Latest Articles
Back
The Upcoming Municipal Nominee Program of Canada
Canada's Upcoming Municipal Nominee Program or MNP is a regional economic immigration program introduced for local communities, local labor councils, and chambers of commerce. Under this program, immigrants will be recruited by local communities based on their skills and the requirements of the job. To fill the local labor needs, employer-driven newcomer sponsorship is expected. This new Municipal Nominee Program by Canada is introduced to help newcomers integrate better into the community by providing them a job and community support. As predicted by the labor market experts, with the help of these programs, the immigrants are more likely to move to the smaller cities and towns in Canada.
“Business owners across the country are facing challenges finding the workers they need,” notes the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) on its website. “While it’s easier (and cheaper) to hire a Canadian for the job, sometimes there just aren’t enough qualified or willing applicants. The immigration system can help businesses fill both permanent and temporary positions.”
This program was promised by Justin Trudeau during the previous platform and amid the upcoming election, we are reminded by it. The main benefit of this program was to spread the perks of immigration to areas other than the large urban centers so that mid-sized communities in smaller cities and towns can also benefit from it.
Key Points of Municipal Nominee Program
The anticipated key features of the Municipal Nominee Program are:
- The new immigration program will offer a minimum of 5,000 spaces per year
- Permanent residents will be able to apply for free for citizenship that cost $680 now to apply
- The permanent residence physical presence will be reduced to 3 years in the last 5, from the 4-years current requirement in the last 6.
Dan Kelly, the CFIB’s president and chief executive officer, has gone so far as to say: “Economic immigration has always been the lifeblood of Canada’s economic success and has played a key role in the building of our great nation.”
“Many business owners ease new employees into their community by helping them find accommodations or offering additional language training,” the business organization notes on its website. “However, outside urban centers, it can be difficult or expensive to access services that can assist a new immigrant in settling into their new community.”
Apart from this, the federal government of Canada has introduced various pilot programs to spread immigrants in every corner of the country including the regions that are very less populated. Some of these programs are:
- Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
- Rural and Northern Pilot Program (RINP)
- Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP)
In the last few years, Canada has made efforts to keep its immigration programs focused on specific regions in order to help and address the labor market and demographic needs in the country.
Provincial Nominee Program
The current Provincial Nominee Program of Canada is aimed towards encouraging the applications for permanent residence from people who are equipped with skilled abilities, educational qualifications, and work experience that could be helpful in contributing to the economy of the country. This program helps the workers to immigrate to Canada and work in a specific province or territory. Each province and terrorism has its own procedure for providing residency to these immigrants.
Difference Between Municipal Nominee Program and Provincial Nominee Program
The Municipal Nominee Program and the Provincial Nominee Program, both are introduced to fill the local labor gaps across the country. However, the Provincial Nominee Program allows each territory and province to control their immigration streams by setting the requirements on their own. The federal government has given the authority individually to different regions to operate in different ways. The PNP might have been successful in attracting immigrants to smaller regions but as it was found out, that 80% of these immigrants end up landing in metropolitan areas, which sort of defies the purpose of these programs. But to counter this, the Municipal Nominee Program will spread the benefits to immigrants by giving autonomy to smaller communities and municipalities within the province and territories and they will be allowed to decide on their newcomers. More information and how to apply for this program can be found on the Immigration Law Website.
