{"id":229029,"date":"2019-09-01T19:11:33","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T23:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=229029"},"modified":"2019-09-01T19:11:33","modified_gmt":"2019-09-01T23:11:33","slug":"ontario-must-encourage-immigration-outside-the-greater-toronto-area-new-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/09\/01\/ontario-must-encourage-immigration-outside-the-greater-toronto-area-new-study-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario must encourage immigration outside the Greater Toronto Area, new study says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Ontario must identify new ways of ensuring more immigrants settle outside the Greater Toronto Area in order to guarantee more balanced population growth across the province and maintain a \u201chigh quality of life\u201d for all its residents in the coming years, a new Conference Board of Canada study shows. (Pexels Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ontario must identify new ways of ensuring more immigrants settle outside the Greater Toronto Area in order to guarantee more balanced population growth across the province and maintain a \u201chigh quality of life\u201d for all its residents in the coming years, a new Conference Board of Canada study shows.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Greater Toronto Area, or GTA, currently welcomes 77 per cent of new immigrants to Ontario, which translated to 106,000 newcomers to the GTA in 2018.<\/p>\n

The remaining 23 per cent of newcomers to the province settle in other areas of the province, with 15 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) outside the GTA taking in 20.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

With a population of more than 6.4 million people \u2014 46 per cent of whom are immigrants \u2014 the GTA is Canada\u2019s most populous and multicultural metropolitan area. It encompasses the city of Toronto and 25 other municipalities and is considered Canada\u2019s business and financial capital, producing nearly 20 per cent of Canada\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n

This reality, the study says, \u201cputs the rest of [Ontario\u2019s] CMAs at a disadvantage in attracting immigrants,\u201d who typically seek settlement destinations with reliable job opportunities and \u201ccommunity and family ties.\u201d<\/p>\n

This disparity will have important economic consequences for Ontario\u2019s other CMAs if they fail to draw a greater share of immigrants in the coming years and grow their labour force, which the Conference Board says is key to spurring economic growth and \u201ccrucial to maintaining a high quality of life for [Ontario\u2019s] residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they do not attract more immigrants, Ontario\u2019s CMAs will see their potential economic output slow, and face the possibility of fiscal resources being directed away from them to fund the increasing demand for infrastructure and services in the GTA,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n

Create a Regional Immigration Strategy<\/h3>\n

While noting steps taken by Ontario\u2019s municipal and provincial governments to regionalize immigration and the federal government\u2019s new\u00a0Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot<\/a>, the Conference Board study says such efforts could be assisted by the creation of an Ontario Regional Immigration Strategy.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the strategy would be to encompass \u201ca shared vision for the future, including short-, medium-, and long-term regionalization targets, regional economic priorities, performance measures to track progress, and an operational plan featuring the roles and responsibilities of each party in achieving the targets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parties to the strategy would include Ontario\u2019s Municipal Immigration Committee, government representatives and stakeholders such as business, workforce development groups, immigrant-serving organizations, universities and colleges, among others.<\/p>\n

The Conference Board study provides the example of a medium-term target that would see the share of newcomers settling outside the GTA increase to 35 per cent by 2030.<\/p>\n

Refine the OINP<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The\u00a0Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program<\/a>\u00a0(OINP) could also be used \u201cto help steer more immigrants to CMAs beyond the GTA,\u201d the study says.<\/p>\n

The OINP allows Ontario to nominate a set number of economic class principal applicants who meet its labour market and economic development priorities for Canadian permanent residence each year.<\/p>\n

The Conference Board said the OINP could establish an annual regional allocation target for areas of the province that have had difficulties recruiting immigrants, such as northeast and northwest Ontario, and refine the eligibility requirements for certain immigration streams to reflect local economic conditions.<\/p>\n

The study also calls for the creation of a new Community and Family Support Stream under the OINP.<\/p>\n

The Conference Board says examples of similar streams, such as Nova Scotia\u2019s Community-Identified Stream, suggest they support regionalization by channelling immigrants to CMAs where they have existing community or family ties.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2019 CICNews All Rights Reserved<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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