140 so far.

Any spots that remain unfilled at the end of the year are not transferrable to the next year.

Role of settlement agencies

Jennifer Watts, the executive director of Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, noted the pilot program is driven by employers, who must identify a potential immigrant and come up with a job offer at the start of the process.

"Sometimes there's a question of why it may be getting off to a slow start," said Watts, whose associationis assisting the province to implement the program.

She said one of the challenges is that many businesses in the province aresmall and medium enterprises.

"They may not have HR departments. There may be some hesitancy."

However, Watts said settlement agencies such as her associationstand ready to help employers figure out how to settle anypotential new employees.

'Unique'labour needs

Diab said she could not comment on whether P.E.I. and New Brunswick are taking a different approach than Nova Scotia, saying all the Atlantic provinces have "unique" labour needs.

Once Nova Scotia reaches its current yearly target, Diab saidshe will negotiate for more spots.

"When we meet that number then we will work with IRCC[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada] as we always do ... to get more," she said. "Right nowwe are working toward our 792 number."

Diab said she feels the calibre of candidates coming to Nova Scotia is strong.

"We're getting a lot of uptake in what I would call high-skilled. I can't speak to other provinces in terms of their processes or what they are doing, but I am confident in what Nova Scotia's doing," she said.

Diab noted the provincial nominee programs, which are distinct from the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, also continue to bring in people under various streams. She said increasing immigration is a high priority for her government, and that the numbers of people arriving under different programs must be examined overall.

• Nova Scotia's population has never been higher, thanks to immigration

Diab pointed to numbers from Statistics Canada thatshowed there have been 3,530 people who landed between Jan. 1 and Jul. 31 in Nova Scotia.

"I was actually thrilled," she said.

Diab said by way of comparison, in the same time period in 2016, there were 3,890 admissions of permanent residents. That year the province's population hit a record high, fuelled in part by 1,475 Syrian refugees who arrived in the first quarter. Most of the landings this year were not refugees.

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