Despite Ottawa's cooling stance on immigration, Manitoba wants even more skilled workers in 2025
Manitoba brought in record 9,540 people through provincial nominee program in 2024, asks for 12,000 this year
Manitoba welcomed a record number of skilled newcomers to the province through a federal immigration program in 2024 — and now it wants permission to exceed that total by thousands of people this year.
The push to increase the number of newcomers accepted through the provincial nominee program comes as the federal government — which distributes nominee slots among the provinces — has soured on immigration, severely curtailing the number of people welcomed into Canada recently.
In 2024, Manitoba accepted all of the 9,500 nominees it was allotted through the program, which brings skilled workers to the province to fill labour gaps.
Manitoba was granted 40 more nominee spots in December and filled those too, says Malaya Marcelino, the province's labour and immigration minister.
"I told my staff that I'm the happiest minister in all of Canada," she said in an interview.
But this year, Manitoba has asked the federal government for as many as 12,000 nominations, the minister said — a 26 per cent jump from 2024's allotment and nearly double the 6,325 nominees Manitoba had in 2022.
The Progressive Conservative government under Premier Heather Stefanson successfully lobbied for an increase to 9,500 nominees in 2023 to address major labour shortages, but issued just 7,348 nominations, after it couldn't process 2,152 applications in time.
The province has routinely accepted as many nominees as Ottawa has allowed, so missing the mark was "extremely unusual," immigration lawyer Alastair Clarke told CBC last year.
WATCH | Manitoba pushing to bring in more provincial nominees in 2025:
Marcelino says her NDP government, elected in October 2023, made sure it had the staff to welcome as many newcomers as possible. Ten more full-time equivalent positions were assigned to the provincial nominee program, for a total of 41.
The minister credited her department's staff for reaching its provincial nominee quota, "and we did it within a year."
Each nomination could represent an entire family, as chosen applicants can bring their spouse and any dependants.
Marcelino expects Ottawa will inform Manitoba of its decision by late February.
"We wouldn't have asked for that if we didn't think we could do it," she said.
More immigrants are needed to help fill "deep and persisting labour shortages throughout our province," said Marcelino.
"We need as many folks as we can get."
The federal government said last year its cuts, which included reducing immigration targets for the provincial nominee program by about half — from 110,000 in 2024 to a 55,000 annual target over the next three years — were necessary to stabilize population growth and relieve pressure on the housing market.
But Marcelino said that won't keep her from pushing for what the province needs.
"I'm going to keep asking and advocating and promoting Manitoba's needs," she said.
Shortages in rural, northern economies
Bram Strain, president and CEO of the Business Council of Manitoba, said job vacancies still persist, but the type of positions that are tough to fill is changing.
"Before, it was we needed more people regardless of where they went to work. Now I think you're seeing more of a skills match that needs to be filled, whether those are people working in manufacturing, whether those are professional skills or skilled trades," he said.
The fact Manitoba has widespread labour shortages speaks to an economy with a low unemployment rate and the means to expand, Strain said.
"In order to grow, you need human capital, so particularly in … some of the rural areas, what's holding them back is the lack of labour."
The government is increasingly using the provincial nominee program to fill labour shortages in those rural and northern areas, Marcelino said.
In the past two years, the province created five regional immigration initiatives through which communities can select the number of provincial nominees they need.
Programs in the cities of Morden and Winkler, and the surrounding rural municipality of Stanley, have been running since 2013, issuing 293 nominations between them, while programs in Brandon and the west-central area, which includes Russell and Roblin, launched late last year.
Those programs are being led by the communities themselves, as they best understand their shortages and whether they have the necessary housing, Marcelino said. They're responsible for choosing how many nominees to take and who they'll be, she added.
"It's kind of like how the province knows better than the federal government on what's good for Manitoba. Our rural communities know what's better than I do for what they need," she said.
She noted several other communities are interested in launching their own regional immigration programs, including Steinbach, Thompson, The Pas, Neepawa and Altona.
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