Ottawa allows Nova Scotia to welcome 40 per cent more economic immigrants in 2022

N.S. to welcome more economic immigrants this year The federal government is allowing N.S. to increase the number of economic immigrants to the province by more than 40 per cent.

The federal government is allowing Nova Scotia to increase the number of economic immigrants to the province this year by more than 40 per cent compared with last year.

Ottawa's new allocations to the province were recently confirmed in a letter to provincial Labour, Skills and Immigration Minister Jill Balser.

Nova Scotia can welcome a total of 5,430 applicants to two economic immigration programs this year, up from 3,857 in 2021.

The new targets will open 400 more spaces in the Provincial Nominee Program and 1,173 more spaces in the Atlantic Immigration Program. Ottawa has also committed to expand its immigration targets for the province over the next three years.

Both programs are available to people who fill employers' labour needs and want a pathway to permanent residency.

Nova Scotia welcomed 9,025 new permanent residents in 2021, a record number that surpassed the previous high by 19 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2022.