Thank you.
The interpreter has just taken my speech to make a copy of it, so I'll start without and, hopefully, fill in the blanks later if I leave things out.
Thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to speak with you today. I want to say that we appreciate the work this committee does in ensuring we have thoughtful immigration policies and programs that address the needs of newcomers to our country.
Essentially, I have two key messages for the committee related to family reunification and family sponsorship. The first is related to the quota system and its impact on newcomers, immigrants coming to our province.
The second is pertaining to the opportunity that family-class immigration presents insofar as facilitating retention in the Atlantic provinces.
First I would say—and without my speech this is a bit of a game-changer—the family reunification quotas impose limits on the numbers of people we can bring in through that stream.
I'll move on to my second point. The second point is around retention rates. Family-class immigrants have a 25% higher retention rate in New Brunswick than economic immigrants. As the federal government undertakes the Atlantic immigration pilot, which is intended to address labour market gaps....
Research sponsored by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 2014 has shown empirically that retention rates are up to 25% better for family-class immigrants coming to New Brunswick versus skilled worker streams. This is cited in the “Interprovincial Mobility of Immigrants in Canada 2006-2011” report published by CIC.
The retention rate for family-class immigrants arriving between 2006 and 2011 was approximately 80%, while the retention rate for skilled workers was 58%. This data bears out that the immigration streams that facilitate family reunification and family sponsorship are key to New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada's retention and immigration aspirations.
As we embark on the Atlantic immigration pilot, which was announced by the federal minister for IRCC in conjunction with the Council of Atlantic Premiers, I encourage the committee to look at how the family-class immigration streams can enhance the overall retention strategies that are a part of that immigration pilot.
I will leave my comments there and welcome questions.