Foreign workers are raising concerns about immigration policy with PEI MLAs

On Thursday, about 150 new arrivals to Prince Edward Island took their concerns directly to the provincial government and to a standing committee of the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly.

Many foreign workers who have been protesting the PEI government’s recent changes to immigration policy since May 9 fear they may be forced to leave not only the province but the country.

The group is asking the province to exempt workers already on the island from being affected by the policy changes.

Rupinder Pal Singh spoke before the Standing Committee on Education and Economic Growth on Thursday, saying the February changes left him and hundreds of others facing serious uncertainty.

Rupinder Pal Singh addresses local government officials during Thursday’s meeting of the standing committee on education and economic growth. (PEI Legislative Assembly)

“If there are no other options, we won’t just have to leave Prince Edward Island, we’ll have to leave Canada,” Singh told the committee.

“It’s about what’s fair. Is it fair to change the rules overnight and not tell people what will happen? What about the people who are already here?”

Service workers suffered the most

In an attempt to curb population growth and the squeeze it means on housing and health resources, the P.E.I. government announced in February that it would reduce the number of applicants for permanent residency this year by 25 percent.

The province is also dramatically reducing the number of nominated sales and service workers, from more than 800 last year to about 200 this year.

Certain sectors, such as construction and health care, will be favored as the number of potential immigrants offered a PEI nomination for permanent residence in Canada will drop from about 2,100 last year to about 1,600 this year.

According to some MLAs, the change in government policy negatively affects service sector workers.

“I do not support this government’s efforts to undo years of neglect and bad policy by the people who are already here,” Green MLA Peter Bevan-Baker said during the committee meeting.

He asked PEI Immigration officials what harm it would do to extend permits to workers already on the island to give them time to obtain permanent residency.

“When it comes to extension of stay, the province does not have the ability to extend work permits. This is the job of the federal government,” said Jeff Young, director of the office.

“We may not have enough space to accommodate everyone in this group and in the situation you are talking about.”

The goal is to slow population growth

Young and Kal Whitnell, the province’s director of economic growth and population, pointed out that more than 11,000 non-permanent residents currently live in P.E.I.

They said this represents the third-highest proportion of all Canadian provinces based on their overall population.

Officials say the goal of the policy change is to slow the island’s population growth. PEI was initially projected to reach 200,000 residents by 2027-2028, and the province does not want to reach that milestone until 2030.

Some protesters watched the committee proceedings live on their phones while waiting outside the Coles building in downtown Charlottetown. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

Young and Whitnell, asked during Thursday’s meeting, did not commit to making any changes to the provincial policy, but said changes would be reviewed quarterly.

Letters from employers were presented

Protesters claim that the changes will also affect employers. They presented MLAs with more than 40 letters to Premier Dennis King written by employers asking the province to exempt people already working here from the changes.

The standing committee does not have the authority to make changes, but can make recommendations to the P.E.I. Legislature.

“We used words like ‘catch up’, ‘sector’ and we don’t use words like ‘people’. That’s where I have a problem,” Liberal MLA Gord McNeilly told officials during the committee.

Gurkirat Singh was among the protesters outside the P.E.I. Legislature’s interim house on Thursday. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

“It affects a diverse community, it affects people who came here on certain respected principles, and now everything has changed.

“I can’t sleep because people in my community come and talk to me about it.”

Young responded that the provincial nomination program is not the only permanent residency option available to newcomers. He cited federal government programs such as the Express Entry Pool, work permits for French-speaking immigrants and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

The P.E.I. government continued to emphasize that these cuts in immigration levels are temporary, saying officials need more time to determine whether they are having an impact on population growth rates.