Preface

On 2 November 2016, the House of Commons agreed to the motion, Private Members’ Business M-39, which instructed the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (hereafter referred to as “the Committee” or “CIMM”) to undertake a study on immigration to Atlantic Canada. The Committee should

consider, among other things, (i) the challenges associated with an aging population and shrinking population base, (ii) retention of current residents and the challenges of retaining new immigrants, (iii) possible recommendations on how to increase immigration to the region, (iv) analysis of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot initiatives associated with the Atlantic Growth Strategy; and that the Committee report its findings to the House within one year of the adoption of this motion.[1]

The Committee decided[2] to hold ten meetings on the topic of immigration to Atlantic Canada. From 29 May 2017 to 19 October 2017, the Committee heard from 55 witnesses and received 10 written submissions.[3]

Introduction

In July 2016, the Government of Canada and the four Atlantic Provinces (New Brunswick (N.B.), Nova Scotia (N.S.), Prince Edward Island (P.E.I) and Newfoundland and Labrador (N.L.)) launched the Atlantic Growth Strategy,[4] which aims to “bring stable and long-term economic prosperity in Atlantic Canada.”[5] The strategy focuses on “five areas aimed at stimulating economic growth in the region,”[6] including immigration and developing and retaining a skilled workforce.

As part of this recognition of immigration as an important pillar for economic growth, the federal government and provincial partners announced in July 2016 the development of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP)[7], which was implemented between July and December 2016 and launched in March 2017 under the larger Strategy.[8]

In order to understand the need for immigration to Atlantic Canada, this report begins with an overview of the challenges in Atlantic Canada associated with an aging population that is also impacted by outmigration and a shrinking labour workforce that is not naturally renewed, which has persisted for decades. There have been fewer newcomers generally to this region than in the rest of Canada, with urban centres faring better than rural areas. However, labour and skills shortages in a variety of sectors have not attracted more newcomers to the region, which has had an impact on the provinces’ tax bases and on their capacity to deliver social services. To address these challenges both the public sector and the private sector have sought to find solutions through immigration.

The report describes the immigration programs available to Atlantic Canada (the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, the Provincial Nominee Program, and Express Entry for high-skilled immigration), as well as the specific challenges that each present for the applicant or the employer. Temporary residents, such as international students or temporary foreign workers, are already in the region in significant numbers but there are questions as to which programs can help them best transition to permanent residence.

Attracting immigrants to live permanently in Atlantic Canada requires outreach on a number of levels. Not many foreign nationals[9] outside of Canada are aware of the benefits of living in Atlantic Canada. Additionally, once they arrive, there needs to be adequate support from provincial governments, municipalities, settlement services providers, multi-ethnic associations, employers and local communities. Immigration programs, both traditional programs and the new Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, must also include consultations with businesses to determine what their labour demands are and how to meet them. Employers participating in the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program are required to provide a settlement plan for each new employee. Although challenging, this business engagement is seen as a pivotal element to successful integration and retention. Other elements essential to retention include welcoming communities, culturally, ethnically or religiously specific community infrastructure and the full recognition of the importance of the family unit and its well-being.

Part 1: Understanding the Challenges in Atlantic Canada

Canada currently has a population of approximately 35,152,000 people.[10] Using the results of the 2016 Census of Population, Statistics Canada analyzed population size and growth in Canada, which has increased tenfold since 1867.[11] “[T]he country's population growth has not been constant over those 150 years”[12] and varies greatly depending on the region. In addition, the growth pattern has changed from natural increase[13] to migratory increase.[14] Fertility rates have gradually decreased after the baby boom period and the “migratory increase became the key driver of population growth at the end of the 1990s.”[15] These population changes have many implications for Canadian society, namely for its economy, regional density as well as ethnocultural and linguistic composition.

As the Committee heard during the course of its study, Canada’s four Atlantic Provinces have seen a huge variation in population growth over the decades. From 1851 to 1951, the population of Atlantic Canada grew to be about 14% of the country’s population.[16] During the baby boom period, each province in Atlantic Canada had a high fertility rate that ranged from 4.8 to 5.1 children for every woman aged 15 to 64.[17] However, during the decades following 1960 and 1970, nearly half of those baby boomers left the region,[18] which put the Atlantic region on its current trend of slower population growth than the national average. In 2016, Atlantic Canada’s population was 6.6% of Canada’s population.[19] According to Statistics Canada, the slower population growth in Atlantic Canada is mainly due to three factors: lower natural increases, lower immigration levels and higher interprovincial migration.[20] As a result of lower population growth, “the share of Canadians living in the Atlantic region has decreased in the last five decades”[21] affecting the region’s economic prosperity and social composition.

Part 1 of the report discusses demographic and labour demand challenges in Atlantic Canada, including a shrinking labour workforce and regional disparities in areas such as social services. It also provides an overview of specific sectors that are employing foreign nationals in Atlantic Canada.

A. An aging population and a shrinking labour workforce

A number of witnesses spoke of the decline in population in the Atlantic region, as well as labour market shortages for skilled labour.[22] They noted that the negative effects of the decline in population on the economy could not be mitigated by an increase in productivity or innovation.[23] The Committee heard that the effects of an aging population are well-known, including a decrease in demand for goods and a decrease in tax revenue,[24] making it more difficult for provincial governments to provide education and health services.[25]

1. Demographic challenges

Data from the 2016 Census of Population indicates that the population of Atlantic Canada is declining in the 15 to 64 age range as the number of senior citizens rises.[26] As Mr. Laurent Martel from Statistics Canada pointed out one out of five individuals living in the Atlantic Provinces is now 65 and over.[27] He compared the statistic to other provinces such as Alberta, where only 12% of its population is 65 and over.[28]

Professor Ather Akbari, Atlantic Research Group on Economics of Immigration, Aging and Diversity at Saint Mary's University, provided a ten-year overview of the age distribution of the population nationally and in the region by province, as seen in Table 1.

Table 1 – Age Distribution of Population, Canada and Atlantic Canada, 2007 and 2017 (%)

	2007			2017
Age group	0–14	15–64	65+	0–14	15–64	65+
Canada	17.11	69.74	13.42	16.01	67.11	16.88
Newfoundland and Labrador	15.12	70.92	13.96	14.16	66.04	19.80
Prince Edward Island	16.94	68.15	14.91	15.99	65.00	19.01
Nova Scotia	15.54	69.54	14.92	13.94	66.30	19.76
New Brunswick	15.72	69.52	14.76	14.56	65.34	20.09
Atlantic Canada	15.59	69.75	14.66	14.32	65.85	19.83

Source:     Table submitted to the Committee by Ather H. Akbari, Population Aging and Immigration in Atlantic Canada.

According to his analysis, the population in Atlantic Canada that is over 65 years old has increased by 5.17% over the last ten years, whereas nationally there was only a 3.46% increase.

In addition, Atlantic Canada is facing a decline in birth rates, lower than the national average,[29] and a long-standing trend of young residents leaving the region to settle and work elsewhere.[30] Mr. Martel observed that of these young adults in the Atlantic Provinces it was mostly those who live in rural areas that seem to be leaving in a significant way to settle elsewhere in their province or in Canada.[31] He is of the opinion, however, that these migratory losses of young adults do not exist in the Prairie Provinces, for example. He suggested that there are many demographic factors in the Atlantic Provinces related to retention of young adults (particularly from those in their early twenties to about 28 years old).[32]

Finally, witnesses were concerned with the fact that New Brunswick's population has declined by 0.5% since 2011, meaning deaths are now outnumbering births, which is a first in Canadian history.[33] Mr. Martel also cautioned that this population decline “trend … will increase in coming years.”[34]

2. Low numbers of newcomers in Atlantic Canada compared to the rest of Canada

Statistics show that Atlantic Canada receives only a small share of immigrants in proportion to its population. In 2016, New Brunswick, with a population of approximately 730,710 people, had an immigrant population of 4.6%, whereas 21.9% of Canada’s population was composed of immigrants.[35] Nova Scotia’s population was about 908,340 people and had 6.1% of immigrants. In P.E.I., there were 139,685 people and 6.4% identify as immigrants. In Newfoundland and Labrador, 2.4% of the province’s population (521,250) identified as immigrants.[36] Based on data from the 2016 Census, Table 2 illustrates the share of immigrants in Atlantic Canada in proportion to the region’s population and Table 3 provides an overview of the percentage of immigration livening in Atlantic Canada by period of arrival to Canada.

Table 2 – Population of Atlantic Canada in 2016 by Non-Immigrants, Immigrants and Non-Permanent Residents Categories

	Total population	Number of non-immigrantsa	Number of immigrantsb	Number of non-permanent residentsc	% of non-immigrants	% of immigrants	% of non-permanent residents
Newfoundland and Labrador	512,250	496,410	12,080	3,770	96.9%	2.4%	0.7%
Prince Edward Island	139,685	129,405	8,940	1,340	92.6%	6.4%	1.0%
Nova Scotia	908,340	842,760	55,675	9,900	92.8%	6.1%	1.1%
New Brunswick	73,0710	69,2535	33,810	4,360	94.8%	4.6%	0.6%
Atlantic Canada	2,290,985	2,161,110	110,505	19,370	94.3%	4.8%	0.8%
Total in Canada	34,460,060	26,412,615	7,540,830	50,6625	76.6%	21.9%	1.5%

Source:     Table complied by the authors using Statistics Canada, “Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables”, 2016 Census, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-402-X2016007, Ottawa, 2017.

