VICTORIA — The B.C. government has abruptly shut the door on most of its provincial immigration program for the next three months, saying new federal limits on temporary foreign workers have triggered an unmanageable flood of applicants seeking entry to Canada through British Columbia, reported Globe and Mail newspaper.
Jobs Minister Shirley Bond said Tuesday that no new applications will be accepted until July 2, giving her staff time to process a growing backlog while her ministry looks at what qualifications it will seek from those hoping to come to B.C. through the provincial nominee program (PNP). Some exceptions will be made in high-need categories such as health-care workers.
Under the program, Ottawa allows the provinces limited control over immigration. This year, B.C. will grant permanent resident status to 5,500 immigrants to fill labour-market needs.
Applications to the provincial program surged after the federal government introduced immigration changes, in particular tighter controls on its temporary foreign worker program. A year ago, B.C. could process a PNP application in 12 weeks; now the wait list is 13 months, and there are already more people in the queue than B.C. can admit this year.
The provincial government has been warning that British Columbia faces a skills shortage with an anticipated construction boom in the north. It has long called for more control over immigration to address such shortages.
This is not the first time B.C. has hit the pause button on one of its immigration programs. In 2012, the province suspended a program after a suspicious surge in the number of business applicants for a category that promised a speedy visa in exchange for a $125,000 bond. The spike came after the federal government placed a moratorium on its own investor and entrepreneur visa programs.
Shane Simpson, the NDP critic for labour and skills, said the province should have taken a look at its immigration controls then. “Three years later, nothing has been fixed and we are just kicking the can down the road again,” he said. “It’s concerning. We know the Premier is prepared to allow a significant numbers of [temporary foreign workers] into B.C. … We are going to see a B.C. strategy to facilitate that.”
