Immigration Advisory Council: Immigration Policies and Programs in Manitoba

NEW! - Immigration Advisory Council Final Report

Manitoba is experiencing labour shortages in a number of occupations. The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) allows the province to select applicants who are likely to contribute to Manitoba’s workforce and economy. One solution to help fill the labour shortage is to make improvements to the MPNP to ensure people come to Manitoba with the skills needed in the province’s labour market.

To ensure the MPNP best supports Manitoba’s workforce and labour needs, the Manitoba Immigration Advisory Council (IAC) has been formed to make improvements and suggestions on:

1. building on promotion to attract and recruit more immigrants and business investors to the province;
2. streamlining the MPNP, especially with regard to setting the right balance between the province’s regional labour market, economic development and community needs; and
3. fostering Manitoba’s settlement and integration programs and services, as well as foreign credential recognition programs, to encourage labour market attachment, improve foreign credential recognition and bolster immigrant retention.

The IAC has held town halls across the province, to hear from Manitobans about challenges and opportunities related to the MPNP. So far, this engagement has identified the following strategies and areas of focus for enhancing and improving the MPNP:

• aligning skills of MPNP candidates to jobs available in Manitoba, as skill mismatches are leading to both labour shortages and surpluses;
• enhancing timelines for recognizing foreign credentials while ensuring adequate professional qualifications and standards;
• supporting immigrants to settle in rural areas;
• addressing long wait times in the federal government for immigration applications;
• improving collaboration between different levels of government; and
• creating a supportive, welcoming environment for newcomers from different cultural backgrounds.

We want to hear from you to better understand Manitobans’ perspectives on these strategies and to inform where government, its partners and stakeholders should focus efforts related to immigration to help address the labour shortage. The deadline for participation in this survey is September 30th. 

This information is available in an alternate format on request. Please contact immigratemanitoba@gov.mb.ca.