2012-2013 Annual Report: Behind the Scenes of Ontario’s Immigration Strategy

Responsibility for immigration is split between the two levels of government. The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration and Citizenship and Immigration Canada each have their own integration programs for newcomers in terms of settlement, language training, and economic and social integration. Those programs sometimes overlap, since their goals seem to be similar. However, by increasing the number of initiatives and activities in recent years, the province intends to play a more prominent role and take its rightful place in this domain.

Indeed, the government remained very active during 2012. For example, in March 2012, it announced that it was developing its very first immigration strategy, with the help of an Expert Roundtable. The Roundtable was composed of businesspeople, employers, academics and other immigration experts and labour requirement specialists, including an expert from the Francophone ethnocultural communities.

I welcomed the final report of the Expert Roundtable on Immigration, entitled Expanding our Routes to Success, when it was published last October. The report emphasized that it was important for the government to work closely with Francophone communities in particular to design immigration policies and offer programs that meet their needs.

On the basis of the report’s recommendations, additional work by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration ― including stakeholder consultations, research, and discussions with interministerial partners (including the Office of Francophone Affairs) ― and the Commissioner’s recommendations in his 2011-2012 Annual Report, the Ministry last fall released the government’s strategy, entitled A New Direction: Ontario’s Immigration Strategy.

A number of objectives were put forward in A New Direction: Ontario’s Immigration Strategy, such as raising the proportion of economic immigrants to 70% and doubling the Provincial Nominee Program limit to 2,000 in 2013.

What’s more, this government initiative holds some good news for the Francophone community. It sets the target for Francophone immigration at 5%. If that target is achieved, it will certainly contribute to the vitality and growth of the Francophone community.

The strategy also contains some very attractive initiatives and opportunities for the Francophone community. That is the case for training in particular, with the target of improving access to French- and English-language training programs.

Furthermore, in this strategy, the government stated its determination to work with the institutions involved in immigration, the other two levels of government and the Francophone community in developing and implementing the strategy.