Ontario East was represented by director Bob Peters, Manager, Cornwall Economic Development, at a workshop in Toronto aimed at gathering input regarding Canada’s Immigration system.
The meeting was hosted by Christiane Fox, Deputy Minister of Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The meeting was attended by Ken Nakahara, Assistant Deputy Minister, Global Talent and Settlement Services Division with the Government of Ontario.
Ontario East was the only municipal economic development organization at the meeting, which was well attended by community college representatives, advocacy organizations and other interested stakeholders.
At the meeting, there was an opportunity to stress the importance of ensuring that municipalities (and economic development professionals) are included in policy and program decisions, the need to properly fund local settlement agencies and the importance of encouraging newcomers to settle in smaller communities (rather than the “big three” – Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver). Other themes during the meeting were the need for flexibility, transparency, efficiency and compassion in the system. The Deputy Minister did raise the issue of Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) and received feedback that during times of low unemployment, they were likely an unnecessary burden on employers. There were some very interesting statistics presented at the meeting that shows that Ontario immigration is different from the rest of the country – we will try and get you those numbers.
There is an online survey where you can share your thoughts/advice on the future of immigration in Canada:
https://www.canada.ca/immigration-future
The person leading the review is Carolyn Dittburner, Director General, Strategic Immigration Review. She can be reached at Carolyn.Dittburner@cic.gc.ca