Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration IMMIGRATION TO ATLANTIC CANADA: MOVING TO THE FUTURE Chair Robert Oliphant NOVEMBER 2017 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. 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STANDING COMMITTEE ON CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION CHAIR Robert Oliphant VICE-CHAIRS Jenny Kwan Hon. Michelle Rempel MEMBERS Gary Anandasangaree Bob Saroya Serge Cormier Marwan Tabbara Larry Maguire Nick Whalen Randeep Sarai Salma Zahid OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED René Arseneault T.J. Harvey Seamus O’Regan Ramez Ayoub Anthony Housefather Scott Reid Sheri Benson Bernadette Jordan Darrell Samson Luc Berthold Robert Kitchen Bev Shipley John Brassard Alaina Lockhart Scott Simms Sean Casey Ken McDonald Shannon Stubbs Julie Dzerowicz Hon. MaryAnn Mihychuk David Tilson Peter Fragiskatos Glen Motz Borys Wrzesnewskyj Colin Fraser Alexander Nuttall Bob Zimmer iii CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Erica Pereira LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Julie Béchard Madalina Chesoi iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION has the honour to present its FOURTEENTH REPORT Pursuant to the Order of Reference of Wednesday, November 2, 2016, the Committee has studied immigration to Atlantic Canada and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. ix SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................. 3 IMMIGRATION TO ATLANTIC CANADA: MOVING TO THE FUTURE .................................. 9 PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................. 9 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 9 PART 1: UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGES IN ATLANTIC CANADA ................ 11 A. An aging population and a shrinking labour workforce ................................... 12 1. Demographic challenges ......................................................................................... 13 2. Low numbers of newcomers in Atlantic Canada compared to the rest of Canada ............................................................................................................. 14 3. Regional disparities between rural areas and urban centres .................. 19 4. Labour shortages in a variety of sectors ........................................................... 21 5. Impact on the tax base ............................................................................................. 24 6. Impact on social services ........................................................................................ 24 B. Public and private initiatives for immigration ...................................................... 26 1. Provincial government initiatives ....................................................................... 26 2. Private sector employing foreign nationals .................................................... 28 3. Need for capital investments ................................................................................ 29 PART 2: BRINGING IMMIGRANTS TO ATLANTIC CANADA ......................................... 30 A. Atlantic Growth Strategy ............................................................................................... 31 1. Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program ................................................................... 31 B. Provincial Nominee Program ....................................................................................... 34 C. Express Entry for high-skilled immigration ........................................................... 36 vii 1. Objective: faster processing .................................................................................. 37 D. International students .................................................................................................... 37 1. Flexibility for international students to remain and work in Atlantic Canada ........................................................................................................................... 39 E. Temporary foreign workers and Labour Market Impact Assessment ......... 40 F. Entrepreneurs .................................................................................................................... 43 G. Resettled Refugees ........................................................................................................... 44 H. Concerns for all immigration programs .................................................................. 45 PART 3: ATTRACTING AND INTEGRATING NEWCOMERS TO ATLANTIC CANADA ............................................................................................................................................ 47 A. Create awareness abroad of Atlantic Canada as a place to call home .......... 47 B. Working together to integrate newcomers in Atlantic Canada ...................... 49 1. Business engagement ............................................................................................... 49 2. Settlement services and integration support ................................................. 50 a. Settlement plans under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program .... 53 PART 4: ENSURING PERMANENT RESIDENTS REMAIN IN ATLANTIC CANADA ............................................................................................................................................ 54 A. Retaining permanent residents and Atlantic Canadians ................................... 55 1. Access to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada offices .......... 57 B. Strengthening Atlantic Canada’s social infrastructure ...................................... 58 C. Welcoming communities in Atlantic Canada ......................................................... 59 PART 5: EVALUATING AND MOVING FORWARD ............................................................ 61 Appendix A: List of witnesses ................................................................................................................. 63 Appendix B: List of briefs ......................................................................................................................... 67 Request for government response ....................................................................................................... 69 Dissenting Opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada ........................................................... 71 Supplementary Opinion of New Democratic Party of Canada .................................................. 81 viii TABLE OF FIGURES