By enhancing the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), our new government is making this initiative an important and key part of our commitment to rebuilding the northern economy.
The MPNP, as it was run under the previous government, clearly needed to be fixed. During much of that previous administration’s decade of debt, decay, and decline, the program had people on its waiting list for years at a time. This unreasonable delay was not fair to them or to prospective employers, and did little to boost Manitoba’s economy.
At no additional cost to taxpayers, our new government is improving this system by ensuring all MPNP applications are assessed within six months, rather than the previous government’s preferred time of 42 months.
Economic growth is driven in part by immigration, which fills targeted labour market needs and is a gateway for innovation in Manitoba’s economy. We are renewing the Provincial Nominee Program as a way to bring skilled immigrant workers into an integral role in the development of our Manitoba labour market, in partnership with industry and training organizations.
The most recent labour market forecast for the province projects 177,800 job openings in Manitoba between now and 2021, with demand for workers in numerous sectors including trades, transportation, finance, services, health care and business. Immigrants to Manitoba are anticipated to fill at least 25 per cent of these projected positions.
Our improvements to the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program will speed up processing and fast-track nominations to bring skilled and job-ready workers, including international students, into our economy in Thompson, across the north and throughout the province, and give them opportunities to build a prosperous future here.
