The Ontario government is doubling the number of economic immigrants it selects to more than 18,000 by 2025 to help solve the province’s labour shortage.
The province said in a news release that nearly 300,000 jobs go unfilled daily. Boosting the immigration of skilled immigrants gives Ontario the ability to select more of the workers needed to fill gaps in critical industries like the skilled trades, technology and health care.
“From 9,000 immigration spots in 2021 to over 18,000 in 2025, today’s announcement is a significant win for the people of Ontario and will help us control our economic destiny by selecting more of the skilled immigrants we know are well-placed to succeed and build stronger communities for all of us,” said Monte McNaughton, the minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, in a news release.
In April 2021, Minister McNaughton called on the federal government to double the number of immigrants allowed under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) to help tackle the labour shortage.
Ontario reached its allocation of 9,750 immigrants through the OINP in 2022, including 3,900 skilled trades workers, 2,200 software and IT workers, and nearly 100 nurses and personal support workers.
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program allows the province to nominate individuals for permanent residence who have the skills and experience to contribute to Ontario’s economy.
Ontario’s OINP allocation from the federal government has more than doubled from 9,000 in 2021 to 18,361 in 2025.
This year, Ontario will be able to nominate 16,500 immigrants. The province’s 2023 allocation represents 36 per cent of the national allocation of provincial nominees.
