Ontario seeking to double skilled immigrants to address labour shortage

TORONTO - Ontario is calling on the federal government to double the number of immigrants allowed into the province under a program aimed at boosting the skilled workforce.

Labour Minister Monte McNaughton says the province is facing a significant labour shortage that has been intensified by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He says doubling the number of immigrants allowed under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program from 9,000 to 18,000 a year will help tackle that shortage.

The number of job vacancies in Ontario has increased from 234,000 in October of last year to almost 316,000 vacant jobs last month, according to Statistics Canada.
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