• Notes:
        
  • a) According to Statistics Canada, “'non-immigrants' includes persons who are Canadian citizens by birth.”
  • b) According to Statistics Canada, “'immigrants' includes persons who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents. Such persons have been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this category. In the 2016 Census of Population, 'Immigrants' includes immigrants who landed in Canada on or prior to May 10, 2016.”
  • c) According to Statistics Canada, “'non-permanent residents' includes persons from another country who have a work or study permit or who are refugee claimants, and their family members sharing the same permit and living in Canada with them.”

Table 3 – Percentage of Immigrants Living in Atlantic Canada in 2016 by Period of Arrival to Canada

	Total number of immigrants	% immigrated before 2001	% arrived between 2001 to 2005	% arrived between 2006 to 2010	% arrived between 2011 to 2016
Newfoundland and Labrador	12,080	45.9%	8.2%	15.5%	30.4%
Prince Edward Island	8,940	41.3%	6.2%	14.9%	37.6%
Nova Scotia	55,675	55.1%	9.2%	14.5%	21.2%
New Brunswick	33,810	51.0%	7.2%	14.2%	27.6%
Atlantic Canada	110,505	51.8%	8.2%	14.6%	25.5%
Total in Canada	7,540,830	12.3%	14.0%	16.1%	12.3%

Source:     Table complied by the authors using Statistics Canada, “Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables,” 2016 Census, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-402-X2016007, Ottawa, 2017.

This relatively smaller share of immigration to the region is also observed when comparing the number of newcomers to Atlantic Canada to Canada’s overall numbers. Table 4 shows that from 2006 to 2015, the number of immigrants arriving through federal immigration programs as permanent residents to Atlantic Canada slowly increases each year.

Table 4 – Permanent Residents Admitted to Atlantic Canada by Province from 2006 to 2015

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Newfoundland and Labrador	508	546	627	606	715	685	732	834	899	1,122
Prince Edward Island	565	992	1,454	1,759	2,593	1,739	1,100	999	1,632	1,190
Nova Scotia	2,586	2,523	2,651	2,388	2,397	2,136	2,337	2,528	2,667	3,403
New Brunswick	1,646	1,643	1,856	1,914	2,125	1,968	2,212	2,020	2,837	2,578
Atlantic Canada	5,305	5,704	6,588	6,667	7,830	6,528	6,381	6,381	8,035	8,293
Total in Canada	251,649	236,762	247,261	252,218	280,730	248,732	257,809	259,039	260,282	271,847

Source:     Table complied by the authors using Government of Canada, “Canada - Permanent residents by province or territory and urban area”, Facts & Figures 2015: Immigration Overview - Permanent Residents – Annual IRCC Updates.

According to the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, the number of immigrants to the Atlantic region has increased mainly due to the “growth in numbers entering through the Provincial Nominee Programs”[37] of each Atlantic province, “whereby the provinces select and nominate potential immigrants who … are approved by the federal government for permanent residency.”[38] For instance, in 2015, Atlantic Canada received 4,640 individuals through the Provincial Nominee Program[39] and 2,533 people through federal immigration programs.[40] In 2015, the region also received about 1,110 refugees and other immigrants admitted on a humanitarian basis.[41]

Mr. Wadih Fares, President and Chief Executive Officer of W.M. Fares Group, outlined the strength of Nova Scotia’s Provincial Nominee Program by highlighting that 2016 was a record year for immigration, with nearly 5,500 new immigrants.[42] He also noted that “Nova Scotia welcomed over 1,500 Syrian refugees through government-assisted, private, and blended sponsorships. This is a significant increase compared with previous years in which our province typically resettled only about 200 refugees.”[43] Recent census data shows that in 2016 “[e]ach of the Atlantic provinces received its largest number of new immigrants, which more than doubled the share of recent immigrants in this region in 15 years.”[44]

Nevertheless, in 2016, Atlantic Canada had an overall share of national immigration of 4.6%,[45] whereas the share for Quebec was 18%, Ontario was 37% and Western Canada was 40%.[46] Witnesses emphasized that Atlantic Canada is not getting its “fair share”[47] of immigration and without a larger base it “can't get the critical mass to attract more immigrants.”[48]

When retention rates of immigrants to Atlantic Canada (and perhaps any rural area of Canada) are factored in, the net benefit to Atlantic Canada is much less than the benefit enjoyed by the country as a whole, especially in urban areas. To be equitable and to address the current crisis, the immigration target for Atlantic Canada should take retention into account. Consequently, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 1

In light of the challenges in retention, that Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada work in collaboration with provincial governments to increase the share of newcomers to the Atlantic Provinces and to adequately fund the infrastructure needs and support services for the immigrant community in Atlantic Canada.

Recommendation 2

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada work with the Atlantic Provinces to ensure adequate provision of settlement services to attract and retain newcomers to these areas.

3. Regional disparities between rural areas and urban centres

The demographic challenges within the regions and provinces of Atlantic Canada are not all the same. Some regions in Atlantic Canada have relatively high population growth, mainly in urban centres such as Halifax (N.S), Moncton (N.B.), St. John’s (N.L.) or Charlottetown (P.E.I.).[49] For example, between 2006 and 2016, Fredericton (N.B.) grew by 14.9%, Charlottetown by 12.5%, and Halifax by 8.3%.[50] However, Atlantic Canada still has a relatively higher proportion of its population in rural areas than the rest of Canada. Professor James Ted McDonald from University of New Brunswick pointed out that 48% of New Brunswick’s population lives in rural areas, compared to 19% for Canada overall.[51] To provide a better understanding of this regional disparity, he said that the “last time Ontario and Quebec were 48% rural was in 1921. Even Saskatchewan, with 33% of its population in rural areas, last had a 48% rural population in 1976.”[52]

Nevertheless, the Committee saw that the regions with declining populations are essentially in rural Atlantic Canada, as seen in Figure 1.[53] These decreases in most rural areas are due to outward migration to urban areas either in Atlantic Canada or elsewhere in the country.[54]

Figure 1 – Population Growth in Atlantic Canada by Census Divisions (CDs) from 2011 to 2016

Source:  Graphic submitted to the Committee by Laurent Martel, Atlantic Canada: Key Demographic Challenges.

Mr. Finn Poschmann, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, observed that, among Canada's provinces, Atlantic Canada has the highest unemployment rates, which are above 8%, and the lowest employment to population ratios overall.[55] However, others argued that cities in the Atlantic Provinces are doing well, with low unemployment rates.[56] As an example, Mr. MacDonald indicated that, “in May 2017, the unemployment rate in the Moncton, New Brunswick, census metropolitan area or CMA was 6.1%, and in Saint John 5.6%, compared with 6.7% in Peterborough and 5.6% in Abbotsford.”[57] Urban centres in the Atlantic region are also relatively successful in attracting immigrants compared to rural areas; in New Brunswick, 80% of immigrants are choosing to reside in the main three cities.[58] On the other hand, rural areas in Atlantic Canada face high unemployment rates, which, according to Mr. McDonald, “arise from an older, less skilled workforce who have lost jobs in forestry and fisheries and whose skills are not readily transferred.”[59] For example, the unemployment rate is “11.8% in P.E.I. and 12.3% in New Brunswick. By way of contrast, the unemployment rate of rural Quebec is 5.4% as of May 2017.”[60] Witnesses remarked that immigration is difficult for recent immigrants in rural areas in Atlantic Canada[61] because there is a lack of social infrastructure, such as high-quality and high-speed internet and public transit.[62] As one witness concluded, “[t]he Atlantic Provinces are urbanizing, and immigration on its own will not solve the challenges of rural areas and small towns in these provinces.”[63]

