The province will seriously pursue an immigration strategy similar to Quebec’s, which allows it to pick and choose its own immigrants, says Ontario’s immigration minister.

“If I had greater devolution power, I could better respond to the needs specific to the province,” Charles Sousa told the Star after he received a government panel’s recommendations on how to fix Ontario’s immigration woes.

“There are definitely gaps,” he added. “Different sectors, different municipalities are crying for skilled labour. Every province wants greater devolution power.”

On Wednesday, the 13-member government-appointed panel presented a detailed report outlining the challenges faced by Ontario’s economy and its newcomers, whose earnings have been in decline while their unemployment rate is on the rise.

The panel spent seven months looking for solutions to address the declining immigration to the province, skill shortages and the falling economic performance of newcomers in Ontario.

The report made 32 recommendations to assist the province to come up with its first immigration strategy to address issues of immigration selection, settlement and integration, and examine how immigration can best support Ontario’s economic and labour market growth.

The panel — comprising economists, people working in immigrant settlement, and corporate and industry leaders — said Ontario needs to attract at least 135,000 newcomers a year, raise the ratio of skilled workers and take charge of immigrant selection to keep its economic engine running beyond 2014.

“The federal government may require the province to create a legislative and regulatory framework to govern its role in selection processes,” the report said. “Other provinces are considering joining Quebec in enacting immigration legislation.”

Quebec, for the most part, runs its own immigration programs, setting its own annual quota and screening its own immigrants before the final stamps from the federal immigration department, whose role is to oversee the security and medical clearances.

Ontario had signed a five-year immigration agreement with Ottawa that ended in March 2011, but the pact mainly dealt with settlement program funding.

Meanwhile, Ottawa has limited the province’s ability to select its own immigrants by capping the annual quota for provincial “nominees” at 1,000.

Sousa said a successful provincial immigration strategy is crucial to the long-term success and future prosperity not just for Ontario but for Canada. He hopes to study the panel’s recommendations and roll out the plan as soon as possible.

“Their recommendations are an important building block as we move forward together,” noted Sousa, adding that he is optimistic the province would have federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s ear.

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Ontario immigration strategy calls for more power to pick newcomers

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