The province’s immigration minister is alarmed with what the department estimates will be a 42 per cent reduction in economic immigration spaces in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The federal government this week announced that it is reducing immigration numbers over the next three years, effectively holding population growth, until housing and health care are able to catch up to demand.
Provincial immigration minister Sarah Stoodley says the province gets 3,050 economic immigration spaces a year, which includes people who come here with a job offer and those who are already here as students or temporary workers who become permanent residents.
She cites the thousands of Ukrainians who have come to Newfoundland and Labrador since the Russian invasion, as an example.
Ukrainian families came into the province on a two-year visa, which means they roll into that program when their visa comes to an end. “We want them to stay” Stoodley told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly, and a “42 per cent reduction for next year is very concerning.”