Ontario Premier Doug Ford says provincial leaders should have more power over immigration, but experts say that changing the system is not that simple.
During a press conference on Wednesday following the end of the premier’s Muskoka Summit meetings, Ford told reporters that premiers are pushing to have more control over immigration.
“Premiers are also calling for a stronger provincial role on immigration for one simple reason: we know our labour markets best,” he said.
According to him, the move is in accordance with Section 95 of the Constitution, which addresses the division of power between the provincial and federal government in relation to immigration and agriculture.
The premier said that Ontario will be using the new control to give out work permits to asylum seekers.
According to him, the province is currently paying for nearly 100,000 asylum seekers to be housed in hotels in Etobicoke, and is still waiting for the federal government to refund them the money, which has caused a great financial toll.
“I have a tremendous amount of asylum seekers who are up in Etobicoke in the hotels. They’re healthy, they’re willing to work, are hardworking people, but they are waiting over two years and they are just sucking up the systems non-stop, not their fault. The fault falls under immigration that it takes over two years to get a work permit,” he said.
“There’s jobs available in Ontario and we need to give them work permits and make sure that they are out there working and contributing back to society. I’m not waiting any longer. We’re issuing work permits in Ontario for these folks to give back and contribute to society.”
CONSENSUS OVER MORE IMMIGRATION CONTROL
Ford said that although Prime Minister Mark Carney agrees with him, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Lena Metlege is not on the same page.
“We need the prime minister to be very, very clear with his minister. She needs to work with the provinces and territories to fix Canada’s immigration system and make it more responsive to economic and market needs,” he said.
Nevertheless, other premiers chimed in at the press conference to say they also want more control over immigration.
Quebec Premier François Legault said that, “it makes no sense” for the government to take so long to process asylum applications, given that in other countries these claims are resolved in months.
“There was a consensus to say that the federal government has to give more power to the provinces in the choice and the selection of the number of immigrants… We have some powers in Quebec, but we are also asking for much more jurisdiction to reduce the number of temporary migrants in Montreal and Laval,” he added.
Similarly, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said that the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)—which allows provinces to nominate foreign workers with necessary skills for permanent residency—is crucial for the province’s economy. As the federal government pushes to reduce immigration levels, Kinew said that could present a challenge.
“Having that number cut by 50 per cent is a threat to our economy at the same time that we’re trying to deal with the tariff threat,” he said.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt also appears to be in favour of the idea.
“We can push the federal government to have a more responsive immigration system in the hands of the provinces so that we can [bring] in the people we need to care for our seniors and to build our homes,” she said.
EXPERTS UNSURE ABOUT JURISDICTION CHANGE
Although premiers seem to be on board with having more power in regards to immigration, two experts say there’s still a lot to consider in regards to jurisdiction.
Phil Triadafilopoulos, a political science professor and immigration policy expert at the University of Toronto, tells Now Toronto that Section 95 of the Constitution gives the provinces the power to share jurisdiction over immigration. But up until this point, they have conceded most of this power to the federal government.
“The provinces are saying, ‘We’re not satisfied with the federal government dictating terms to us.’ They seem to be saying, ‘We are demanding the right to set our own limits, irrespective of federal wishes,’” he said.
But the expert says this is a gray area.
For instance, Triadafilopoulos questioned how provinces would be capable of managing immigrants that overstay their visas, given that they currently don’t have the power to deport people.
“If you give the provinces more, say over immigration, you no longer have a Canadian immigration system, you have 10 immigration systems, right? And that, from the point of view of nation building, isn’t a very good idea, because… what exactly then holds all this together?” he added.
Overall, the immigration expert says he believes that the premiers’ statements are simply a negotiation tactic by the provinces, and although it is not impossible, it would be a complex process.
Similarly, Immigration expert and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Professor Usha George says there are a lot of questions to be answered if provinces had more control over immigration.
According to the expert, the PNP already offers premiers the chance to have some control over which skilled workers they can nominate for residency, but the problem with job vacancies has more to do with the lengthy process some of these professionals, including medical workers, have to undergo in order to practice in the country.
“The doctor who came from Pakistan with multiple degrees cannot practice here, simply because there are lots of steps to go [through]. We are in dire need of family physicians…They are brought here and then they are left here,” she said.
The expert says that despite more information on what powers they’d like to have, she would also want to see more statistics and results from the current PNP before they implement a new one.
“I really would like to see [some] kind of a review of the PNP programs to see how many people came, how many people got jobs, how many people are working in professions other than the thing that they were working for or they studied for. It will be nice to see that.”
