Ontario agrees with the federal government to double the number of skilled immigrants

Among the sectors that are in the province's line of sight are construction and health.

Ontario to double the number of immigrants the province receives under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), by 2025.

Federal and provincial labor ministers announced on Saturday that the province will have more than 18,000 places available in its program in 2025.

The economy depends on how we can fix the lack of manpower. We have 300,000 job vacancies to date, says Ontario Minister of Labor and Immigration, Monte McNaughton.

He specifies that the province had far fewer places than the others provinces to select the profiles it needs.

In 2021, Ontario allowed only 9,000 people to participate in this program.

Thanks to the new agreement, 16,500 migrants will arrive in the province in 2023 through through the OINP, more than 17,000 in 2024 and more than 18,000 in 2025.

The Ontario Minister of Labor indicates that the health sector and the professions of construction are among the profiles highly sought after by Ontario.

On the federal government side, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser adds that Ottawa continues to expand its migration policy.

Summer Last year, we had 300,000 jobs to fill in Ontario and close to a million across Canada. With so many vacant positions, we will not be able to maximize our economic potential if we stop recruiting newcomers, explains the minister.

According to him, the question is not only economic , but also demographic, because there are fewer and fewer workers compared to the number of retired people.

If we don't continue to bring people to work in In the next generation, discussions will no longer be about the lack of manpower, but about the possibility of keeping schools and hospitals open, he concludes.