New focus on employer involvement in immigration to Manitoba

December 10 2005 - Manitoba launched a stronger focus on provincial immigration strategies to increase employer participation and involvement at a special forum held on December 9.

The new approach is intended to provide employers in both urban and rural areas with direct access to recruit and select applicants under the successful Provincial Nominee Program when local skilled employees are not available.

"One of the key factors in the success of Manitoba's immigration recruitment strategy has been our ability to build partnerships between communities, business and government," said Labour and Immigration Minister Nancy Allan. "At this forum we are asking employers to work directly with our department to address their specific labour needs with skilled workers from within Manitoba and abroad."

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program is an immigration program negotiated through the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement. The program allows the province to recruit and select immigrants to meet Manitoba's unique economic and labour needs. The program's skilled worker and business immigration streams are models that are now followed in other Canadian provinces.

The Provincial Nominee Program for skilled workers has been designed to assess applications through six different streams. In the employer direct stream, the province works closely with local employers to meet demands for immigrant workers from abroad and within the province.

"We are proud of Manitoba's leading role in the development and implementation of highly-successful and effective immigration programs," said Nancy Allan. "Other Canadian provinces are following our immigration model because it works and offers incredible flexibility to adapt to changing needs within our province."

For more information about the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program go to http://www.immigratemanitoba.com.