A New Direction for Immigration in Ontario

A New Direction for Immigration in Ontario

McGuinty Government Introduces Plan to Attract Skilled Immigrants, Strengthen Economy

Charles Sousa, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

Ontario is launching its first immigration strategy to help build a strong, globally-connected economy.

The strategy sets a new direction for how Ontario selects, welcomes and assists immigrants to the province. It emphasizes the critical role skilled immigrants play in Ontario’s economic development, as workers and job creators, in addressing labour market gaps due to the province’s aging population and low birth rate. The strategy also highlights how to better support immigrants and their families so they can succeed and contribute fully to Ontario’s prosperity.

Recommendations from Ontario’s Expert Roundtable on Immigration and consultations across the province helped shape the strategy.

With this new direction for immigration, the McGuinty government is focused on attracting highly skilled workers and their families, supporting diverse communities and growing a globally connected economy.

QUOTES

“This is a bold new direction for immigration in Ontario. It sets a path so we can attract the highly skilled immigrants and investors that we need to fuel economic growth and help build stronger communities.”–Charles Sousa, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

QUICK FACTS

• The federal government makes key decisions about immigration that impact Ontario. Federal decisions over the last 10 years have reduced the proportion of economic immigrants coming to Ontario to 52 per cent, while the average for other provinces is 70 per cent.

• Without continued immigration, Ontario’s working age population will begin to decline by 2014.

Newcomers make up 30 per cent of Ontario’s labour force.

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Highlights of Ontario’s First Immigration Strategy

Ontario’s immigration strategy outlines three major objectives and targets:

Attracting a skilled workforce and growing a stronger economy

• As immigration increases, raise the proportion of economic immigrants to 70 per cent from the current level of 52 per cent.

• Increase Ontario’s role in selecting the immigrants who meet our unique labour market needs.

• Request a doubling of our Provincial Nominee Program from the federal government to 2,000 in 2013, increasing to 5,000 in 2014.

• Maximize the potential of temporary foreign workers and international students.

 Helping newcomers and their families achieve success

• Improve job prospects for non-economic immigrants.

• Provide more resources for employers to recruit and welcome immigrant employees.

• Encourage employers to develop or expand mentorship, internship and on-the-job training programs.

• Achieve five per cent francophone immigration.

Leveraging the global connections of our diverse communities

• Growing a globally-connected economy by increasing the employment rates of highly skilled immigrants in their fields.

• Maximizing the global value of immigrants already here by decreasing their unemployment rate to the provincial average.

• Leveraging global expertise by removing barriers and increasing the number of internationally trained professionals licensed in their professions.

(PRESS RELEASE)