The feds are right to target 500k immigrants

I know there is some push back to the increase in annual immigrants attracted to Canada. Diane Francis, as one voice, has come out for curtailing the number not growing it.

The reality is that we need these newcomers to meet workforce demand (and entrepreneur demand) and to support the future talent pipeline.

It certainly is possible to bring more Canadians into the workforce or boost labour productivity. We should do both but in my view we need all of the above. This is particularly the case in Atlantic Canada.

The problem with curtailing immigration is that it will hit places like New Brunswick the hardest. That’s just a reality. When Ontario wants 200k+ each year that squeezes out the smaller provinces.

The other issue is that - like Quebec and many places in Europe - provinces will just boost the number of temporary workers because there are not enough PRs. That is not the solution. If need folks to fill permanent roles in the economy, don’t use the TWF program to get that done. If you need folks for truly seasonal roles, then sure bring in the TFWs you need.

Atlantic Canada has benefitted from the annual increases and the better flexibility with immigrant streams in recent years.

We don’t want to go backwards. I continue to believe the right approach is for provincial governments to establish need and then the national targets should be a roll up of that need - with a buffer built in as some share of newcomers to smaller places are likely to move to the big cities.

Atlantic Canada is heading in the right direction economically and demographically. It would be a shame if that got derailed.