Newfoundland and Labrador Secures the Return of 1,000 Economic Immigration Spaces

Following successful advocacy and collaboration, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has reached an agreement with the Government of Canada to restore 1,000 economic immigration spaces for 2025. The total economic immigration spaces for Newfoundland and Labrador this year is now 2,525.

Earlier this month, the Government of Canada announced a 50 per cent reduction in the province’s allocation spaces under the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program and the Atlantic Immigration Program as part of a national reduction in regional economic immigration programs. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador immediately challenged these cuts based on its unique demographics, low temporary resident population and flexibility to recruit internationally.

The new agreement involves:

• Increasing Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program capacity (1,050) by an additional 1,000 spaces, bringing the 2025 allocation to 2,050 spaces (compared to 2,100 in 2024).
• Maintaining Atlantic Immigration Program capacity at 475 spaces.
• Welcoming 290 humanitarian migrants to Newfoundland and Labrador over the next two years.
• The Federal Government paying for the relocation of humanitarian migrants and upfront costs related to housing and wrap-around supports.

The Provincial Government welcomes this decision which will help fill crucial roles in sectors experiencing labour shortages, such as health care, early childhood education and construction. While this new agreement is an improvement, the Provincial Government continues to advocate for further increases to its economic immigration spaces to support local businesses and sustained population growth.

To incorporate recent immigration changes into an approach that will maximize immigration capacity, the Provincial Government is temporarily pausing intake of new economic immigration applications and job vacancy assessments until mid-February. The 25-day service standard for Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program will also be temporarily suspended. This will allow for the development of tools that will make it easier for employers to find suitable candidates and streamline immigration processing. Files for health care workers, and other in-demand occupations, will continue to be processed on a case-by-case basis.

Opportunities remain available for employers to hire humanitarian migrants to help meet their workforce needs. To date, more than 100 individuals with skills ranging from health care, early childhood education, construction, business administration, retail sales and food service have expressed an interest in relocating to the Newfoundland and Labrador. Employers interested in learning about opportunities to hire humanitarian migrants can contact the department at HumanitarianPath@gov.nl.ca.

The Provincial Government remains available to help individuals navigating Federal Government immigration programs. Individuals seeking immigration navigation support are encouraged to contact immigration@gov.nl.ca.

Quotes
“Newfoundland and Labrador is the first province to have successfully negotiated the reinstatement of economic immigration spaces. While we continue to call for more immigration capacity to meet our goals, we thank the Federal Government for this move and look forward to continuing our robust immigration efforts.”
Honourable Dr. Andrew Furey
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador

“This decision is good news for Newfoundland and Labrador. It increases our ability to ensure people get the services they need in sectors like health care and education. I wish to thank all the business owners and groups who joined the chorus to advocate for the Federal Government to reverse this decision. We hear you, and we will be making additional changes to make it easier and more efficient for you to use economic immigration in the weeks ahead.”
Honourable Sarah Stoodley
Minister of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills

Source: gov.nl.ca