Wpg Free Press: Province speeds up nominee program
As the Winnipeg Free Press reports:
The Tory government says it’s making the provincial nominee program — Manitoba’s major source of immigration — quicker, smarter and more efficient.
Applications to the program will now cost $500, but be processed more quickly, Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart said at a press conference Thursday in Winnipeg. The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) — which uses a points system to select skilled workers according to their ability to get established economically and set down roots in Manitoba — will be more in sync with the labour market and make the path to permanent residence quicker for international students, he said.
Manitoba has an aging population and needs immigrants to meet labour market needs — forecast at 170,000 job openings between now and 2022, Wishart told a crowd at the Punjab Cultural Centre…
University of Manitoba engineering grad Tong Shu came to Canada in 2009 from Tianjin, China. When he graduated, he went to work for Manitoba Hydro. He got married, bought a house and started a family, but can’t get his professional credentials recognized until he has permanent resident status.
“MPNP’s announcement today of (quickening) the processing time for applications will definitely help me realize two of my dreams. One of my dreams is to become a Canadian permanent resident and be able to stay in Winnipeg and Canada. My other dream is to be able to achieve my professional engineering designation,” the 28-year-old Shu said.
Same goes for Tina Tian. In 2011, the 26-year-old international student from Qingdao, China, chose to study at the U of M over schools in Australia, the U.S. and elsewhere in Canada.
“Canada has the qualified education and Manitoba had a very flexible immigration program,” Tian said.
Since graduating, she’s been unable to work toward becoming a professional accountant because she is not yet a permanent resident. She applied to the nominee program in October and learned last week she was accepted. She expects to have her permanent resident status by the end August and to stay in Manitoba, where she met her boyfriend, whom she plans to marry.
Read the full story here.