Southwestern Manitoba's biggest city joins provincial nominee program

Southwestern Manitoba's biggest city is joining the province's immigrant nominee program for the first time, drawing on its experience as one of the 11 communities participating in the federal rural and northern immigration pilot.

Eleonor Mascardo, owner of Brandon's Happy Skin Clinic, used the immigration pilot to help secure staff. Mascardo felt embraced by Brandon when she opened in August 2023, but she "couldn't find any right fit locally" for a marketing manager at the multicultural clinic.

"We have a preference for the right candidate to speak Tagalog … We can reach more people," she said.

The rural and northern immigration pilot (RNIP) helped. Her new marketing manager, who will be arriving in September, has all the skills needed and Mascardo will help her with housing, work and making community connections.

She hopes those factors will help make Brandon her manager's settlement city — a major goal of of the pilot program

Manitoba's provincial nominee program will play a similar role in Brandon after the pilot program's applications closed in June. The city will act as a partner in the program to receive more recommendations including skilled workers or entrepreneurs.

Gerald Cathcart, Brandon's director of economic development, says the pilot brought more than 400 individuals to Brandon over four and a half years. Their skills span all employment needs, from hospitality to medical staff.

The city is hoping to build on the pilot program's success through the Manitoba provincial nominee program, Cathcart said. In 2023, the provincial program reported 7,348  nominations and approvals in Manitoba.

Manitoba's provincial nominee program offers three pathways for those looking to immigrate to the province: skilled workers, international education or business investors.

"We are growing substantially based on newcomers coming to our city and a lot of those newcomers are finding employment here," Cathcart said. "Employment has been tight in a number of areas and where we're able to find the skill sets that employers need."

Growing a city, diversity and economy

The city committed to partnering on the provincial nominee program at a July 8 council meeting. To become part of the program, Brandon had to conduct a labour market assessment that included outreach to individual employers and data analytics from Statistics Canada.

There's a major demand for skilled workers, Cathcart said, but it's hard to predict exact numbers.

Westman Immigrant Services community outreach manager Hannah Stollery says since 2022 they've been seeing at least 2,000 new immigrants each year. About 23 per cent of Brandon's 54,000 residents are immigrants, the city estimates.

Westman Immigrant Services is looking for more opportunities for newcomers and employers to connect and fill needed economic gaps.

"That will help the fabric of the economic business … helping more newcomers open their own business and build in that diversity amongst the city," Stollery said.

Sri Lankan international student Shirlyn Kunaratnam, who is the immigration research co-ordinator for the Rural Development Institute at Brandon University, says about 54 per cent of young workers and 68 per cent of newcomers are coming to Brandon under the economic category, with specific skills that are needed in the workforce.

Kunaratnam researches immigrant women entrepreneurship as one of the streams available through the provincial nominee program. Many are opening businesses to help fill gaps in the community, which is helping create a resurgence in child-care facilities, convenience stores and new restaurants.

"Immigrant communities can contribute a lot if there are … more support systems," Kunaratnam said. "We can bring in more investors."

Emmanuel Ahaneku, executive director of the Brandon Downtown Development Corporation, says programs like the provincial nominee program can help revitalize Brandon by building up businesses.

The development corporation has supported more than 82 projects, and more than half were immigrant businesses.

But there's still a need to build on programs like the rural and northern pilot program and the provincial nominee program to create faster and more flexible pathways for people to use their skills in Manitoba, Ahaneku said.

"They're not tourists. They are coming to add value with the skills they have," Ahaneku said. "If we don't keep them … it creates more of a skill gap for the city."

Keeping people

Ahaneku says more support and collaboration with social-cultural groups will help with the retention of workers who choose Brandon as their settlement city.

He's also chair of the Igbo Cultural Group Association, which is a group of people from southeastern Nigeria who support the welfare of others moving to Brandon. 

Associations like his play a huge role in helping immigrants settle when they arrive in Brandon and encouraging them to move to the city through word-of-mouth, he said.

Immigration programs can help grow the economic and cultural fabric of the community, Mascardo said. But they need to have community support to ensure people choose Brandon as their home.

"Canadians too are also very welcoming to the multicultural people which helps the immigrants settle better in Brandon," Mascardo said. "You need to have support in your community and belongingness to be able to see yourself staying in Brandon."