4. Labour shortages in a variety of sectors

The Committee also heard that labour shortages in the sectors of agriculture, construction, fisheries, hospitality, and transportation in Atlantic Canada are higher than the national average.[64] According to Mr. Reint-Jan Dykstra, Director at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the agri-food sector is constrained by chronic labour shortages, despite increasing wages and decreasing unemployment in the sector.[65] He clarified that this is a national issue with 59,000 vacancies across Canadian agriculture, with a job vacancy rate of 7%.[66] He warned that the vacancy rate will double by 2025 due to population aging.[67] According to a 2015 study conducted by the Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council cited by Mr. Dykstra, these vacancies result in $1.5 billion in lost potential sales each year.[68] Mr. Adam Mugridge from Louisbourg Seafoods Ltd. echoed Mr. Dykstra’s comments in relation to labour shortages due to an aging labour force. Indeed, the average age in Louisbourg Seafoods Ltd processing plants in Nova Scotia is 58 years old.[69] In Atlantic Canada, the rate of private sector job vacancies is around 3% in construction and hospitality, whereas the national rate is about 2.4%.[70] Ms. Juanita Ford from Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador also shared her projections: the tourism sector in Newfoundland and Labrador could reach a 15.2% job vacancy rate by 2035, leaving over 3,000 jobs unfilled.[71] This would result in a “shortfall in revenue to the tourism sector in Canada by 2035 [that is] estimated at $27.5 billion,”[72] which will “hamper growth, decrease investment in the sector, cause higher operating costs, reduce profits, erode the sector's ability to compete, and cause inferior customer service.”[73] Other witnesses stated that, in their industry, they need to fill some positions with immigrants in order to grow their company. Mr. Vaughn Hatcher from Day and Ross Transportation Group stated that he needed more people in his company to drive an extra 2,000 loads a year to the United States from Atlantic Canada.[74] Digital Nova Scotia projected a 3.5% growth in the information communications technology industry between 2017 and 2021, but the sector reported difficulty finding workers.[75] The financial sector in Nova Scotia described the same difficulty.[76] The province estimated that by 2021 there will be a need for “55,000 new workers due to a shrinking labour pool.”[77]

These labour shortages are caused by a retiring workforce and a difficulty in finding workers with the appropriate skills in the geographic region. According to Mr. Akbari, the population decline affecting mostly rural Atlantic Canada is of concern because most natural resource based industries in the region are located in rural areas.[78] In addition, Mr. Jordi Morgan from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business indicated that the shortage of qualified labour is a top priority issue for small and medium enterprises because it limits them from growing their business.[79] In a brief submitted to the Committee, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) suggested that labour shortage predictions could be factored into Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s immigration point system in order to address the shortage of qualified labour and incentivize industries in hiring immigrants.[80] As such, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada, in collaboration with Atlantic Provinces and stakeholders, consider predicted labour shortages in all skill levels when planning and delivering their immigration related policies and programs.

Recommendation 4

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, in collaboration with the Atlantic Provinces, improve programs tailored to address francophone immigrant recruitment, including outreach campaigns specifically aimed toward countries with French as an official language; to develop strategies for integration and retention needs specific to the different contexts of francophone minority communities; to revise the applicant requirements for provinces so that the percentage of francophone or francophile applicants selected is targeted to the percentage of francophones in each provinces; and to develop an evaluation and accountability framework to measure progress achieved and ensure attainment of immigration objectives in these communities.

Recommendation 5

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada better ensure that funding is made available to settlement services and language training in French in the region to improve the sustainability of the region’s French communities.

5. Impact on the tax base

Witnesses warned the Committee that an aging and declining population results in fewer labour force participants, thereby leading to shrinking markets for goods and services which have an adverse impact on incentives for business investments and tax revenues.[81] One particularly striking example was provided by Ms. Amanda McDougall, a municipal councillor for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia. She explained how the declining population challenge faced by her municipality influences the municipality’s revenue streams. She emphasized that 1,500 people leave Cape Breton Island each year,[82] which means a $19 million loss in consumer spending,[83] not to mention taxable income. According to her, this demographic challenge will only increase in the coming years because, out of the 2,005 immigrants that chose Nova Scotia in 2015, only 92 people settled in Cape Breton Island.[84] She was also concerned that other rural regions in Nova Scotia welcomed among them a shared number of 10 people that same year.[85] For her, immigration is essential to get “more people in the area to contribute to [the] tax bases”[86] because immigration is connected to economic development.

6. Impact on social services

During the study, witnesses acknowledged another set of challenges: the impact of an aging and declining population on the social services provided by provincial and municipal governments. As summarized by Mr. Frank McKenna, Deputy Chair of the TD Bank Group, and former Premier of New Brunswick,

Aging populations cost more, the declining population base results in less equalization, fewer transfers for health and education, less money from income tax, less money raised from consumption tax, and then we have to care for an aging population, which is exponentially more expensive. The results are starkly visible: universities are struggling for students, our high schools are sometimes half full and, of course, everybody is fighting to keep their school full and we have bed-blockers in all our hospitals.[87]

Member of Parliament Alaina Lockhart testified as sponsor of the private member’s motion that her constituents in Fundy Royal, New Brunswick, are “concerned about their rural schools, the corner stores in their communities closing because of a lack of volume, and the dwindling memberships in organizations.”[88] In fact, Ms. Heather Coulombe, owner of Farmer’s Daughter Country Market, from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia confirmed that there are schools and businesses that closed near her, mostly in rural areas.[89] Communities in Atlantic Canada, like those in other regions of the country, are beginning to understand the magnitude and impact of these challenges that will lead to the consolidation[90] or the loss of schools[91] and other difficulties regarding infrastructure such as hospitals, mail and banking services.[92]

Mr. Akbari also informed the Committee that the cost of public and private services does not adjust immediately when the population declines and that there is a point below which base costs cannot go regardless of population size.[93] Population decline also means a corresponding decline of some federal funds determined by population size such as social and health care transfers.[94] A vicious circle can be created because an aging population puts pressure on younger labour force participants to provide for the social programs for the elderly, but higher contribution to Canadian Pension Plan and high taxes combined with the closure of public and private services can further accelerate outmigration and rural population decline.[95]

Mr. Marco Navarro-Génie, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, reminded the Committee that “theatres, parks, schools, hospitals and festivals”[96] are important to Atlantic Canadians, but that funds are required to sustain and maintain these services.[97] As a result of these regional differences and demographic challenges, Atlantic Canada’s needs in terms of public services, social programs and infrastructure will vary more and more across the different regions of the four provinces.

B. Public and private initiatives for immigration

The Committee heard from a number of provincial officials and witnesses that have turned towards immigration to foster population and economic growth. Government officials recognize that immigration is important in supporting economic growth, while other witnesses spoke of employing foreign nationals and newcomers to Canada in order to grow their business and attract investments.

1. Provincial government initiatives

Over the years, each Atlantic province has developed specific initiatives to grow its immigration.

Since 2014, New Brunswick, as an official bilingual province, has had a strategy in place to attract Francophone immigrants,[98] as its immigration pattern does not currently reflect the demographic weight of both linguistic communities.[99] In 2017, the Government of New Brunswick hosted the first Forum sur l'immigration francophone to encourage francophone immigration outside Quebec[100] and its second Economic Opportunities Summit, which provided an opportunity for governmental and community organizations to share perspectives on immigration and population growth.[101] The University of New Brunswick has also created an Economic Immigration Lab to work with employers to help create more effective channels for hiring skilled immigrants.[102]

The Nova Scotia Office of Immigration tabled its first annual report in 2015.[103] That same year, the province had expanded pathways available to immigration to Nova Scotia by targeting individuals with specific work experience or entrepreneurial skills under the Provincial Nominee Program.[104] In addition, it doubled its Provincial Nominee Program allocation from 600 nominees in 2013 to 1,350 in 2017 and it streamlined its immigration processing and service delivery.[105] The province has also increased its resources to focus on employer engagement to help them recruit skilled workers to Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Health Authority has also collaborated with Nova Scotia Immigration staff to recruit medical professionals at job fairs abroad.[106]

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Immigration Action Plan, launched March 2017, lays out its priorities for the period 2017–2022. Key actions under the plan include improving immigration processing, supporting third party immigration organizations, the creation of a new website and web portal for immigrant applications, and education and training for employers.[107] In August 2017, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador issued a call for proposals to enhance immigrant settlement and recruitment. It has indicated that priority will be given to expanding or supporting English-as-a-Second-Language services.[108]

In May 2017, the Government of Prince Edward Island announced “a new population action plan for P.E.I., focusing on recruitment, retention, repatriation, and rural economic development.”[109] The province also issued a request for proposals for "immigration agents" who will work to attract immigrants, particularly entrepreneurs, to live and work on the island. The agents’ main focus will be to make immigrants aware of economic opportunities in rural areas and to encourage them to purchase or invest in existing P.E.I. businesses.[110]   In August 2017, the government of P.E.I. announced the creation of four Regional Economic Advisory Councils, tasked with providing recommendations to Cabinet on economic growth. Among other priorities, the councils are designed to “enhance population growth in each region, and specifically help in targeted population attraction drawn by employment and economic opportunities.”[111]

2. Private sector employing foreign nationals

As stated previously, there are high labour shortages in multiple sectors in Atlantic Canada and a number of witnesses spoke about employing newcomers in order to meet the labour demand in their sector to fill gaps.[112] As Ms. Juanita Ford of Hospitality Newfoundland told the Committee,

the tourism sector has relied heavily on young people as a source of labour. However, the rate at which young people are entering the labour force is decreasing while competition to attract younger workers is intensifying from other sectors of the economy. The industry will experience a shortage of people, in general, to fill positions, and a much more pronounced deficiency in skilled workers to fill positions.[113]

She also noted that the hospitality industry, like others, has focused on integrating non-traditional labour pools, such as youth, Indigenous persons, and people with disabilities, into the workforce. However, these initiatives are not enough and immigration is needed to fill the labour demand. Indeed, almost a quarter of the 18,000 tourism workers in Newfoundland and Labrador are immigrants, including 40% of all chefs,[114] however retention remains a problem. Mr. Bill Allen, Chairman of the Board of Restaurants Canada, owns six restaurants in P.E.I., Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He told the Committee that for the last ten years he has hired “over 50 temporary foreign workers who have made their way through into the provincial nomination program, and then through to, in many cases, their PR [permanent residence].”[115]

Other industries, such as agriculture or fisheries also depend heavily on foreign nationals.[116] For example, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture stated that farmers turn to foreign workers for both seasonal and full time positions because of limited access to labour and experienced workers.[117] Nationally, the agriculture industry brings in approximately 45,000 foreign nationals each year, which represent 12% of the industry’s workforce.[118] Mr. Mugridge also explained to the Committee how his company Louisbourg Seafoods Ltd. depends on foreign workers for a third of the workforce, which has 500 employees during its busiest periods.[119] In this region, there is a high rate of unemployment, but also a labour shortage of persons with the required skills.

