Provinces to solving labor shortages

Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba ministers are calling on Sean Fraser, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees, and citizenship, to empower their provinces to select more immigrants “with the skills they need most”  in a letter that was sent on Tuesday evening.

Fraser and their fellow in Saint John, New Brunswick, say Canada has to do more to attract and retain employees, especially in skilled sectors. They think that provinces should be able to hire workers and provide good local jobs.

According to data from Ontario's Department of Labor, most of the four counties with the highest immigration rates in 2021 had a comparably low percentage of immigrants they were allowed to select. Alberta was allocated 15 percent of the 39,950 immigrants and British Columbia 9.3 percent of the 69,270 new arrivals.

the only exception was Quebec, which selected 55.8 percent of its 50,170 immigrants.

Fraser announced in June that the federal government was trying to speed up the process for temporary employees to get permanent residence status.