P.E.I. immigration targets cut again, leaving businesses and workers worried

Ottawa is slashing the number of people P.E.I. can nominate for permanent residency in 2025 by half — a move that's left foreign workers and business on the Island uncertain about the future.

Provincial officials say the federal government has dropped P.E.I.'s allotment of nominees through the Provincial Nominee Program and the Atlantic Immigration Program to 1,025 this year.

The news comes after P.E.I. voluntarily reduced its provincial nominations last year, issuing just 1,590 nominations out of its allocation of 2,050 in an effort to ease population growth and the strain it's put on housing and the health-care system. That move sparked protests from some foreign workers who hoped to have their work permits extended.

Immigration director Jeff Young says the province had hoped there wouldn't be further reductions this year.

"We felt that [1,590] was a good number to be able to support companies through immigration to fill vacancies, while still being mindful of that population growth and ensuring services and resources are available to Islanders," he said.

"It's fair to say that when you have a reduction of 500 to 600 spaces, there has to be reductions across the board. We're going through that exercise right now."

Newfoundland and Labrador's immigration minister told CBC News this week she was "gobsmacked" to receive a letter from her federal counterpart announcing her province would receive a similar cut in allocation.

'We need these immigrants'

Homes Construction owner Alex Davidson has four foreign workers he relies on now, but he still needs more staff.

"We need to bring more people in if we're going to meet the demand of our housing industry, of our construction industry in general," he said.

"There's just not enough able-bodied people in Canada of the age and skill-set to be able to fill these positions. We need these immigrants."

Davidson says the news has left his workers fearful of what the future holds.

"They're feeling a little scared … They're dealing with a lot of uncertainty," he said. "They want to be here. They want to be Canadians. They want to be citizens. They want to have a family here. They want to have a life here."

Felipe Carvajal moved to Souris from Columbia a year ago to work at a potato packing plant. He hopes to earn a permanent residency nomination before his work permit expires in a year.

"It's all stressful for me, because the numbers always is going down. It's getting more difficult to get PR."

Province assessing impact

The Island's service industry took the biggest hit when P.E.I. cut its numbers last year, and Restaurants Canada says further cuts could be devastating.

"The reality is the restaurant industry is struggling right now. So any policy decision made that impacts our operation, will have pretty devastating impacts," said Restaurants Canada's Atlantic vice-president Janick Cormier.

"We're all competing for the very few workers in the labour force right now, available to work. Add to that the seasonal element to it in Atlantic Canada, we're all competing for workers at the exact same time. We all need workers in the summer."

The province has said its priority is nominating workers in key sectors like construction and healthcare, which is good news for long-term care operators.

"We are very fortunate because healthcare is a priority sector … Our expectation and understanding is we will remain a priority sector, and we don't expect these changes this week are really going to have an immediate or near term impact on us," said P.E.I. Seniors Homes CEO Jason Lee. 

"There is a risk but we see it as a very low risk because of the high priority the federal government, the provincial government, the population puts on healthcare."

In a statement to CBC News, the federal government said the cuts in P.E.I. and across the country are an effort to make population growth sustainable, but the numbers aren't set in stone and there may be an opportunity for some provinces to nominate more workers for permanent residency. 

The province says officials are assessing the impact and will continue to focus on supporting priority sectors and working with Island employers to fill labour gaps.