In P.E.I., Mr. Craig Mackie, from the Prince Edward Island Association for Newcomers to Canada, noted that immigrants are working in almost all sectors of the economy, including the new areas of bioscience and aerospace, which require highly-skilled workers.[120]

3. Need for capital investments

Professor Herb Emery, Vaughan Chair in Regional Economics at the University of New Brunswick, drew the Committee’s attention to the need for private sector investment to increase labour demand and create opportunities for newcomers.[121] He warned that economic growth is not just a question of adding more labour supply to the market. According to him, economic growth also requires investments, wage growth stimulation and higher labour productivity that will spur more interest in the market.[122] He provided Saskatchewan as an example that reversed their population-aging trend and attracted immigrants through new investments in its resource projects and industries.[123]

In his opinion, Professor Emery described the labour market as dysfunctional where wages and employment do not adjust adequately.[124] He stated that adding more people into a dysfunctional labour market might not resolve the problem, which potentially influences the outcome of immigration programs such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program.[125]

Mr. Jeffrey Green, Director, Talent Acquisition, J.D. Irving Ltd., echoed the comments of Professor Emery and stated that capital investment is an important factor when forecasting labour and skills shortages. As an example, a quarter of J.D. Irving Ltd.’s forecast is influenced by growth, such as capital investments.[126]

The Committee has identified that there are challenges in each stage of the immigration lifecycle, namely recruitment, processing, settlement and retention, and there are recommendations to be made to address perceived deficiencies. As such, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 6

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada take into consideration the other pillars of the Atlantic Growth Strategy, namely innovation, infrastructure, clean growth and climate change, and trade and investments, when implementing immigration policy under the Atlantic Growth Strategy in order to more effectively respond to labour demand in Atlantic Canada.

Recommendation 7

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada take the immigration lifecycle of recruitment, processing, settlement and retention, into consideration when implementing immigration policy and programs under the Atlantic Growth Strategy.

Part 2: Bringing Immigrants to Atlantic Canada

Part 2 provides a brief overview of the current programs and policies that attempt to bring newcomers and foreign nationals to Atlantic Canada. Witnesses identified a number of challenges to immigration with the programs and services as currently delivered. Some are within the department’s processes, others are policy choices of IRCC and provincial governments.

The four Atlantic Provinces are making a concerted effort to work together to confront the region’s demographic and labour market challenges. Collaborative initiatives in the field of immigration have included advocating for additional provincial nominee places and recruiting international students. The Atlantic Growth Strategy, which includes the Atlantic Immigration Pilot program, is the latest initiative developed in collaboration with the federal government.

A. Atlantic Growth Strategy

The Atlantic Growth Strategy is a multi-pronged strategy to address long standing concerns regarding economic growth in the region, which has not kept pace with the national average. The first pillar of the Atlantic Growth Strategy focuses on immigration and a skilled work force, where the other pillars of growth are innovation, infrastructure, clean growth and climate change, and trade and investments.[127] The first initiative of the Strategy is the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program.

The Atlantic Growth Strategy is led by a Leadership Committee comprised of the Premiers of the four Atlantic Provinces and members of the federal cabinet.[128] The Leadership Committee receives advice from the Atlantic Growth Advisory Group,[129] chaired by Mr. Henry Demone from High Liner Foods Inc., Nova Scotia. The Advisory Group was struck “to engage with Indigenous, business, academic, community and civil society leaders on ways to enhance regional growth.”[130]

1. Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program

As of March 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) started accepting permanent resident applications through the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program,[131] which is a three-year immigration project which includes a specific stream for international graduates.

Officials from IRCC presented the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) to the Committee. Ms. Laurie Hunter, Director of Economic Immigration Policy and Programs at IRCC, explained that the AIPP provides priority processing for permanent residence applications in the intermediate-skilled, high-skilled and international graduate programs.[132] Unlike some other programs, employers are not required to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for jobs offered in the context of this pilot project. However, a unique aspect of the pilot project is the requirement for employers to provide an individualized settlement plan to support each of the newcomers’ integration into the community. The goal for 2017 was to process 2,000 applications (principal applicants and family members) through the pilot project.[133]

By way of example, a quota of 646 families was allocated to New Brunswick under the AIPP for the first year.[134] The provincial government allocated additional funding to assist settlement services and to reach out to employers, hoping to raise the province’s immigrant retention rate[135] of 72% to 80%.[136] Outreach to individual businesses has led to significant interest and participation in the program. Jobs have been identified in various sectors including IT, business service centres, contact centres, transportation, aquaculture, seafood processing, agriculture, forestry, food manufacturing, manufacturing, home care, hospitality and food services, administration, and finance.[137] Mr. Charles Ayles, a senior official from the Government of New Brunswick, stated that teams overseas are having success in recruiting qualified immigrants.[138]

Prince Edward Island has a quota of 120 families under the AIPP, although these may be redistributed amongst the other provinces in the region if that target is not met. Deputy Minister Neil Stewart testified that P.E.I. was cautious about requesting higher levels of immigrants through the pilot program, stating “[w]e want to see our retention rates before we seek higher levels”.[139]

Mr. Morgan from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business saw a number of positive elements in the AIPP; such as the elimination of the LMIA, the improved speed of processing and the inclusion of intermediate skilled jobs, while most federal programs for permanent residence target high skilled workers. He was cautious about the capacity of small and medium-sized businesses to develop and deliver individualised settlement plans.[140]

Ms. Gerry Mills, Executive Director, Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, informed the Committee that her organization had developed 123 settlement plans to date, assisting employers across the four provinces, especially small and medium-sized businesses that did not have the expertise nor the resources to respond to the settlement plan needs of their employees.[141]

While the program is in its first year, a number of witnesses have already experienced difficulties with the AIPP. Ms. Angelique Reddy-Kalala of the City of Moncton told the Committee that having settlement plans by designated organizations, of which none were located in New Brunswick, was problematic.[142]

For Mr. Allen, of Restaurant Canada, the entire process was difficult. After eight months, they were ready to submit a potential employee’s application for review that consisted of a 55 page document.[143] He qualified the processing as proceeding “at a snail’s pace”[144] and inefficient because “there are 15 steps before you can make the application.”[145] He also expressed frustration with the lack of information and knowledge that he received when asking the same question to IRCC offices, claiming to have received three different answers on three different days.[146] For those reasons, Mr. Luc Erjavec, of Restaurants Canada, suggested a digitized process through an online portal.[147]

Mr. Dave Tisdale hired a long-haul trucker through the AIPP, but he said it had been a complicated process even though the foreign national was already in Canada.[148] Furthermore, few students are aware of their eligibly for the specific stream designed for international graduates.[149]

Some committee members were taken aback to hear how difficult the AIPP process was and the delays involved for some employers, as expedited processing had been one of the priorities underlined by IRCC officials. The Committee was concerned to hear conflicting evidence on the complexity of the process for employers in different Atlantic Provinces. Some members of the committee question whether the complexity of the AIPP arose out of IRCC or provincial complications. The Committee recommends:

Recommendation 8

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, with the Atlantic Provinces, annually evaluate the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program; ensure that the process is harmonized, simplified and expedited for Atlantic Canadian business applicants; and provide the Committee with details of the new process.

Recommendation 9

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada digitize the application process for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program.

B. Provincial Nominee Program

Each province in Atlantic Canada has negotiated an agreement with the federal government for a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).[150] The PNP allows provincial governments to develop their own economic immigration streams in order to meet regional priorities.

