Recent immigration streams announced by the province are designed to attract more newcomers to settle in the province.
Streams announced by the Liberals and the PCs have shortened the timeline people must work before they can apply for the provincial nominee program, which in turn means they can apply for permanent residency sooner.
The streams apply to the following sectors and positions:
- Construction — Heavy equipment operator (except crane operators), construction trade helper, and labourer positions.
- Health and child care — Continuing care assistants and early childhood educators.
- Hospitality — food counter attendants, kitchen helpers, related support occupations, food and beverage servers, and light duty cleaners.
When the province announced the hospitality stream in November 2021, the press release noted nine out of 10 restaurateurs were reporting labour shortages, according to Luc Erjavec, the vice-president Atlantic Canada for Restaurants Canada.
Gordon Stewart, the executive director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, says labour shortages were a problem for the industry even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic just accelerated that to a very high level, to the point where now it is probably our single biggest handicap,” he says.
He welcomed the announcement of the immigration stream, noting it’s something the industry has been pushing and lobbying for. He believes it will lead to increased immigration.
“That’s valuable for a lot of people around the world, that’s for sure, and we definitely need immigration,” Stewart says.
Jill Balser, the minister of labour, skills, and immigration, says it’s important for the province to be flexible in how it handles labour market needs.
“Those are really great examples of how our streams were able to adapt based on the needs we were hearing from employers around the province,” she says.
On the flip side, she says it will be important to listen to the needs of prospective immigrants.
“It’s being able to listen to each individual when they come here, either as a temporary foreign worker or if their goal is to stay and obtain citizenship. Then we have pathways that are allowing people to paint their own personal goals and, of course, working with employers to support the needs of the industry, as well as what is the goal of either the immigrant themselves or their family to arrive in Nova Scotia and pursue a new life or that future they’re looking for.”
Nova Scotia’s population was pegged at 992,055 as of July 1. The PCs aim to attract 25,000 newcomers a year and have the province’s population reach 2,000,000 by 2060.
