Premiers push for more power over immigration as Ford takes aim at federal minister

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Premiers said they plan to take more control over immigration as Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticized the federal Immigration Minister and said he would be issuing his own work permits in the province.

At the conclusion of a three-day premiers’ meeting on Wednesday, provincial and territorial leaders called for an increase to economic immigration levels to meet their labour needs and said they would use powers under the Constitution to seize more control over immigration, including to issue work permits.

Mr. Ford, who is wrapping up his time as chair of the Council of the Federation, which comprises all 13 premiers, criticized federal Immigration Minister Lena Diab, accusing her of not being on the same page as Prime Minister Mark Carney on giving premiers more autonomy over immigration.

“We need the Prime Minister to be very, very clear with his minister. She needs to work with the provinces and territories to fix Canada’s immigration system and make it more responsive to economic and market needs,” Mr. Ford said at the closing press conference in Ontario’s cottage country.

Support among the Canadian public for rising immigration has dropped in recent years. To address that and to alleviate pressure on housing and public services, the previous government of Justin Trudeau reduced targets for the number of permanent and temporary residents – including international students – that Canada will accept.

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On Wednesday, the premiers stressed that provinces and territories - and not Ottawa - are best placed to gauge whether migrants are needed to fill jobs. They said they would use a seldom-invoked power under Section 95 of the Constitution, which allows provinces to make laws on immigration, including to issue work permits.

“I’ll speak for Ontario. We will be issuing our own work permits. We aren’t going to sit around and wait for the federal government,” Mr. Ford said.

At the press conference, Quebec Premier François Legault said there are now consistent demands from each province to have more jurisdiction over immigration. He said that when it comes to processing asylum claims, “it makes no sense that it takes three years to assess a file, whereas in other countries, such as France, it takes three months.”

This puts a strain on public services and housing, and he said he was glad the federal government is “at long last” acting to reduce backlogs in the asylum system. Ottawa has introduced the Strong Borders bill which, if it becomes law, would restrict who could claim asylum and give Ottawa more power to cancel applications.

Mr. Ford said Ontario has a large number of asylum seekers living in hotels who are healthy and willing to work, but unable because work permits take too long. Last year, there were close to 100,000 asylum seekers in Ontario, he said.

Asylum claimants whose cases have been accepted to be heard receive a work permit, usually within weeks or months depending on the province, so they can support themselves while their case is in the system.

Premiers urged Ottawa to increase allocations for economic immigrants under the provincial and territorial nominee program, which was cut by 50 per cent under Mr. Trudeau’s government in a bid to reduce overall levels of immigration to Canada.

The nominee programs are used by all provinces and territories except Quebec to select immigrants to fill jobs, with some issuing work permits.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said his province relies on the provincial nominee program for sectors such as manufacturing and services, particularly in rural areas.

“So having that number cut by 50 per cent is a threat to our economy at the same time that we’re trying to deal with the tariff threat,” he said.

“There’s consensus among the premiers that we’re just going to, I think, take a much more active approach to trying to make sure that we just have that part of our economy moving and we have people contributing when it comes to income taxes.”

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Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said he’s going to look at the situation in his province, adding there is a delay in people’s ability to work. “We want the system to be as efficient as possible.”

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said she is also interested in having more authority and autonomy over who comes to work in her province.

“We certainly share what was expressed I think by the other premiers,” she said. But she said the criticism that the federal minister is not aligned with Mr. Carney may be a matter of wires crossing.

“It’s quite possible that they hadn’t spoken, so I think that is the kind of thing that can be cleared up quite easily.”

Isabelle Buchanan, spokesperson for Ms. Diab, said the federal minister is “fully committed to working in partnership with provinces and territories.”

As a previous provincial minister of immigration in Nova Scotia, Ms. Diab “has a keen appreciation for provinces’ role in immigration and recognizes their shared jurisdiction,” Ms. Buchanan added, saying Ms. Diab’s first meeting on Tuesday with provincial and territorial immigration minister had been “productive.”

The premiers also discussed the impact of reduced federal funding for settlement services and language training and called on the federal government to boost supports to help newcomers integrate.

Ms. Diab announced on Wednesday that 520 organizations outside Quebec have received funding for settlement services for immigrants, including to help to integrate them into the job market. The funding, which began April 1, is worth $3.2-billion over three years.

The services include support to get a licence or certification in a profession, and English and French language training for work.

“This investment is about giving newcomers the skills and opportunities they need to build their lives here and help build Canada at the same time,” she said in a statement.