Nova Scotia Rewarded With More Immigration Nominations After Early Success

NOTE: Facts about Nova Scotia Immigration follows this release.

Government has successfully negotiated an increase of 300 immigration nominations for its two new express entry streams, nearly doubling the province's total nomination allocation for 2015.

"We pushed the federal government hard for this increase and they responded after they saw our proactive approach," said Premier Stephen McNeil.

"This decision will allow Nova Scotia to nominate 1,350 immigrants under the Provincial Nominee Program, nearly double our 2014 cap of 700."

The federal government initially approved 1,050 immigration nominations for Nova Scotia in 2015, 350 of which were allocated to express entry. Nova Scotia was the first province to launch two new express entry streams.

"We have been leaning in very hard to make real progress in immigration for our province," said Premier McNeil. "We truly appreciate the positive public and private sector response to our focus on welcoming and successfully keeping newcomers. The progress we are making points to the value and importance of having a minister dedicated full time to the file."

"This is a welcome decision that is fundamental to our core immigration program. It is a clear recognition of how hard we are working on immigration," said Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab. "This is in addition to our ongoing efforts to assist Canada to resettle refugees and Nova Scotia has collectively said that we are ready to help."

The Office of Immigration launched Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry on Jan. 1 and Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry in May. Both streams are aimed at highly-skilled immigrants.

Following are facts about Nova Scotia Immigration:

• Immigration is a shared federal and provincial responsibility.

• More immigrants came to Nova Scotia last year than at any time in the last 10 years, with 2,670 newcomers settling in the province. More immigrants are also staying, with Statistics Canada reporting a retention rate of 71 per cent for immigrants that landed in Nova Scotia between 2007 and 2011.

• The Provincial Nominee Program is healthy and growing. Initially, the federal government gave Nova Scotia 1,050 individual nominations for 2015, 350 of which were allocated to Express Entry. The Office of Immigration successfully negotiated a further increase of 300 nominations for two Express Entry streams, bringing the total number of nominations to 1,350 for 2015 -- and nearly doubling the 2014 cap of 700.

• There are four ways to immigrate to Nova Scotia through the Provincial Nominee Program. The two Express Entry pilot streams ("Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry" -- launched in January 2015 and "Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry" -- launched in May 2015) speed up entry for highly-skilled candidates. The addition of the streams was particularly good news for candidates already living in Nova Scotia and contributing to the economy, like international graduates.

• The Office of Immigration is delivering outstanding settlement services across the province with the support of the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, the YMCA and other key partners.

• This summer, the office held Community Conversations on Immigration (with newcomers, settlement workers, employers and local decision-makers) in eight different places. The purpose of those conversations was to identify current areas of strengths and challenges, and encourage more community collaboration going forward.

• The Office of Immigration is also committed to resettling refugees. Earlier this week, it organized a roundtable with Nova Scotia's private refugee sponsorship agreement holders and other key stakeholders. The office continues to press the federal government to send more refugees to Nova Scotia.