N.B. pauses 2 immigration streams until next year

New Brunswick has paused its express-entry and skilled-worker immigration streams for the rest of the year because it has already met its quota of about 2,000 nominations.

The pause will be lifted in January 2025, said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Department spokesperson Paul Bradley in an email.

"Demand often outpaces the number of people who can be nominated," he said. "Applications must be paused from time to time so potential applicants understand it would be better to wait until a new window opens, rather than wasting efforts on an application that cannot be accommodated at this time."

Bradley did not say how many applications the province received before the pause.

According to Statistics Canada, New Brunswick gained 50,000 people in total in 2022 and 2023. Permanent international immigrants make up 40 per cent of that number, data shows.

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Pauses also affect employers, says consultant

Federal programs are still open, as well as the provincial Atlantic immigration program.

Receiving a provincial nomination would greatly increase a person's chance of getting permanent residency, though they would still have to go through the federal application process, said Nousheen Pourjahani, an immigration consultant with Fredericton-based Swallow Immigration.

Pourjahani said these pauses have been happening regularly, and it couldaffectboth potential immigrants and employers who are looking for cashiers and some construction workersspecifically.

"When a pause is happening, it affects candidates and the communityandemployers," she said. "Some casual jobs are empty, there's not enough candidates to go and work in that position."

Pourjahani said there isn't much any person can do to prepare for a pause, because there is no warning.

"You never know," she said. "You have to find a solution, sometimes people cannot find a solution, then they go somewhere else."

She also said a pause could make getting permanent residency more difficult for recent graduates, who have six months to apply without a job offer. If the six months elapse, they would have to meetmore stringentcriteria.

Pourjahani said New Brunswick's provincial programs are better than those of some other provinces and are popular with young people.

Feds decide how many applications available

The federal government allocates each province a certain number of nominations.

Bradley said New Brunswick had 5,500 certificates this year, divided between the provincial nominee program, where individuals can apply themselves, and the Atlantic immigration program, which requires an employer to sponsor the immigrant.

Pourjahani said the Atlantic immigration program is still open, but it requires employers to be signed up. She said applications through that stream will likely increase.

Bradley said the province is asking for flexibility in how to divide the certificates depending on demand. It's also asking for "moderate increases" to its provincial nominee program, he said.

This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government is reviewing the number of permanent residents it accepts each year.

A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada said application processing times and provincial immigration needs are a few factors considered by the government when deciding provincial allocations.