The New Brunswick Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, the Hon. Donald Arseneault, stated that historically, the NBPNP has been used to retain skilled and business immigrants.[151] It now has a stream incorporated into Express Entry, a system which will be further detailed below.[152] In 2016, New Brunswick exceeded its objective in welcoming francophone immigrants through the PNP.[153] The Prince Edward Island Minister of Workforce and Advanced Learning, the Hon. Sonny Gallant, confirmed that immigrants settled in P.E.I. mainly through the PNP.[154] The P.E.I. PNP includes streams for businesses as well as for entrepreneurs.[155]

The Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program has a stream for skilled workers, a stream for skilled workers in Express Entry and a stream for international graduates.[156] The Nova Scotia Nominee Program has three streams targeting entrepreneurs, international graduate entrepreneurs and skilled workers and two streams incorporated into Express Entry, one for high skilled individuals (Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry) and one for those who already have one year of experience working in Nova Scotia (Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry).[157]

The federal government assigns each participating province a certain limit of PNP applications for a given year. Table 5 below shows how many permanent residents were admitted to each Atlantic province from the years 2010 to 2015. According to the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, the region was assigned 2,325 principal applicant nominees for 2016, including family members.[158]

Table 5 – Permanent Residents Admitted through the Provincial Nominee Program

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Newfoundland and Labrador	217	274	365	440	454	533
Prince Edward Island	2,419	1,565	896	775	1,432	953
Nova Scotia	638	779	957	1,202	1,399	1,394
New Brunswick	1,352	1,230	1,580	1,330	2,107	1,765

Source:     Table complied by the authors using the annual reports to Parliament on immigration published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada from 2011–2016.

Ms. Gerry Mills of the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, told the Committee that “[m]ost of our immigrants to Nova Scotia come through the PNP stream. If the federal government is truly interested in increasing immigration to the Atlantic, raise or eliminate the caps.”[159]

Some witnesses stated that there appears to be reluctance on the part of some provinces or businesses to move from the Provincial Nominee Program (in which government evaluates labour market needs without a settlement plan) to the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (with specific settlement obligations and a designation requirement without a government assessment of labour market needs). Moreover, some witnesses also noted that the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, as proposed by the Minister, takes the Labour Market Impact Assessment out of the hands of the government and puts it into the hands of designated industry employers who can more efficiently know the labour market demands. As such, the Committee is hesitant to recommend changes to the Provincial Nominee Program before the Pilot Program has been properly assessed.

C. Express Entry for high-skilled immigration

Since January 2015, IRCC’s Express Entry[160] is a two-step application management system for key economic immigration programs. Individuals create an online profile that puts them in a pool where they are ranked using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Through ministerial instructions issued regularly, top ranking candidates’ expressions of interest are pulled from the pool and they are invited to complete an immigration application. The economic immigration programs covered by Express Entry include the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program.

Ms. Laurie Hunter described recent changes to Express Entry that in her opinion would have a positive impact on the Atlantic region. For example, more points are now awarded to post-secondary graduates from Canadian institutions and more points to candidates with strong French language skills. High-skilled workers whose application is exempt from Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) no longer require their job offer to be supported by an LMIA to receive additional points in Express Entry.[161]

1. Objective: faster processing

Express Entry is the program that currently offers the fastest processing time from the date the applicant submits a complete application and receives her or his permanent resident visa: IRCC’s service standards indicate this is done in six months or less (80% of the cases).[162] As stated in the UNHCR-OECD summary of the Business Dialogue held in Toronto, six months “is a long time for a company to wait when they have an immediate labour need.”[163] The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council indicated in a written submission that

[L]engthy processing times are a barrier to greater use of immigration by the business community.... The federal government needs to ensure it has sufficient resources to process all economic applications in a timely manner, including the new Atlantic Immigration Pilot and all provincial nominees.[164]

In this context, Mr. Fares recognized that to process all applications in a timely manner the federal government had to have sufficient resources.[165] Taking these comments into consideration, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 10

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada model the service level standards, including processing times, for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program on those currently existing for Express Entry, for which expected processing times now stand at less than six months.

D. International students

International students make up 20% of full-time enrolment in universities in the Atlantic region.[166] In 2009-2010, they contributed $565 million to the economy across the region.[167] In 2016, a survey conducted amongst the university and college graduates in the region indicated that 75% of respondents intended to remain in the region. A 2017 follow-up survey[168] showed that 64% had remained, and 26% indicated that they had left because of the lack of employment opportunities in their field of study.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has identified international students as a source of potential immigrants and has a designated staff person at the Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism to assist students with labour market and immigration advice.[169] The province also plans to partner with employers to create internships for international students as well as to pilot a program called “My First Newfoundland and Labrador Job”.[170] Students who wish to work after graduation in Canada can obtain a Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP),[171] however its length is dependent on the number of years of study. The current trend of one year masters degrees means that PGWPs valid for one year are common.

Ms. Sofia Descalzi, Chairperson, Canadian Federation of Students-Newfoundland and Labrador, shared her experience of being an international student with the Committee.[172] A recruiter from Memorial University visited her high school in Ecuador and she eventually received a scholarship for one year’s tuition. She then experienced difficulty finding part-time work off campus, discovering that employers were reluctant to hire a foreign national. She said that not having constant health-care coverage (as it is tied to full-time study) had also given her much concern. She informed the Committee that international students were frequent users of campus food banks.[173] She suggested that, in order for international students to remain in Canada, they need better pathways to citizenship and job opportunities.

Ms. McDougall also stated that the lack of front-line immigration services was a major deterrent in keeping international students on Cape Breton Island.[174]

The Committee understands that international students have been identified as potential immigrants to Atlantic Canada. For international students to transition to permanent residents, they need more support.

Recommendation 11

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, allow international students in the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and those who have been recruited by a designated employer under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program to access settlement services once they have started the permanent residency application process.

1. Flexibility for international students to remain and work in Atlantic Canada

Professor Natasha Clark of Memorial University testified that, in her experience, it was difficult for international students to become permanent residents with Express Entry, as their scores were not high enough to be competitive. She explained that “even with new changes to the comprehensive ranking system, an international graduate with a bachelor's degree and one year of work experience in Canada does not necessarily score highly enough to be competitive in the Express Entry pool.”[175] She informed the Committee that international students lack labour market opportunities and face “challenges to entering the labour market”.[176] Ms. Penny Walsh McGuire, of the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce, also spoke of the need to give international students work experience before they graduate, and yet international students were not eligible for the Canada Summer Jobs Program, and co-op study permits were difficult to obtain in a timely fashion.[177] She suggested that post graduate work permits be valid for five years regardless of the program of study.[178]

The Committee heard that an international student accepted in a co-op program would have difficulties, not in finding placement, but in the strict application of issuance of work permits. Further, seeing that Post Graduate Work Program are the key to permanent residence through Express Entry (Canadian Experience Class) it seems that in Atlantic Canada it would be useful to guarantee a length to this type of work permit.

The Committee observed that in order for recent graduates to have a reasonable opportunity to succeed in the Canadian workforce, they must first gain valuable Canadian work experience so that employers are more likely to recruit them and assist them in securing permanent residency under an existing program or the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program. The Committee recommends:

Recommendation 12

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, work with relevant stakeholders to issue work permits to students that are valid throughout their study program in Atlantic Canada, including co-op terms, and issue post graduate work permits valid for five years in Atlantic Canada.

E. Temporary foreign workers and Labour Market Impact Assessment

Temporary foreign workers (TFWs) are hired for periods not exceeding eight months, on the basis that no qualified permanent resident or Canadian is available to do the work. This involves job postings and obtaining for a fee a Labour Market Impact Assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada.[179] A closed work permit is then issued after the worker’s application is reviewed abroad. In 2014, caps were introduced to limit the number of temporary foreign workers an employer could hire.[180] Eventually, an exemption was provided to seasonal industries waiving the cap on TFWs in place until the end of 2017.[181]

A report by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council states that the use of TFWs tripled in the Atlantic region between 2005 and 2012, from 3,499 TFWs to 10,913 foreign nationals.[182] Despite this rapid growth, TFWs in 2012 represented only 1% of total employment in the Atlantic region, compared with 1.9% nationally. Temporary foreign workers primarily filled labour shortages in lower paying, lower skill occupations such as fish plant and food service workers.

Mr. McKenna stated that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program was integral to the labour market, and informed the Committee that hundreds of jobs had been shifted out of the region following the reforms to the program in 2014.[183] He suggested that a pathway to permanent residency for TFWs should be established.[184]

Mr. Mugridge spoke of the seasonal work in the fishery industry that employs, at its annual peak, 500 employees in coastal communities of Nova Scotia.[185] He explained that TFWs comprise a third of his workforce.[186] Mr. Mugridge said they were trying to develop new seafood products that would translate into full-time jobs for these workers.[187]

Mr. Kevin Lacey, Director, Atlantic, Canadian Taxpayers Federation, told the Committee that TFWs are hired to respond to labour shortages although there are high unemployment rates in the region, a situation that keeps wages down.[188] Mr. Morgan explained that employers sought TFWs at great cost,[189] but access to the program had assisted them to expand their businesses and to continue to employ Canadian workers. He provided the Committee with a survey that showed the main reasons businesses used TFWs, as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2 – Small Businesses’ Top Reasons to Hire Temporary Foreign Workers

Source:     Graphic submitted to Committee by Jordi Morgan, Small Business Views on Foreign Labour and Immigration.

