Skilled immigrants to get express entry into N.L.

The provincial government announced Wednesday a new initiative aimed at attracting more skilled immigrants to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Premier Paul Davis made the announcement at the Association for New Canadians centre in St. John's.

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The express entry skilled worker category will allow a faster process to take place so skilled immigrants can come to the province.

Under the new category, 550 applications will be accepted annually — in addition to the 500 annual nominations under the provincial nominee program.

Davis said increasing the number of immigrants coming to the province is an important part of growing the economy.

"We need to grow our population to grow our province, growing a workforce helps to drive our economy," he said.

"It creates opportunities for businesses, businesses hire more people, they earn income and revenue and spend that, which then drives our economy, so it helps our population growth overall."

According to a government statement, the agreement has a commitment from the federal government to process the applications in six months or less, which reduces the wait time by about half.

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Davis said the province negotiated with the federal government for the highest percentage increase for the number of fast-tracked immigrants Newfoundland and Labrador could accept.

While there's a downturn in the oil markets, Davis said there are still jobs that aren't being filled by the local workforce.

"There's a downturn in oil business and we hear of people that are staying home, but there are other businesses that are growing. There are still other skills that are needed," he said.

"We now have better ability to identify those skills up front and look for people who meet those skill sets … versus first entry, first-come first-serve basis."

Growing retention rate

Employers must demonstrate that they tried to hire someone locally. They must advertise for at least six weeks, but prove they were unable to fill the position.

Davis said while the first priority is to ensure Newfoundlanders and Labradorians gain employment, getting — and keeping — immigrants is a much-needed part of the population growth strategy.

He added the province's retention numbers have been increasing, which means fewer and fewer immigrants are using Newfoundland and Labrador as a "gateway to move to other parts of Canada."

"We want people to come here, we know our retention numbers have improved. Since about 2006, 2007, there's been [a] steady increase in our retention numbers," said Davis.

"We're just slightly below the Canadian average now, it's greatly improved from where we were several years ago so that's important."