Labour shortages, skills mismatch concerns of Manitoba’s immigration system

A provincial review of Manitoba’s immigration pathways heard that the process to get here is “complex, time-consuming and difficult to navigate.”

Those comments were made about both the Provincial Nominee Program, in which Manitoba identifies applicants it wants to bring to the province, and the federal immigration processes, both of which were seen to be bogged with bureaucratic red tape.

Further, concerns about how Manitoba brings in newcomers underscored problems with labour shortages – “high-skilled and low-skilled labour shortages are a primary concern in all of Manitoba’s economic regions” – and that there is a mismatch between skill in demand and those possessed by immigrants settling here.

In response, the Immigration Advisory Council, in its report released this week, recommended the province work with the federal government (which has jurisdiction over immigration) to adjust the current immigration criteria, including the language proficiency requirements, to better address labour shortages in industries and sectors.

The IAC, tasked by the province to review the current processes made 70 recommendations to attract more immigrants, streamline the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program to strike “the right balance between the province’s regional labour market, economic development and community,” and to enhance settlement, integration and foreign credential recognition.

The report notes that consultations highlighted a need to work on the Provincial Nominee Program’s “points system,” which helps identify applicants Manitoba will nominate to the federal level for entry.

“There is a general feeling that the MPNP points-based system needs to be overhauled. Specific feedback identified differences of opinion in terms of point values assigned for criteria such as language requirements and settlement in regional municipalities.”

The Council heard in townhalls that attracting newcomers was not a problem, but the province needed to do more to focus specifically on those applicants with the skills Manitoba’s economy needed most.

“This is a real concern of our industry,” MHCA President and CEO Chris Lorenc said, about the report’s findings. “The current system is weighted in favour of immigrants who have higher education or professional credentials, yet the construction industry, in general, is in real need of experienced and skilled labour and trades.”

Lorenc said the MHCA’s submission to the IAC strongly stressed the need to adjust its points-based system, to give greater weight to those who have experience in the heavy construction industry, and to ease up on the language proficiency demands.

Both of those concerns were echoed in the IAC’s recommendations. Among its recommendations, the Council said Manitoba should:

• Work with the federal government to boost the MPNP nomination allocation to one per cent of Manitoba’s population per year. The MPNP’s 2022 allocation of 6,367 nominations is insufficient to fill current, estimated labour supply gaps.
• Align nominations of skilled workers and business investors through the MPNP with strategic industry growth areas for Manitoba.
  • The majority (81 per cent) of people who responded to the survey were in favour of aligning MPNP applicants with growth areas in industries/sectors.
• Work with the federal government to bypass the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process for sectors/positions that have been identified as being in dire need in Manitoba.
• Give priority to industry sectors and occupations that are identified as being in greatest need of skilled labour, based on federal and provincial data as well as input from the business community.
  • This may require reviewing and adjusting EOI points and conducting draws designed to ensure that provincial nominees are selected to address labour market needs for workers with various levels of education and language proficiency.
• Review points allocated for language proficiency to ensure that the MPNP is open to applicants in occupations that have a labour shortage in Manitoba and where lower language proficiency may be acceptable.
• Establish a single-source recruitment portal for employers and global talent to connect.
• Create a list of trusted employers to facilitate an expedited process to fill labour market needs.
• Work with Ottawa to reduce their backlog and improve processing times, particularly for applicants with skills that are in high demand in Manitoba.

Manitoba created the Provincial Nominee Program in 1998, the first province to do so. Since that time, over 170,000 candidates and their families (as of 2021) have come to the province through the MPNP.