Nova Scotia has announced a new immigration pilot scheme alongside changes to existing streams, aimed at attracting more entrepreneurs and skilled workers to the province.
The new Occupations in Demand pilot program will target specific professions, starting with continuing care assistants and truck drivers.
“We are constantly evaluating our programs to see how we can better respond to what the province needs,” said Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab. “We recognise the significant economic contributions immigrants make to our province and expect the changes and new Occupations in Demand pilot to help more businesses prosper.”
Occupations in Demand will be piloted across the province for the next three years with targeted professions to change based on recognised labour needs.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia’s two entrepreneur immigration streams – the Entreprenur Stream and the International Graduate Entrepreneur – are also being updated.
Existing business owners will now be eligible under the entrepreneur stream and can include operating expenses towards the required minimum investment.
The ownership requirements for international graduates looking to start a business will change from 100 per cent to one third. Changes will allow for collaboration with other entrepreneurs and give recent international graduates more flexibility in achieving entrepreneurship and immigration goals.
With the addition of the new immigration pilot scheme, the Office of Immigration now offers eight streams under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program in addition to the Atlantic Immigration Pilot.
Nova Scotia’s population reached a new all-time high at the beginning of 2019 with the increase largely due to last year’s record-breaking immigration numbers at 5,970 new permanent residents choosing to call Nova Scotia home.
Article published 5th June 2019