New immigrant worker rules a ‘fiasco’ for Brampton businesses, trade board says

Recent changes to an Ontario immigrant skilled worker program could hurt local businesses, with the Brampton Board of Trade calling the move a “fiasco” in a recent post.

The sweeping changes to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) Skilled Trades Stream announced last month have led to all pending applications to be scrapped and returned with refunded fees.

The province says the changes come following a review of the program that revealed “systemic misrepresentation” and frauds related to eligibility requirements.

“Applicants who remain interested in the program and meet the eligibility criteria for one of the other OINP’s streams may submit a new Expression of Interest (EOI) to be considered for future draws,” the province says.

But the BBOT says the move means “thousands of skilled, job-ready newcomers were effectively rendered unable to work.”

In a post on the board’s website, Vijai Singh with the BBOT says access to skilled labour “is the most critical need for businesses,” and that “it would be foolish to think the OINP suspension does not directly impact the economic future of our community.”

Singh said the changes could impact “essential sectors like manufacturing, aerospace, construction, transportation, and defence.”

“Instead of tightening the process or working through flagged files, Ontario chose the broadest possible response: shutting down the stream and returning every application, regardless of merit,” Singh said.

The work program can be a pathway to permanent residency for international students and workers, but the changes have left some applicants “with few choices” after “following the rules and doing everything necessary to get their PR.”

Some workers have held around-the-clock protests at Queen’s Park with the support of the Naujawan Support Network, saying OINP workers “are asking for the fair and proper processing of their files individually,” rather than a “mass return.”

The feds have also put a cap on the number of international students coming to study from abroad, and the Naujawan Support Network is also calling on the province and feds for extensions of Post Graduate Work Permit holders, a five-year open work permit for international students, and “fair and transparent immigration pathways.”

The push to overhaul Canada’s international student programs started in 2023, when Ottawa more than doubled the funds international students are required to have in their accounts before coming to Canada for study after hundreds of international students were facing deportation.

Most of those deportations were scrapped as many students received fake offers of acceptance without their knowledge from a now-shuttered consulting company in India.

The federal government has also cut the number of spots available in its refugee humanitarian and permanent residency streams for next year. Updated immigration levels show 49,000 spaces for refugees seeking permanent residency in 2026, down from about 58,000 this year.

The Canadian Council for Refugees points out the federal budget also contains a one-time initiative to grant permanent residency to an additional 115,000 protected individuals who are already in Canada.

– With files from The Canadian Press