TORONTO — Because the federal authorities seems to be to drastically scale back its immigration targets over the subsequent few years, the mayors of northern Ontario’s largest cities say they want extra immigrants to maintain native economies and inhabitants.
TORONTO — Because the federal authorities seems to be to drastically scale back its immigration targets over the subsequent few years, the mayors of northern Ontario’s largest cities say they want extra immigrants to maintain native economies and inhabitants.
The mayors of Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Sudbury are calling on Ottawa to ship on its promise to make everlasting a pilot program that resettled expert staff of their communities, saying a one-size-fits-all strategy to immigration coverage would not profit northern areas.
Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker stated the now-closed rural and northern immigration pilot program allowed employers within the metropolis to fill extremely expert positions in plane restore, engineering and varied trades.
“It has been an infinite success,” Shoemaker stated, including that with out financial immigrants such jobs would disappear from the area.
The five-year program was aimed toward attracting immigrants to smaller communities throughout Canada, together with 5 cities in northern Ontario, and it offered 1000’s of newcomers with a path to everlasting residence.
In March, the federal Liberal authorities promised to create a everlasting rural immigration program whereas asserting plans to launch two different pilots this fall focusing on rural and francophone communities.
However months later, Ottawa stated it might slash its immigration goal for everlasting residents and dramatically scale back the variety of non permanent residents within the nation so as to ease the rising pressures on housing, well being care and different providers.
The federal government had focused bringing in 500,000 new everlasting residents in each 2025 and 2026. Subsequent yr’s goal will as an alternative be 395,000 new everlasting residents, and that can fall to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
Ottawa can also be aiming to cut back the variety of non permanent residents — which incorporates non permanent overseas staff and worldwide college students — by 445,901 in 2025.
Shoemaker stated these adjustments are designed to blunt the results of excessive inhabitants progress in giant cities, however immigration is important to the expansion of Sault Ste. Marie “as a result of in any other case our loss of life price outpaces our new births,” resulting in a shrinking inhabitants and municipal tax base.
“One measurement doesn’t match all,” he stated of the coverage change.
Shoemaker stated greater than 1,000 folks have been resettled within the metropolis over the previous few years due to the agricultural and northern immigration pilot and people immigrants helped the native inhabitants develop for the primary time in 25 years, to about 78,500 folks in 2024.
“For the 25 years earlier than 2024, our inhabitants shrunk each time it was measured,” he stated. “(This system) has offered a turnaround for us by way of inhabitants measurement.”
He stated the federal authorities ought to acknowledge that the wants of northern Ontario cities are completely different from these in southern Ontario.
“Do not make us pay for the affordability disaster that is been created in southern Ontario as a result of we may also help proceed to develop the inhabitants and be thriving contributors to the Canadian financial system,” he stated.
Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff stated he has comparable issues concerning the federal authorities’s pivot on immigration.
“We’ve numerous room and many jobs as a result of the mining trade is admittedly fairly booming,” he stated. “The neighborhood itself, each from an academic standpoint and as a regional centre, can also be doing very properly.”
He stated Thunder Bay is working to construct extra housing as shortly as potential and supply sufficient leisure actions to draw extra immigrants and entice them to remain.
“We might use as many new immigrants because the federal authorities would permit us,” Boshcoff stated.
Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre stated 1,400 expert immigrants arrived within the metropolis over the course of the pilot program, with a few of them bringing their members of the family for a complete of two,700 new residents.
“We’re asking (the federal authorities) to reopen this system … as quickly as potential as a result of we have now a number of alternatives, a number of jobs which are ready to be crammed,” he stated. “We’ve housing and we’re capable of accommodate and positively welcome them in our communities.”
He stated the native mining trade is searching for engineers, welders and mechanics, whereas the health-care and schooling sectors are additionally searching for expert staff.
Natalie Father or mother, human useful resource supervisor for Pioneer Building Inc., which relies in Sudbury and in addition operates in different northern Ontario cities, stated the big civil engineering firm has benefited from the agricultural and northern immigration program.
“It is actually been a sport changer for our group on the subject of a few of these hard-to-fill positions as a result of it allowed us to handle some essential shortages for these roles which are important to our operations,” she stated.
“The mechanic place is like probably the most difficult to fill as a result of there is a restricted pool of certified candidates within the north.”
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it acknowledges completely different communities’ wants as it really works to create a everlasting rural immigration program.
“We’re persevering with to evaluate how immigration can finest assist the wants of rural areas, which face completely different challenges in comparison with main city centres,” spokesman Jeffrey MacDonald stated in an announcement.
“Whereas we have now launched measures to handle volumes of worldwide college students and non permanent staff within the years to come back, we stay dedicated to supporting the distinctive financial and demographic wants of rural communities by means of focused immigration pathways.”
Frédéric Boulanger, director of immigration applications and providers at Collège Boréal — which offers language and employment assist for newcomers throughout Ontario — stated immigrants are prepared to resettle in areas with good employment prospects.
“They’re searching for not solely a job, they’re searching for a profession,” he stated. “They wish to maximize their potential, use their expertise, use their instructional background, their private background and contribute as quick as potential.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Dec. 15, 2024.
Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press
