Canadian Immigration Ministers agreeing on Multi-year PNP Levels Plan
Immigration ministers from across Canada met in New Brunswick to identify how to best achieved the country's immigration goals
The Forum of Ministers Responsible for immigration met in Saint John, New Brunswick on July 28th 2022 to discuss a host of major immigration policy issues.
Topics on the agenda included:
- Canada's Immigration Levels Plan,
- A more agile economic immigration system
- Regional economic immigration
- Settlement
- Refugee resettlement
The Canadian Immigration Ministers agreeing to develop a Multi-year Provincial Nominee Program PNP is a major success Allocation Plan. Currently, even though Canada sets its permanent residents targets over three years PNP allocations are determined on an annual basis.
Moving forward the ministers agreed that PNP allocation targets will also be set on a three-year basis. The ministers agreed to determine the multi-year PNP plan by March 31, 2023
The FMRI consists of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial immigration ministers. A meeting is held each year to discuss immigration issues of national importance. The FMRI is a decision-making body to support a flexible, timely and effective immigration system for Canada
Canada's Immigration Minister Sean Fraser added in the post-meeting press conference that there is no certainty at the moment on the precise numbers of the increased PNP allocations for each province and territory. The reason given is that the federal government needs to have follow-up conversations with provinces and territories to ensure they have the settlement capacity necessary to welcome more newcomers. The rationale for a multi-year PNP plan is similar to why Canada re-introduced a multi-year Immigration Levels Plan back in 2017.
The rationale for the Immigration Levels Plan 2018 - 2020 and subsequent plans has been to allow stakeholders including the government, the settlement sector and employers the ability to plan for higher immigration levels.
Canada is now guided by the Immigration Levels Plan 2022 - 2024 and Minister Fraser is set to table the 2023-2025 plan by November 1st 2022. Currently, Canada’s PNP targets are contained in the levels plan over three years.
Every year, each province sedan annual allocation for itself. The federal immigration minister sends a letter to their provincial and territorial counterparts each year with their respective allocation, typically in the first quarter of the calendar year.
However, the country's immigration ministers have now agreed that by the end of March 2023, the federal minister will inform each province and territory of their PNP allocation over three years
This will allow each province and territory to plan, including identifying how to best use their allocation to achieve their economic development goals and what operational steps they need to take to process PNP applications as efficiently as possible.
As allocation increases in each territory and province, there is a need to ensure they have enough staff and the requisite and necessary technology in place to process larger PNP volumes within their service standards. Since 1998 when the PNP was introduced, it has really grown significantly to promote the broader distribution of immigration across Canada
Before its introduction, most immigrants settled in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, making it challenging for the Atlantic and Prairie provinces to support their economic development through immigration.
The second year after its introduction, The program contributed about 400 new immigrants, but it is now set to welcome over 80,000 new immigrants in 2022 and over 90,000 by 2024.
The PNP, next to the federal Express Entry system, is among the 2 major pathways for economic class immigrants to land in Canada
The post-meeting press release noted the immigration minister also discussed assisting Afghan refugees, supporting Ukrainians, improving application processing times and taking steps to strengthen public support for immigration in Canada among other topics.
I hope this detailed breakdown of the Provincial Nominee Program PNP is well understood and will aid you in taking better and smarter decisions about your travel abroad journey.
Wishing you all the very best.
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