Quantifying the Effects of the Provincial Nominee Programs

New Immigrants Seeking New Places: The Role of Policy Changes in the Regional Distribution of New Immigrants to Canada

“…Other case studies of immigrant settlement in small and medium-size urban centers made similar observations regarding the importance of local economic context (e.g., Akbari and Sun 2006;Drolet et al 2008;Nolin, McCallum, and Zehtab-Matin 2009). However, it is often difficult to empirically identify the effect of regional economic conditions on changes in Pandey and Townsend (2011) found that changes in provincial unemployment rate were not significantly associated with immigration flows to a province. Given their model specification, however, the authors are making the assumption that immigrants respond to a unit change in the unemployment rate the same way whether this change occurs in a typically high-or typically low-unemployment province.…”

“…Over the 2000s, the PNPs increased considerably the number of immigrants going to destinations that previously received few immigrants. Empirical studies show that significant increases in immigration flows to Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, as well as New Brunswick can be attributed to PNPs, and that provincial nominee immigrants were more likely than other economic immigrants to stay in the province of their initial destination (Pandey andTownsend 2011, 2013).…”

“…Economic conditions likely played a significant role in the changes in the shares of new immigrants going to Toronto, Montr eal, Calgary, and Edmonton.behind the geographical dispersion of new immigrants entering the U.S., relatively little research has been devoted to this phenomenon occurring in Canada. This paper discusses the likely factors at play in Canada and assesses the relative importance of three factors-immigrant selection programs, immigrant source regions, the regional economic conditions-in accounting for changes in the regional dispersion of entering immigrants.No Canadian research has provided comprehensive explanations for the significant geographical redistribution of entering immigrants over the 2000s, although studies of changes in immigration policy (Carter, Morrish, and Amoyaw 2008; Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) 2011;Pandey and Townsend 2011, 2013) suggest that the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) were at least partly responsible for the increased numbers choosing the western provinces. However, these studies did not examine the possible reasons for the differential changes in immigrant inflows to other major destinations, particularly in the three gateway metropolitan areas.…”

“…No Canadian research has provided comprehensive explanations for the significant geographical redistribution of entering immigrants over the 2000s, although studies of changes in immigration policy (Carter, Morrish, and Amoyaw 2008; Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) 2011;Pandey and Townsend 2011, 2013) suggest that the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) were at least partly responsible for the increased numbers choosing the western provinces. However, these studies did not examine the possible reasons for the differential changes in immigrant inflows to other major destinations, particularly in the three gateway metropolitan areas.…”

Let States Nominate Immigrants? Reconsidering US Immigrant Entry Policymaking

“…The PNPs are a recent creation in Canada's immigration system. All provinces and territories, except the province of Quebec and the territory of Nunavut, are current participants in this programme, which began in 1998 (Pandey and Townsend, ). Among the provinces, the province of Manitoba has been most aggressive in recruiting new immigrants .…”