The minister in charge of Manitoba’s immigration system travelled to Ottawa this week with local business leaders to push for extensions to federal work permits and for immigration increases through the provincial nominee program. The answer was no.
Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino says Mark Carney’s government turned down pitch for the second time in two months after meetings with the prime minister’s deputy chief of staff and her federal counterpart.
“My request for the work permit extension, my request for some consideration for federal allocation, have been met with steady no’s: no, no, no, no,” Marcelino told CBC News on Thursday.
“But that doesn’t mean we stop advocating. We have to keep trying.”
Thursday was the third consecutive day dozens of demonstrators gathered at the steps of the Manitoba Legislative Building, calling for an extension to federal work permits for temporary foreign-born workers.
In late 2023, the federal government decided to stop extending post-graduate work permits. Marcelino’s department helped persuade Ottawa to grant a two-year extension in early 2024.
Canada’s international student and temporary foreign workers surged amid a labour shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic. A little more than two years ago, Ottawa soured on immigration, took out the scissors and dramatically cut the number of nominations allotted to provinces.
Manitoba’s annual allotment last year was half that of its 2023 numbers, decreasing from around 9,600 to 4,750 in 2025. Marcelino’s department again pleaded for an increase. By fall, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada agreed to a 30 per cent bump, bringing the nominee allotment to 6,239 slots for 2025.
“Since we got this new Carney Liberal government, they have put very dramatic immigration cuts across the country, and this is affecting Manitoba disproportionately, very negatively,” Marcelino said.
“These numbers are not acceptable for what we need as an economy. We were not consulted when they made these cuts. Other jurisdictions, they maybe needed these cuts … we are being harmed by these federal immigration cuts.”
Marcelino said it’s too soon to say how many people in Manitoba could see their federal work permits expire by end of year without an extension, but she suspects it could be about 6,000.
Marcelino, left, and Federal Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab, right, meet in Ottawa this week. (Submitted by Malaya Marcelino’s office)
Marcelino says she went to Ottawa “armed with economic data,” and members of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and Manitoba Business Council, to lay out how integral nominee and federal work permit workers are to the provincial economy. One goal was to advocate for an extension to the federal work permits for the third consecutive year.
In a statement to CBC News on Wednesday, a federal spokesperson said there are no plans to do that. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says it will continue to work with provinces to “achieve our shared economic immigration objectives, including by transitioning more temporary residents to permanent residents.”
Bram Strain, president and CEO of the Manitoba Business Council, said the group presented preliminary results from an ongoing labour force survey with input from seven large local employers, mostly manufacturers and food processors.
Those results suggest 1,050 workers coming to Manitoba through the provincial nominee program are worth the equivalent of $150 million to Manitoba’s GDP, he said.
That’s not factoring in the estimated 6,000 workers in the province on federal work permits, and the blow to the economy if they were forced out, Strain said.
“It has a significant impact, bottom line, to the GDP,” he said. “If those 6,000 workers who are employed were to leave, that number would be a very substantial number on two bottom lines.”
Strain said he is cautiously optimistic moving forward despite the no’s from Ottawa.
“They were very interested in our economic data, and this is a federal government that’s driven to grow the economy. That’s why they were elected,” he said. “So, that economic story that we’re telling, I believe, is getting a little traction.”
Marcelino said she’ll continue to press for more immigration to Manitoba.
“This is a very difficult time right now for many people whose immigration status is precarious … it’s terrible,” she said.
“Manitoba needs them, Manitoba needs workers, and so that’s why we’re very confident as a government to continue to advocate for Manitoba’s needs.”
Marcelino speaks with Prime Minister Mark Carney on a trip to Ottawa in February to discuss immigration. (Submitted by Malaya Marcelino’s office)