Unlike the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, the International Mobility Program (IMP) allows employers to hire foreign nationals without the need to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment. In 2015, the Atlantic region welcomed 5,940 workers through the IMP and in 2016 that number rose to 7,640.[190] The majority of individuals were issued a work permit without an LMIA as it was determined that the specific circumstances showed it would benefit Canadian interests.[191] Within the temporary foreign worker program for LMIA-exempt positions (the International Mobility Program), IRCC has reinstated a stream called Mobilité francophone.[192] Ms. Sarah Parisio of the Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador indicated that this temporary worker stream was restored to support immigration to francophone communities.[193]

The Committee was told that a two-step migration, where a person moves from a temporary status (student or worker) to a permanent status, has certainly been increasingly important in the region. However, Mr. Allen, of Restaurants Canada, explained that formerly, the TFWs they hired became permanent residents through the PNP.[194] He used the past tense because there have been many modifications to each step. For example, although the caps on the number of TFWs were waived for fisheries, they were not for other industry sectors in the Atlantic region. Further, LMIA now cost $1000 per foreign national, making the process of hiring a TFW even more expensive.[195] Finally, the PNPs have changed, and are no longer programs open to the low-skill labour they require.

The Committee heard from many witnesses about the desirability of creating a pathway to permanent residence for temporary foreign workers, however, the only specific model proposed seemed unfeasible given the current design of Provincial Nominee Programs.

Recommendation 13

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada work with the provinces to streamline their processes to facilitate the transition from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program to become permanent residents.

F. Entrepreneurs

The Federal Immigrant Investor and Entrepreneurs program was terminated in 2014.[196] The Entrepreneur portion of the program was replaced with the Start-up Visa Program.[197] An applicant for this program needs business experience and must find a designated organization to support the concept for a business that he or she puts forward. These government-approved organizations are designated venture capital funds, designated angel investor groups or designated business incubators.

Professor Roxanne Reeves of the University of New Brunswick described the Business Immigrant Mentorship Program that was developed in New Brunswick. It pairs immigrants with local business mentors who often become community hosts. The Business Immigrant Mentorship program offers networking opportunities and professional support.[198]

As one example of an immigrant entrepreneur, Ms. Shuo Sherry Huang of Sunrise Group Ltd described how she and her husband had developed seven companies in the decade following their arrival in Prince Edward Island.[199] They purchased a language school; they negotiated a franchisee agreement with PEI’s COWS Ice cream and they now have several stores in China selling that brand. Their companies have built bridges between Canada and China, and continue to require a multinational workforce.

G. Resettled Refugees

Ministers from the governments of New Brunswick and P.E.I. spoke positively about the resettlement of Syrian refugees in their provinces in 2015-2016.[200] The Atlantic region, in general, has been very supportive of the federal government’s Syrian refugee initiative[201] and welcomed 11.5% of the Syrian refugees that came to Canada between 4 November 2015 and 30 September 2016.[202] Specifically, the Atlantic Provinces received 570 Syrian refugees through the Blended Visa Office–Referred Program, 2,760 through the Government-Assisted Refugee Program and 515 through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program.

Mr. Alex LeBlanc, from the New Brunswick Multicultural Council stated that New Brunswick, had resettled over 1,600 Syrian refugees and that so far 90% of them are reportedly still in the province. He indicated that the efforts of the broader community led to a greater sense of belonging for them and better integration.[203] Ms. Mills from Nova Scotia informed the Committee that the Syrian refugees are asking how to sponsor their family members, underscoring the importance of family in retention.[204]

A brief submitted by the UNHCR to the Committee describes a program called the Talent Beyond Boundaries Initiative that is working to connect the Syrian refugee talent pool with businesses where their skills may be in demand.[205] Refugees with skills face some of the same challenges as other immigrants, such as the recognition of their foreign credentials or language barriers; the biggest difference is that they often lack the financial resources to put forward an economic application. It was suggested to continue bringing them to Canada with the protections refugees have, but for their profiles to be recognized in the Express Entry system adapting the current scoring system to give additional points to a candidate’s profile if she or he is a Convention Refugee. Additionally, it was suggested that IRCC recognize the work performed in the country of first asylum.[206]

In keeping with the desire to grow the population and to respond to labour demands, the Committee recognizes that further steps to the Syrian initiative could be applied to the Atlantic region and recommends:

Recommendation 14

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada consider under its Refugee Resettlement Program ways to bring extended family members of currently settled refugees with skill sets in demand for immediate resettlement to the Atlantic region.

H. Concerns for all immigration programs

Mr. Jose Rivera, of the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, told the Committee that immigrants often struggle to have their previous work experience, as well as their educational credentials, recognized.[207] He stated that the process of having qualifications recognized appears to be slow and information is difficult to obtain. This leaves professionals discouraged. In view of the dire labour situation in the Atlantic Provinces, the Committee acknowledges that the recognition of foreign qualifications must be a priority.

Recommendation 15

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada work alongside the Atlantic Provinces, regulatory agencies and trade unions to simplify recognition of foreign qualifications in the region.

Furthermore, it appears that gaps in the workforce can be predicted and identified. Mr. Karl Flecker of the KEYS Job Centre urged the Committee to rethink where jobs currently are and where they will be in the future. Using Dr. Akbari’s research, he said, by 2018, there will be more than 56,000 job opportunities in Atlantic Canada with the bulk being unskilled and lower-skilled jobs, intermediate skill-level and technical skills level jobs.[208] He argued that there must be immigration programs that help build this workforce. The current immigration programs use the National Occupational Code[209] that divides the labour market into subsets of skills and programs for permanent residence are designed to attract a skilled and highly skilled workforce (NOC A, B or 0). As Ms. Juanita Ford of Hospitality Newfoundland told the Committee:

Many occupations fall into the NOC C and D categories and are therefore considered unskilled.… For example, hotels require managers and marketing specialists, but cannot successfully operate without cleaners, servers and maintenance workers.[210]

Mr. Erjavec also spoke to the issue of needing programs that bring workers of all skill levels.[211]

Recommendation 16

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada adapt current programs to make room for candidates with job skills classified as National Occupational Classification C or D to address the needs of Atlantic Canada including sectors such as agriculture, construction, fisheries, hospitality and transportation.

Part 3: Attracting and Integrating Newcomers to Atlantic Canada

Part 3 discusses what the Committee heard about how Atlantic Canada could be promoted to successfully attract candidates that will settle in the region permanently, as well as the features that appear to appeal to immigrants, including the importance of better integrating immigrants in the region through the workforce and communities.[212] The report then provides an overview of the three sectors that must work together in order to better integrate newcomers in Atlantic Canada, namely the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

A. Create awareness abroad of Atlantic Canada as a place to call home

In the shadow of the big three cities in Canada that attract the most immigrants, witnesses have suggested to the Committee that potential immigrants need to be informed about the benefits of life in the Atlantic Provinces.

Mr. Howard Ramos and Ms. Yoko Yoshida told the Committee that recent cohorts of economic immigrants, who file taxes, in Atlantic Canada outperform the national average in terms of rates of employment and earnings. This should be promoted widely in attempt to attract immigrants to the region.[213]

The Conference Board of Canada recommended that the Atlantic Provinces promote certain benefits offered by and in the region like being “tight-knit communities”, the fact that the wage gap between Canadian-born and immigrants is small and that the cost of living is more affordable than in larger Canadian cities. The Conference Board’s submission also cited the quality of higher education and the possibility for personalized settlement support services in the region.[214]

The Committee heard from some witnesses about features of Atlantic Canada appealing to immigrants. One of the employees hired at Farmers Daughter Country Market is from the Philippines and had previously worked in various cities across Canada. She told Ms. Coulombe that by settling in a rural community of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, she finally had a sense of belonging.[215]

In a survey conducted by the Association of Atlantic Universities, international students listed the top three reasons why they would like to stay in Atlantic Canada: the low cost of living, that it is a great place to raise a family and for the general quality of life.[216]

Providing one personal example of a promotional campaign that had worked, Ms. Coulombe came up with a novel idea that generated 300,000 emails from around the world to work for her family-owned business.[217] She posted an advertisement on social media explaining the reality of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; its beauty, its rural environment, low wages, hard winters and limited Internet capabilities. She offered two acres of land to those who would work five years for her business. She told the Committee that her labour needs were driven by tourism from summer through to December, and while it was easy to hire up to 50 students in the summer, staffing the rest of the year was difficult. In hiring, her major concern was the “right fit”: people desiring a sustainable rural lifestyle who are community-minded. She told the Committee that her advertisement had inspired three families to come and start their own businesses, as well as interest in the region from international businesses in the tourism sector from England, South Africa and Sweden.

Ultimately, the Committee heard that raising awareness about Atlantic Canada can create an interest that translates into migration to the region. In light of this, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 17

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada work with Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Global Affairs Canada to finance a recruitment campaign to attract immigration to the Atlantic Provinces, and evaluate on a regular basis if the campaign is successful.

