Backgrounder - Canada and Nova Scotia – improving cooperation on immigration

Overview

The Agreement for Canada‑Nova Scotia Co‑operation on Immigration is a comprehensive document that establishes the federal‑provincial collaborative approach to addressing immigration priorities in the province of Nova Scotia.

Under Canada’s Constitution, immigration is a shared responsibility with the provinces and territories. Through this agreement, both levels of government clearly define their respective roles and responsibilities. The agreement also allows for annexes on specific issues. The first annex is a renewed agreement on provincial nominees, and a second annex on temporary foreign workers is to be developed within 12 months.

The agreement and its annexes have an indefinite duration, reflecting the long‑standing commitment to cooperation and collaboration between the two levels of government with respect to immigration.

Responding to provincial economic and labour market needs

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) allows provinces and territories to nominate immigrants to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) who have specific skills that will contribute to the local economy. Under its current PNP agreement, Nova Scotia nominates candidates who want to work and live in that province. Nominees must meet federal admissibility requirements, such as those related to health, criminality and security.

Currently, the Province of Nova Scotia has four streams for potential nominees:

• Skilled workers: to meet the labour market needs of the province;
• Family business workers: to help family‑owned businesses hire close relatives who have skills that can't be found in Canadian citizens or permanent residents;
• Community-identified: individuals who are employable, have strong established connections to a Nova Scotia community, and can contribute to the labour market and economy of that specific community; and
• International graduates: to help recent international graduates, whose skills may be in limited supply in the province and who have received a full‑time job offer from a Nova Scotia employer, immigrate to the province. This stream targets international graduates who have established strong ties to Nova Scotia and who intend to live, work and establish their careers in this province.

Under the new agreement, which has no expiry date, there is no longer a limit on the number of immigrants the province can nominate for permanent residence in Nova Scotia each year. Nova Scotia will provide CIC with targets to be considered during its annual immigration levels planning.

Facilitating the entry of temporary foreign workers

Nova Scotia employers have experienced difficulties in recruiting a sufficient number of temporary workers from the local labour market. Hiring temporary foreign workers is one part of the solution to this problem. This new agreement commits both parties to making their best efforts to negotiate an annex to the agreement within 12 months. The annex will establish mechanism making it easier and quicker for Nova Scotia to get the workers it needs to meet labour force demands.

Responding to the settlement and integration needs of immigrants and refugees

Nova Scotia and Canada have a long history of collaborating to provide settlement and integration services to immigrants in Nova Scotia and share information for longer‑term planning purposes.

The new agreement confirms the Government of Canada's commitment to fair and ongoing funding for settlement services in Nova Scotia. Canada has also committed to working with Nova Scotia to help immigrants find work in their chosen professions.