The provincial government is reeling after being informed by the federal government that NL’s annual immigration allocation has been capped at 1,525 for the next three years.
Last year the province’s economic immigration allocation was 3,050.
Worse yet, in terms of this province’s efforts to recruit professionals to fill health care, teaching and other professional vacancies, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is cut to 1,050 spaces.
Seventy-five per cent (or 788) of that number should be used to transition temporary residents to permanent residents. That allows for 262 spaces from the PNP for international recruitment.
According to the province, adding those 262 to the 475 Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) spaces means NL will only be able to recruit 737 professionals internationally.
Immigration Minister Sarah Stoodley says she was “shocked, disappointed, and gob-smacked” after receiving a letter informing her about the cuts from the federal minister late Wednesday.
“We were working together on a plan with that, in good faith, because we were told that if we did that we would get to keep our number,” she said. “And now we’re told that we’re receiving the same 50 per cent cut.”
Stoodley says nationally, 6.5 per cent of all residents in Canada are temporary residents. In NL, she says only 1.6 per cent of residents have temporary status, adding she’s “furious” the province is being tarred with the same brush.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s efforts to recruit internationally have made headlines in recent years, including establishing a Ukrainian desk in Poland, and a partnership with the Barrow FC football club in the U.K., not to mention trips to Ireland, the Middle East and India to recruit doctors and nurses.
Stoodley says all of that is now up in the air, citing as an example Country Ribbon, which had to recruit internationally to secure a new CEO.
“Yesterday I got a glowing email from the CEO of Country Ribbon, thanking us for helping them secure a CEO,” she said. “They had tried to get the right fit with someone locally, they couldn’t, and now they have an amazing individual they recruited internationally.
“So now we have to make the choice: Do we help companies like Country Ribbon to bring in their leadership for their food service workers, or do we get a social worker, or a paramedic? We’re going to have to make drastic choices and this is really going to put us in a difficult situation.”
Meanwhile, the Registered Nurses’ Union (RNU) says the “drastic” reduction in NL’s immigration numbers raises serious concerns about the province’s professional healthcare recruitment strategy.
The RNU says international recruitment has been a “cornerstone” of government’s approach to the healthcare crisis, and now that plan is in jeopardy.
Union president Yvette Coffey says there is already a “significant exodus” of healthcare professionals, and she’s urging the province to share its plan for how to address the issue.
She says “transparency is vital to restoring confidence in their approach to this crisis.”
The RNU argues that they have consistently provided solutions to recruitment issues, which have been “clear and achievable.”
The union says without a solid plan to address the new numbers, the need for a comprehensive retention strategy becomes more urgent.