B. Working together to integrate newcomers in Atlantic Canada

1. Business engagement

Mr. Fares, a business man and an immigrant himself, spoke about the importance of the business community in integrating immigrants:

At the end of the day, for any immigration program to work, the business community will have to be part of it and will have to be the main one pushing for it. Employers are the business community.[218]

Governments need to plan, develop and promote their programs according to the needs of its local business community, because employers “know they have gaps or … shortages, but they don't know what's available to them”[219] to reduce those gaps. For that reason, in 2014, Nova Scotia established an advisory council on immigration mandating Mr. Fares and his co-chair, Dr. Colin Dodds to promote the province, its opportunities and its immigration programs. Mr. Fares said that they “have at least two or three meetings a month”[220] with stakeholders and different business groups to provide information and support. He argues that there has been a “success rate from the business community using the immigration programs.”[221]

New Brunswick also has seen a strong engagement from the business community in regards to immigration. The province has business immigrant mentorship programs and has started “a succession connect program in Fredericton that will connect business immigrants with businesses for sale in New Brunswick.”[222]

The benefit of “matching the immigrant investor to potential business succession opportunities” was also raised by Mr. David Campbell, President of Jupia Consultants Inc. and former chief economist with the New Brunswick Jobs Board Secretariat. He suggested implementing “a mechanism where the potential buyer of a new business can shadow the current owner and take part in the business for a while to see if there’s a fit.”[223]

According to witnesses, the relative success of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program is due mainly to the involvement of the business community in the process.[224] Mr. Fares agrees that an application to be a designated employer[225] can take “a lot of research and assessment,”[226] but he stressed the importance of the program relying on good employers that will “give good jobs and take care of the newcomers and the foreign workers.”[227]

2. Settlement services and integration support

Witnesses told the Committee that settlement programming was instrumental in welcoming and integrating immigrants.[228] New Brunswick has “13 service provider organizations” across the province to ensure that newcomers have access to settlement services in communities.[229] According to IRCC data, Nova Scotia has six service provider organizations, whereas P.E.I. has five and Newfoundland and Labrador has three[230] service provider organizations.[231]

The Committee also heard that a “one-size-fits-all approach has not worked and will not work”[232] for settlement services in Atlantic Canada, especially in regards to settlement funding as well as selecting and integrating immigrants. Settlement service providers stressed that the current funding model has affected their ability to deliver services in the region.[233] Currently, “settlement agencies funded by IRCC are on a three-year rolling average of landings.”[234] This presents a problem in smaller regions. Mr. Mackie noted that, “where numbers may vary, we can go through a couple of years of low landings and then have a big year,”[235] but resources are no longer available to accommodate the higher number of newcomers. He pointed out his organization had its funding cut “in 2015 by 17% —a quarter of a million dollars for this organization — after two years of low arrivals. Then in 2016 we had huge numbers, but we [currently] don't have the staff to support them.”[236] Ms. Parisio also warned the Committee that if settlement organizations cannot “count on the funding of the services we need to help them, we lose” [237] most of the newcomers in the smaller communities.[238] Mr. Jose Rivera, Executive Director of the Refugee and Immigrant Advisory Council, noted that his organization does not receive core funding from IRCC to be able to help newcomers integrate into the community.[239]

Mr. Leblanc also highlighted the need for “more flexible options to [be available for] provinces and cities to select the immigrants who match their economic, demographic, and linguistic realities”[240] because integration takes place locally. This is especially true when welcoming and integrating newcomers into minority language communities as highlighted by Ms. Parisio. She remarked that in Newfoundland and Labrador the francophone settlement organization focuses on “a service that would facilitate community

integration”[241] because “immigration has become detrimental to our francophone communities”.[242] However, due to funding cuts and geographical remoteness,[243]

language assessment and French-language courses for newcomers are non-existent in [Newfoundland and Labrador]. As a result, we see that francophone newcomers go to the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, to a foreign country, to take the French test required to obtain Canadian citizenship.[244]

Ms. Corinne Prince of IRCC spoke about ensuring that service providers have the ability to offer localized and regional sorts of assistance “so that immigrants arriving in Canada are able to find settlement and integration services in French.”[245]

Ms. McDougall pointed out that immigration services and supports tend to stay in the provincial capitals, which negatively affects regions further out in the province.[246] On the other hand, Professor Howard Ramos of the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University argued that settlement service providers in the “hub” urban centres are very successful by offering a full complement of services and could support smaller communities.[247] Nevertheless, that is not a reality for a community such as Sydney, Nova Scotia, that is approximately five and a half hours from Halifax, which is where settlement services are located.[248] Ms. McDougall did note that the province does provide settlement services on Cape Breton Island, but that it was restricted to permanent residents. Therefore, international students cannot access settlement services on Cape Breton Island and, if they are no longer enrolled at the university, they have to seek help in Halifax.[249]

Another set of concerns was the integration support provided to family members. Ms. Reddy-Kalala highlighted the importance of every family member enrolling in language classes, but that it is currently difficult because there is a need for child-minding available on-site.[250] Mr. Rivera remarked that immigrants, especially youth that are in the education system, need a strong support network to better integrate in the community.[251] He also pressed the importance of mental health services to help individuals with the difficulties of arriving in a new community.[252]

Considering the variety of settlement and integration services, P.E.I. Minister Gallant called for a coordinated settlement strategy among all levels of government to ensure a better offer of services that focuses on proactive engagement and expanding growth in rural Atlantic Canada.[253] The Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 18

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada work in partnership with its provincial counterparts, municipal partners, settlement service providers, multi-ethnic organizations, employers and other stakeholders to develop and implement a coordinated settlement strategy for Atlantic Canada.

a. Settlement plans under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program

In order to ensure better integration, the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program requires a settlement plan in the application process to connect newcomers to “the services known to support successful integration.”[254] However, witnesses expressed concern about relying on the five federal government designated settlement agencies located in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver [255] to develop these settlement plans.[256] Witnesses suggested that local settlement agencies should the ones to prepare the settlement plans for immigrants under the AIPP.[257] These local settlement agencies are more suited to design the plans than ones outside the Atlantic region as they offer the integration services needed for the local communities welcoming the newcomers.[258] By working with local settlement agencies on plans designed by them, immigrants would be able to be better prepared prior to their arrival in the new community which facilitates integration and retention.[259]

Mr. Allen also noted that, under the AIPP, the settlement plan “is very complex for someone to complete and go through the consultation” and reminded the Committee that the temporary foreign worker program does not have that requirement. He felt that he was already welcoming and integrating temporary foreign workers by greeting them at the airport upon arrival, spending “a week getting them settled, finding a spot, and helping them get some accommodations and some furniture, whatever the case was.”[260]

The complexity of settlement plans led Ms. Susan Wilson, Director of Human Resources at J.D. Irving Ltd., to call for “an integrated access for employers to settlement services” or “a one-stop shop to assist employers with where to seek out and best utilize the settlement resources that are available to us.”[261] Consequently, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 19

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada facilitate access by employers of best practices in settlement services and recognize the ability of local settlement agencies to provide settlement plans to employers within the framework developed for the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program.

Part 4: Ensuring Permanent Residents Remain in Atlantic Canada

As the Committee heard, retention of newcomers to Atlantic Canada is an important issue for the region. The low level of retention undermines the region’s efforts in attracting immigrants and growing communities. Part 4 of the report discusses retention rates in Atlantic Canada, including the retention efforts to ensure Atlantic Canada grows. It also emphasizes the importance of social infrastructure and community acceptance.

A. Retaining permanent residents and Atlantic Canadians

Officials from IRCC informed the Committee that interprovincial mobility, or retention of immigrants, is calculated based on the intended destination province declared at arrival and the province declared as residence five years after arrival.[262] Retention rates vary by program and province, but, overall, in Atlantic Canada,

we have a range starting from about 30% for P.E.I. all the way to 75% for Nova Scotia. Newfoundland and Labrador will be 65%. Other provinces will definitely have higher retention rates when we look at the full program. In other programs such as the Canadian experience class there are much higher retention rates for the Atlantic. I know the numbers are small but retention is very high. Family class will have a much higher retention rate ranging between 85% and 74%. That is the family class, and you might also anticipate why the rootedness and whatnot are a factor.[263]

…

the retention rates of privately sponsored refugees are much higher. Again, that's pointing in the direction of family involvement and the welcoming nature of the community, if you will. They all contribute towards the retention rates.[264]

New Brunswick has a retention rate of 72% and the province aims to increase it “to 80% with concentrated integration and retention efforts.”[265]

Ms. Penny Walsh McGuire from the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce commented on P.E.I.’s low retention rate, which she situated at 38%. According to her, many newcomers leave P.E.I. just two years after completing their PNP requirements, which she qualified not as a pathway to P.E.I., but “more of a pathway to Canada”.[266] Ms. Walsh McGuire informed the Committee that P.E.I.’s action plan for population growth includes a focus on retention for immigrants and youth. Minister Gallant stated that P.E.I. is engaging its communities to improve retention rates, which also means working more closely with francophone organizations to grow P.E.I.’s francophone community.[267]

Based on data from 2014, the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration indicated that 73% of newcomers to the province between 2009 and 2013 stayed, whereas in the early 2000s it was only 50%. Mr. Fares argued that settlement programming was instrumental in improving retention rates in Nova Scotia.[268]

In Newfoundland and Labrador, Ms. Parisio informed the Committee that retention of immigrants in Francophone minority communities “is high because it is easy for them to integrate into small groups and small communities.”[269] However, Mr. Rivera observed that Newfoundland and Labrador has an overall low retention rate that he believes it is due mainly to lack of information and access to services. He recommended that funding be provided so that an information portal can be developed to access all types of services.[270] Mr. Rivera also reminded the Committee that three elements are essential for retention: employment, information, and transportation.

