Canada extends immigration deal with Newfoundland and Labrador till 31 July 2021. Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino made an announcement on 12 August with the Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey. This was based on the extension of the immigration deal for one year with Newfoundland and labrador. The details of this immigration deal are:
- The start date of this deal was back in 2016,
- The date of extension is till 31 July 2022,
- This deal figures out the purposes of immigration for federal-provincial cooperation.
IRCC’s deals with provinces
The IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) makes the specifics deals with all the provinces.
The main motive of such deals is to indicate the topics regarding immigration in every region of the state.
The provinces deal with their financial and population needs in their region. On the other hand, the federal government just makes a selection that who can enter the state.
Benefits
Such deals cover the:
- The factors of the alliance of IRCC with each province,
- Identification of the duties/responsibilities of each group,
- Insurance that the immigration policies are making responses to assist the federal and provincial purposes.
Statement of the immigration minister of Newfoundland and Labrador
The immigration minister of Newfoundland and Labrador, Gerry Bryne shared his reviews about this deal.
“We want more newcomers to choose Newfoundland and Labrador to work and settle in our increasingly welcoming and diverse communities,” Byrne says in an IRCC media release. “This extension of the existing Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Immigration Agreement allows us time to negotiate a new agreement, one that will accelerate our work with federal partners to achieve this province’s ambitious goal for immigration by welcoming 5,100 newcomers annually by 2026.”
According to him, this extension is beneficial for both parties. Moreover, with this extension, every province will enjoy taking some extra time. In this extra time, they will overview the modern deals to ease the newcomers from the department of immigration.
Meanwhile, the province can continue to work with the federal government on the same conditions as before to complete projects that have already commenced. The reason for it is that four Atlantic provinces had faced many issues regarding the settlement of newcomers. Sadly, Newfoundland and Labrador are among them.
Canadian province Newfoundland and Labrador has started a new immigration program for permanent residency (the program operates as an Expression of Interest (EOI) system).
Atlantic Immigration Pilot (AIP)
The new deal establishes the foundation for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot (AIP). The Atlantic Immigration Pilot is a track that serves as a path to permanent citizenship for skilled foreign workers and international graduates, who want to live and work in Canada. Following are the provinces a part of the AIP:
| 1. New Brunswick | 2. Nova Scotia | 3. Newfoundland and Labrador | 4. Prince Edward Island |
The AIP was started in 2017. This is a federal immigration program that helps in the job hiring process for when Atlantic Canada employers are unable to fill available vacancies with local talent.
According to the media release, the AIP has assisted the provinces in attracting and retaining talent.
Statistics that show the success of AIP
The AIP is going to be a long-term program if we see its success this year. Let’s have a look at it. From May 2021:
- The employers in the field of manufacturing and healthcare, have set out 9,200 vacant positions for the newcomers,
- A total of 8000 newcomers along with their families have settled themselves to this region,
- 90 percent of these settled immigrants were still having residency in Atlantic Canada after 1 year,
- Via AIP and PNP, the employers of Newfoundland and Labrador successfully elected 275 new workers. Along with these workers, the number of their family members is 300,
- As part of the Priority Skills Newfoundland program, the government invited approximately 400 healthcare workers to apply for permanent residency,
- In the next few weeks, the province is going to increase the number of invitations to the workers. These workers will be in the aquaculture and tech field.
Types of Atlantic Immigration pilot program
Atlantic Immigration Pilot has organized three types of programs for interested candidates:
- The Atlantic international graduate program
- Atlantic high skilled program
- Atlantic intermediate-skilled program
Statement of Premier Furry
Premier Furry, in a press release, shared his thoughts about this deal by saying,
“Newfoundland and Labrador are welcoming more newcomers than ever before to join us as we build a prosperous future together, and they are critical to our population growth and future prosperity. The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Immigration Agreement sets us on a shared course for a more diverse and inclusive Canada.”
According to him, the reason to invite more and more newcomers is that they are also a part of the prosperity of the state. The government, the public, and the immigrants will make a bright future of the state together by collaborating with each other.