Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller is blaming provinces and territories for federal cuts to the economic migrant streams they rely on, stating they have been unco-operative about increasing their share of asylum seekers.
Provincial nominee programs (PNPs) target workers who have the skills to contribute to the economy of a specific province or territory and want to become permanent residents in Canada. Each province and territory has its own streams and requirements.
With the exception of Quebec and Nunavut, all provinces and territories take part in versions of the program.
Last week, they all received formal notice that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would be reducing their allocations for 2025 by 50 per cent, triggering concerns about local labour supply and the economy.
“Immigration is a shared responsibility, and I think premiers in particular that have the jurisdiction over parts of welcoming newcomers, some highly skilled folks to this country that are contributing directly to the GDP of the country, need to be responsible in the way they talk about immigration,” Miller told journalists outside a Liberal caucus meeting on Friday morning.
“A number of premiers have been irresponsible, whether it’s for their own leadership campaigns or the elections that have been had over the last few months, about immigration generally,” he said.
He also accused some fellow immigration ministers of “weaponizing” talks he has had with them regarding increasing their share of asylum seekers — without naming specific provinces or territories.
“A number of provinces have stepped up and we’re going to be talking to them and hopefully they’ll get their allocations in a way that they can use responsibly,” he added.
PBO forecasts economic hit from immigration cuts
The government’s independent Parliamentary Budget Officer, Yves Giroux, released a report on Thursday that looked into the overall plan to reduce immigration by the federal government, announced last October.
The PNP reductions have been presented by the IRCC as one part of that overall plan.
Giroux found the overall immigration caps imposed by government would reduce real GDP by 1.7 per cent by the end of 2027.