Professor Emery also considered employment and wages as important retention elements, not just for newcomers but for all Atlantic Canadians.[271] He mentioned a study that looked at “return migrants to New Brunswick”[272] and he noted that of all the New Brunswickers who left and returned to the province about half came back within 10 years of their departure.[273] However, of that half, very few remained in the province for more than one or two years after they had returned because the labour demand was small.[274] Professor Emery considers business opportunities and private sector investment as a driver for labour demand and high retention rates.[275]

Mr. Flecker offered a specific suggestion to increase retention. He suggested that governments at all levels should establish “social procurement strategies” that provides extra points when assessing proposals from companies that have the most diverse workforce.[276]

Most witnesses underlined the importance of family links and community roots as key elements to retention. As stated by Professor Yoshida, immigrants’ “decision making is based on household well-being rather than individual well-being.”[277] She emphasized the importance of family settlement, noting that family-sponsored spouses and partners have better employment outcomes and higher earnings in Atlantic Canada compared to the national average.[278]

As such the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 20

That the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada continue to allocate additional immigration to Atlantic Canada, as proposed by the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, in order to create conditions in which Atlantic Canada can enjoy population growth at the national average.

1. Access to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada offices

In 2012, Prince Edward Island became the only province with no Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office.[279] Mr. Mackie suggested that newcomers would benefit from being able to access services in the province, such as retrieving permanent resident cards and attending interviews for spousal sponsorship.[280] Requiring newcomers to go to Halifax places a financial burden on them.[281] Following up on this point, Mr. Leger emphasized that an IRCC office is a key to retention, because immigrants generally move to large centers in order to have easy access to an IRCC office.[282]

In addition to the office closure, the Committee heard that there were office consolidations in New Brunswick and staff reductions in Halifax and St. John’s. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada may require additional staff to meet the administration requirement of delivering the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and should look to Atlantic Canada as the preferred location for expanding its footprint to meet the requirement of immigration to Atlantic Canada. Consequently, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 21

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reopen and re-staff the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship offices in Atlantic Canada, which were closed or downsized on June 1^st, 2012, and look to Atlantic Canada as a preferred location for future increases to the department’s footprint.

B. Strengthening Atlantic Canada’s social infrastructure

During the course of the study, a few witnesses suggested to the Committee that the existing social infrastructure in Atlantic Canada, such as schools, universities and community groups, should be fully utilized to retain immigrants in the region. Mr. Campbell pointed out that the school, community college and university systems are natural conduits for new immigrants to integrate into the community[283] and become active members of the community. He believed that

In a perfect world every immigrant would come through the post-secondary system, either college or the university system because they would then be accredited with a Canadian degree or diploma. They would have had the time to put up with our winters for two, three or four years. They'd really understand if they wanted to settle down for their life in Atlantic Canada.[284]

Mr. Poschmann also emphasized the important role that neighbourhoods with a particular ethnic focus have,[285] especially in rural settings. Mr. Campbell pointed out that “churches and other groups … are [already] catering to specific ethnic communities”[286] throughout Atlantic Canada.

Two other witnesses raised the importance of ethnocultural associations, places of faith and welcoming neighbourhoods as retention factors. For example, Mr. Leger asked for funding “for ethnocultural associations and places of faith”[287] to support immigrant populations in Moncton, New Brunswick. He emphasized the need to build connections between ethnocultural groups within communities which can support newcomers when they arrive in Atlantic Canada. This extra level of support, in addition to settlement agencies and municipalities, is important to create a link to the local community.[288] Mr. Rivera also highlighted the need for multicultural organizations and ethnocultural associations in Newfoundland and Labrador.[289]

C. Welcoming communities in Atlantic Canada

Minister Arseneault also emphasized the value and benefits of a diverse and multicultural society and the importance of community.

We believe in inclusive communities, support for all New Brunswick families, and investing in culture. Recent public opinion research produced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada shows that residents of Atlantic Canada express more positive views on immigration and refugees compared to other regions of Canada.^[290]

He also spoke of maintaining the momentum of the federal government's Syrian refugee initiative, which saw more than 350 communities throughout Canada welcoming refugees, “to continue to create welcoming communities for all newcomers, and to increase the number of new immigrants coming to New Brunswick.”^[291]

Ms. Mills explained that IRCC has a settlement program called Community Connections that connects newcomers to the community. The program tries to foster connections through volunteering: “people engaged in community gardens, volunteering in the community, that sort of work.”[292] Professor Reeves supported the principle of creating community connections, because newcomers need a sense of belonging.[293] “Cultivating relationships with local residents assists in anchoring immigrants in their community.”[294]

Several witnesses stated that Atlantic Canada has the willingness and capacity to welcome, engage and integrate immigrants into communities.[295] The sentiment was echoed by Ms. Mills who stated:

A few years ago, my phone was ringing off the hook with people asking me, “Come and speak to us about immigrants and why we need immigrants.” That's not what we're talking about right now. My phone is ringing off the hook with people saying, “What can we do? What can I do? What can I do personally, as an employer, as a community?” Communities are absolutely ready in Nova Scotia.[296]

Nevertheless, Mr. Flecker cited research done by Professors Dechief, Oreopoulos, Ramos and Yoshida and argued that immigrants sometimes leave Atlantic Canada because of experiences of discrimination.[297] He, as well as several other witnesses, underlined the need for public campaigns that promote the benefits of immigration and diversity.[298] These awareness campaigns should be built on partnerships with the local communities and main stakeholders such as municipalities, settlement agencies, unions, employers, and faith-based groups.[299] In this context, Minister Arseneault noted that New Brunswick does have a public awareness campaign named “We are all NB”, which aims “to educate all New Brunswickers on our current demographic and skilled labour challenges, and on the benefits of immigration and creating welcoming communities to alleviate this situation.”[300]

The Fredericton Chamber of Commerce also suggested increasing intercultural awareness and sensitivity to address the “level of distrust” immigrant investors may have experienced from locals, pointing out that training and workshops should be offered to government representatives and “business professionals, especially those working in the areas of talent acquisition, consulting and banking – all of which are major points of first contact for immigrants.”[301]

Mr. Mackie stated that reduced funding for settlement service providers had an impact in P.E.I. on the delivery of cultural sensitivity training and diversity education that supports inclusion.[302] For example, the Prince Edward Island Association for Newcomers to Canada “no longer deliver[s] multicultural education to public schools.”[303]

Recommendation 22

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, in cooperation with Canadian Heritage, review the funding model for service provider organizations to include diversity education that supports inclusion.

Part 5: Evaluating and Moving Forward

On 11 July 2017, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship provided an update on the status of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program.[304] Four months after the launch of the pilot program, 634 employers had applied for designation and 412 had been designated. A total of 282 skilled immigrants and recent international graduates had been recruited and 214 were ready to apply as permanent residents. Since applicants are expected to come with their families, the pilot project alone, as of July 2017, has brought in approximately 400 to 500 individuals in addition to pre-existing programs.

Despite this update, the Committee heard about the need to evaluate the program and its results, including retention rates. Ms. Hunter has stated that IRCC will be

looking at different elements of the pilot as it rolls out, and we definitely need to evaluate the results as we go. Looking at the unique settlement component and the components focused on retention, as well as the fact that there are the rural areas that have different needs than urban areas do, that certainly is a possibility.[305]

Nevertheless, Professor Ramos stressed the need for researchers to have access to open data to better study the successes of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and immigration in the region more generally.[306]

Mr. Ivany observed that the “demographic pattern in Atlantic Canada … is a bit of a precursor to what will happen in other areas of Canada, that kind of age weighting will fundamentally change everything.”[307] For that reason, Mrs. Walsh McGuire stated that the program has best practices that can be applied elsewhere in Canada in regions with similar demographic challenges.[308] Mr. Flecker also said that the program has the potential to be expanded.[309]

Recommendation 23

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada perform a gender-based analysis of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and develop targets to set a standard for gender equality.

Recommendation 24

That a committee of the House of Commons conduct a formal review of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program after March 2020, to assess whether retention and immigration levels to the Atlantic region improved under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program, and whether the pilot should be offered as a new immigration program nationally.