Nova Scotia approved record number of immigration applicants in 2018

Nova Scotia approved a record number of applications from immigration candidates in 2018 and is on track to welcome more new permanent residents this year than ever before, the provincial government says.

The Atlantic Canada province accepted 2,272 applications through its immigration programs this year, compared to 1,651 in 2017.

"More immigrants have been approved to make Nova Scotia their home in 2018 than ever before," the province reported.

A total of 1,400 applications were accepted through the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) and the remaining 872 were approved through the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP).

The NSNP allows the province to nominate a set number of economic immigration candidates for permanent residence each year through various streams, including three that are linked to Canada's federal Express Entry system.

The Express Entry system manages the pool of candidates for Canada's three Federal High Skilled economic immigration programs. Nova Scotia's three Express Entry-linked streams allow the province to invite eligible candidates in these programs to apply for a provincial nomination for permanent residence.

These streams -- Nova Scotia Demand, Nova Scotia Experience and Labour Market Priorities -- accounted for 1,095 of the 1,400 applications approved by the NSNP in 2018.

The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program is operated jointly by Canada's federal government and the provincial governments of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador and allows designated employers in those provinces to hire eligible foreign workers for jobs they haven’t been able to fill locally.

The NSNP noted that 716 Nova Scotia businesses are designated under the AIPP.

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Record number expected to settle in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia's Office of Immigration also reported that the province is approaching a new record for the number of permanent resident landings this year. A total of 5,225 newcomers settled in the province between January 1 and October 31, 2018, and the government said the number "will likely surpass" 2016's record of 5,485 landings.

"These numbers reflect the work we have done to attract international talent to our province," Nova Scotia's Immigration Minister, Lena Metlege Diab, said. "The success we are seeing will help increase access to important services, grow our population and strengthen our economy."

Immigration has been key to Nova Scotia's population growth, which has been on an upward trend for the last three consecutive years and reached a record high 964,693 residents on October 1.

Diab highlighted two new immigration streams that were introduced by the NSNP in 2018 — the Express Entry-linked Labour Market Priorities Stream and another that is dedicated to attracting physicians to the province.

The Labour Market Priorities Stream allows the NSNP to search the Express Entry pool for candidates with work experience in occupations that are facing labour shortages in the province. The first and only draw to date through the stream was held in August and targeted early childhood educators and assistants.

The NSNP's Physician Stream is dedicated to recruiting foreign primary care doctors and specialists to the province and has issued 18 nominations since its creation last February.

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