A Winnipeg immigration lawyer says he is concerned about the impact on Manitoba of federal reductions in the number of new permanent residents.

Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Thursday that the country would reduce the expected number of new permanent residents from 485,000 this year to 395,000 in 2024, with further reductions in 2026 and 2027.

Under the new plan, the national immigration targets of the Provincial Nominee Program — which allows provinces and territories to nominate people interested in settling in their respective jurisdictions — will be cut by about half, from from 110,000 this year to an annual target of 55,000 over the next three years. years.

Winnipeg immigration lawyer Reis Pagtakhan said while it’s unclear how many provincial nominees Manitoba will ultimately get, the outlook “seems pretty bleak” given the magnitude discounts.

“It will definitely have an impact on Manitoba,” he said. News radio host Marcy Markusa during an interview Friday.

Manitoba is currently eligible for 9,500 provincial nominees, Pagtakhan said.

While he understands it is an attempt to alleviate some of the pressures population growth is putting on housing and the health care system, Manitoba’s situation is “probably different,” he said. he declared.

“The question is … whether we are addressing the problem correctly as it relates to Manitoba, or whether there is a national solution to address a crisis in other cities and other provinces,” Pagtakhan said.

“Even though we’re looking at cuts to address an immediate problem, the bottom line is we still need more people in this province, in this country. And that’s where the challenge lies.”

The province makes its case

Prime Minister Wab Kinew told reporters Friday that his government will continue to advocate for an immigration policy that supports currently available jobs and housing stock, while continuing to grow the economy.

“We’ve made the argument that if you give Manitoba more spots, we’ll fill more,” he said, adding the government is on track to fill all of its provincial nominee allocations for this year.

Minister Miller, who was in Winnipeg last week, said during an interview with News radio last Friday, the federal government was ready to work with provinces that need more immigrants, like Manitoba.

“For the provinces that are willing to work with us and take responsibility for ensuring that immigrants are well supported when they arrive here and contribute to the economy, we are willing to work with the provinces that take that responsibility .” » Miller said.

Her provincial counterpart, Malaya Marcelino, said in a statement Thursday that Manitoba needs a skilled workforce and that the provincial nominee program is important to growing the province’s economy.

“We will continue to call on the federal government to meet Manitoba’s labor needs,” she said.

In a statement, an organization that supports and helps newcomers settle in Manitoba said the federal plan “undermines Canada’s long-standing commitment to humanitarian immigration.”

Canada should expand its existing programs and invest in “its capacity to better respond to global crises, while fulfilling its responsibility to support both current residents and newcomers,” wrote Seid Oumer Ahmed on behalf of the Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations, or MANSO.

The organization is “particularly concerned” by the low targets set for the humanitarian part of the plan, including for refugees, he wrote.

The number of government-supported refugees “remains largely unchanged from previous years” but is “minuscule compared to the staggering global displacement crisis,” he wrote.

At the same time, the demand for refugees has increased significantly, with millions forced from their homes due to global conflicts and human rights violations, he said.

“Canada has the resources and capacity to do more,” but the levels in the new immigration plan do not “adequately reflect this reality,” he wrote.

He added that Canada had a “long-standing reputation” for resettling refugees, highlighting its response in helping Syrians, Yazidis and Afghans, as well as Ukrainians, nearly 300,000 of whom were under the regime’s control. Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Authorization program, which “raised hope that Canada could continue to replicate such ambitious initiatives for other vulnerable populations,” Ahmed wrote.

“However, the recent change in immigration policy reflects a departure from this compassionate approach.”