By Jason Fekete, Calgary Herald 
The federal Conservative government has acquiesced to   provincial demands -- including from 
Alberta -- to ease its   restrictions on the number of immigrants that can permanently reside  in  the provinces each year. 
Ottawa controls the number of permanent  immigrants that can  annually settle across 
Canada through the  provincial nominee  program, with the current cap at 4,400 in Alberta --  well short of  the 5,000 Alberta had requested this year. 
Wild  Rose Country and other western provinces have been lobbying  the Harper  government for months to scrap its plans to impose a  lower cap on the  number of immigrants arriving through the nominee  program. Rather, the  provinces have been urging Ottawa to ratchet up  the number of workers  they can nominate to the 
federal government to  bring to their  jurisdictions to fill permanent jobs. 
Federal officials initially  indicated in June the provinces  wouldn't receive as many nominees as  hoped, but announced Tuesday  they will increase the numbers after  reviewing their case loads and  immigration targets for the year. 
The  additional nominees are critical to sustaining the short-term  economic  turnaround as well as long-term growth, said Alberta  Immigration  Minister Thomas Lukaszuk. 
" It would be a move in the right  direction," Lukaszuk said about  the federal decision. "We will be  seeing more and more permanent  labour shortages. We have to look to  immigration towards solving  this problem." 
Lukaszuk said he  believes the provincial nominee program is the  best solution because  immigrants can only apply if they have a  guaranteed job that employers  have shown cannot be filled by Alberta  workers. 
The approach  ensures new immigrants landing in Alberta are paying  taxes and  contributing to society, rather than tapping already  strained social  assistance programs. 
"We believe we should have some degree of  determination of what  immigrants we bring here," he said. 
Federal  Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is travelling in Europe  and wasn't  available for comment. 
But Alykhan Velshi, the minister's  director of communications, said  the federal government has heard the  provinces' concerns and will  increase the numbers beyond what was  originally promised earlier  this year. 
Alberta will now receive  5,000 provincial nominees this year (up  from the 4,400 initially  approved), which is a large increase from  the 4,200 last year and 2,800  two years ago. B.C. will now receive  3,500 provincial nominees (an  increase from the promised 3,200);  Saskatchewan has been allocated  4,000 (up from 3,700) and 
Manitoba  will get 5,000 (increased from  4,600). 
Alberta received the largest increase of any of the  provinces,  Velshi noted, which reflects Kenney's recognition of how  important  the program is to the Alberta economy. 
Alberta and the  other provinces were initially promised a smaller  number because the  federal government is trying to sharply improve  processing wait times  for immigrants, temporary foreign workers and  foreign students. It also  must balance the provincial nominees with  the number of immigrants  allowed through the Federal Skilled Worker  Program (which assess  applicants based on a points system), he said. 
Citizenship and  Immigration Canada initially set a target of  allowing between 240,000  and 265,000 immigrants into the country  this year, with the agency  usually hitting the midpoint. However,  CIC now expects to reach the top  end of its target, which is helping  accommodate more provincial  nominees. 
"There are other categories that we have to pay  attention to. There  are trade-offs," Velshi said. 
Back in  Alberta, Lukaszuk noted the 5,000 is just a start and still  doesn't  address Alberta's long-term economic and immigration needs. 
Lukaszuk  favours the permanent provincial nominee program over  attracting  temporary foreign workers -- which reached about 60,000  in the province  during the boom -- who can often be sent back and  forth between  Alberta and their home country depending on demand. 
"I'm not a  big fan of shipping workers in and out, in and out," he  said. 
Social  agencies and the food services industry welcomed the federal   government's decision to increase the number of provincial nominees. 
Despite  the higher unemployment rates in Canada over the past two  years,  there's still not enough workers to fill jobs in many  different  sectors, they noted. 
" We're looking at a problem that is long  term," said Enayat  Aminzadah, director of operations and resource  development with  Immigrant Services Calgary. "It's a great way to  strengthen our  workforce." 
The additional immigrants shouldn't  be seen as a "threat" to  Albertans also looking for a job, he stressed,  because there's  clearly a need for the workers both now and in the  coming years.  Also, nominees are only approved if they have a permanent  job offer,  Aminzadah said. 
The 
Canadian Restaurant and  Foodservices Association applauded the  federal decision, saying their  sector desperately needs additional  workers across the western  provinces. 
"It's a big issue and a lot of our members are  concerned," said  Mark von Schellwitz, western vice-president with the  CRFA. "That is  really welcome news." 
jfekete@theherald.canwest.com
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