By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—With Canada welcoming a record 431,645 new residents in 2022, and with Haldimand facing challenges as the Province ramps up development efforts in the face of projected population growth, immigration is an issue on a lot of minds locally.
In a speech last December, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Sean Fraser noted the nearly 1 million job vacancies in Canada last summer, despite record-low unemployment rates: “The reality is that Canada needs more people. We need more people for economic reasons. We need more people for demographic reasons. And we need more people for social reasons.”
Haldimand Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis expressed concern over the country’s immigration system, citing the growing backlog of applications as a major problem. As of last November, the Federal government reported 2.1 million applications in backlog.
“I’m hearing from so many who are waiting to be reunited with family, or to have some sense of clarity for their future. The current immigration system is broken with staggering backlogs and unpredictable processing times,” said Lewis.
Locally, Lewis said that immigration-related calls are up “significantly” from her predecessor Diane Finley’s days in office and have grown further from pre-pandemic levels. Her office routinely assists immigrants with navigating federally run programs such as Employment Insurance, CRA issues, passports, and other concerns.
Lewis said, “Where we are seeing the greatest increase is from applicants and their families who are concerned with the processing times, who are, sadly, stuck waiting far longer than they expected.”
She said that immigration should “benefit the immigrant and also the host country,” and that doing so requires compassion and a “functioning system where new immigrants can find work and have the ability to uplift their lives and contribute to the future prosperity of our economy.”
MPP Bobbi Ann Brady’s office shared some details about the Province’s new Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which aims to ease the immigration process for foreign workers with skills, work experience, and education in areas that are sorely needed. Through the program, applicants can gain access to potential job opportunities in the province, and employers can view applicants and potentially make job offers. Further, the program has streams to assist applicants who have already obtained specific educational diplomas or degrees from their home country.
Brady called the program a “key strategy” in helping to attract skilled immigrants to the area to work.
On the local issues, Brady cited “red tape surrounding temporary foreign workers. And there are farm groups asking for temporary foreign workers to become permanent residents.”
One strategy being utilized by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program (RNIP). IRCC spokesperson Nancy Caron said that rural areas face “unique economic and demographic challenges, including youth leaving, aging populations, and labour market shortages. This makes it difficult for them to meet their labour market needs, which in turn hinders economic growth. Canada is focused on supporting immigration that will help rural and northern communities.”
Launched in 2019, RNIP is operating out of 11 locations across Canada, including North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay in Ontario.
“Under the pilot, participating communities issue recommendations to candidates based on the community’s unique candidate selection criteria…. Candidates with a recommendation from a participating community are then eligible to apply for permanent residence,” explained Caron.
She called the pilot a new model for immigration, grounded in “community economic development” and “welcoming communities” principles.
“The pilot provides an opportunity for skilled immigrants to find employment in a variety of sectors, according to their career goals and aspirations, and to plot a course for their lives in a smaller, welcoming community.”
The program is scheduled to run until August 2024. As of last November, 1,795 applicants have arrived in Canada under the RNIP, “helping address labour shortages in key sectors, such as healthcare, hospitality, food services, retail, manufacturing, and transportation,” according to Caron.
“Immigrants face a challenge when settling in a new community. They must learn about their new community, support themselves and their families, and find housing, all while adapting to a completely new country,” she said. “Eligible newcomers receive the information that they need about life in Canada and the community in which they intend to settle, language training, help finding a job, and connections with established immigrants and Canadians.”
Caron noted that last January the Government of Canada invested $35 million to help newcomers settling in rural areas access essential services. This is part of a “whole of society” approach to the integration of immigrants in an “effort to combat xenophobia as it brings together newcomers and established Canadians and promotes a healthy respect for diversity.”
Despite the challenges, Caron called a modern approach to immigration “critical” to Canada’s continued economic growth.
Lewis commented, “We are dealing with labour shortages in nearly every private sector field, and while programs like RNIP may be of benefit to incentivizing settlement in rural communities, it will be important to see the results of this program before knowing if it’s a model that works long term.”
Ambitious pilot programs aside, Lewis called out the Federal government for “severely” mismanaging immigration through the pandemic, leading to a “historic backlog of 2.6 million applications.” Lewis said the issue “will remain a priority going forward in 2023” for the Conservative Party.
Brady added that faster turnaround times and an increased number of applications are necessary to truly benefit from such programs: “Often, it’s oversubscribed and closed, but farmers still have a need for workers.”
Brady believes, “The Provincial government needs to press the Federal government to ensure that if we are going to bring people to Canada, they had better make sure their skills match what is required for the labour gaps.”
She also cited infrastructure issues that must be addressed ahead of an influx of immigrants: “We know that our roadways need a lot of work, especially along the Highway 6 corridor. If they’re bringing in these people, they need to make sure the infrastructure and housing opportunities are in place; I’m in favour of building ‘up’ without using valuable farmland. Locally, some companies and individuals are solving the housing problem themselves by building housing on their business properties. But at the end of the day, Haldimand-Norfolk has my assurance that I will do everything to protect our land, the farming livelihood, and our rural way of life.”
Those interested in the OINP program can send an email to
business.immigration@ontario.ca.
Have you immigrated to Haldimand and want to share your story? Contact us at news@haldimandpress.com.
