Feds slashing immigration spaces in half, leaving N.L. immigration minister 'gobsmacked'

The federal government is slashing allocations of economic immigration spaces for Newfoundland and Labrador in half, a decision that has the province's immigration minister warning of grave implications for professional recruitment.

Immigration, Population Growth, and Skills Minister Sarah Stoodley told CBC News she received the news in a letter from federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller on Wednesday night, informing her of the change for 2025.

"I'm just gobsmacked and my team are devastated," she told Radio-Canada on Thursday.

Last year, Ottawa allocated Newfoundland and Labrador 3,050 economic immigration spaces under two immigration programs, a number Stoodley said she had been advocating to be increased. Instead, it's been cut to 1,525.

The province was allocated 2,100 spaces under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and 950 spots under the Atlantic Immigration Program. Both allocations have been slashed in half.

Furthermore, under the new rules 75 per cent of this year's spaces under the PNP are reserved for temporary workers who are already in the province, allowing them to become permanent residents.

Stoodley says that means the province could recruit a maximum of 737 economic immigrants this year.

"It's going to have significant economic implications for Newfoundland and Labrador," Stoodley warned.

Stoodley said she hasn't been able to speak with Miller since receiving the letter, and her previous attempts to arrange a meeting with him didn't happen.

Thursday afternoon, Miller's press secretary Renée LeBlanc Proctor responded to Radio-Canada with an email statement.

"Immigration is essential to Canada's economic growth, but higher numbers have put pressure on our housing, infrastructure and social services," the statement read.

"The minister expects provinces to be judicious in the use of their PNP allocations ... Given concerns about labour market needs, the minister expects that tools such as foreign recruitment allowances will be used to address critical labour needs that are currently unmet, such as professionals in the health or construction sectors."

"In his discussions with the provinces, the minister reiterated the potential for additional allocations, particularly for those provinces that commit to immediate collaboration on shared priorities, such as helping asylum seekers." the statement said.

Tough decisions ahead

Stoodley said the letter also told her that the 50-per-cent cut is happening across all provinces — but she said N.L. is in a unique position when it comes to needing immigrants. Across Canada, six per cent of the population are temporary residents, and Ottawa wants to reduce that to 5 per cent. Stoodley said in N.L. that number is 1.65 per cent.

"So we are already far, far below the federal government's target," she said.

Severely reducing spaces in the immigration system will put the N.L. government in a difficult position, she said.

"In 2025, we're going to have to make really tough decisions. Do we get a social worker or do we help a company bring in a key worker? A key executive member that they couldn't hire otherwise," she said.

"We're really gonna have to rethink our approach to recruitment. We're going to have to do some very significant prioritization."

N.L. needs to fill a wide range of workers, from doctors, nurses and social workers, child psychologists, food service workers and beyond, she said.

"We're going to have to ruthlessly prioritize those with people to build houses, early childhood educators, key business roles that local businesses need to survive," she said.

Stoodley said she has already had initial discussions with the business community about the situation, and she will be hosting information sessions.

Health care under threat

Stoodley said health care recruitment will be negatively affected by the move.

For comparison, she said the new cap on international recruitment for 2025 — which amounts to 737 spaces — is the same number of health-care workers the province recruited from outside the country in 2024.

She said 90 per cent of internationally recruited nurses are working outside of St. John's, so the policy change will have a "dire impact" on future recruitment efforts and will negatively impact rural N.L. as well.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Registered Nurses' Union also has concerns about how this policy change will affect nursing recruitment, as the province has made international recruitment a key part of its solution to address the health-care staffing-shortage crisis.

"We are already witnessing a significant exodus of health-care professionals. What is the government's plan to address the challenges posed by changes to the federal government's immigration allocation for Newfoundland and Labrador," president Yvette Coffey said in a statement.

Coffey said she wants the provincial government to share a plan to navigate this challenge. 

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