Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 · 2018-03-29 · Scotia. Nova Scotia’s improving performance in attracting immigrants - more immigrants made Nova Scotia their home
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Group ATN Consulting Inc.
Suite 100, 5663 Cornwallis Street
Halifax, NS B3K 1B6
Phone: 902.482.1221
Fax: 902.431.4929
www.groupatn.ca
Nova Scotia Nominee Program
Evaluation 2016 Final February 2018
Nova Scotia Office of
Immigration
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This evaluation of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) is for the period 2011-2016. Under
the terms of the Agreement for Canada-Nova Scotia Co-operation on Immigration (2007), an
evaluation takes place on a five-year cycle. The NSNP was also evaluated in 2011 for the period
of 2003-2010.
In total, there were 5,286 nominations during 2011-2016. The streams included in the
evaluation were:
Skilled Worker (2,277)
Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry (609)
Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry (1,050); and
Former streams that were accepting applications between 2011- 2016 (1,350).
The 2017 evaluation specified five key objectives focused on examining1:
The effectiveness of the NSNP in attracting and retaining immigrants to Nova Scotia,
including assessment of attraction tools, numbers of applications/ nominations overall
and by stream, retention of nominees overall and by stream;
Their impact on the Province’s population and economy, both overall figures and figures
by stream;
The satisfaction level of nominees and their employers with the NSNP;
A better understanding of the statistical makeup of nominees by stream including
demographic, employment and occupation status of nominees; and
Overall NSNP effectiveness, efficiency and areas for improvement.
Key areas of focus in this study were an extensive document review; a literature review and
benchmarking exercise; an outreach and engagement process to secure the input of key
internal/external stakeholders; design and deployment of two comprehensive online surveys to
provincial nominees in the above categories and to employers; and the identification of potential
areas for improvement.
1 Per the statement of work.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. ii
The Context for this Evaluation
Population aging does not affect all parts of Canada in the same way. From 2011 to 2016, the
population grew more slowly in the Atlantic Provinces than elsewhere in Canada. The 2016
Census notes that the slower population growth in Atlantic Canada was due to interprovincial
migration losses, lower immigration levels and lower natural increases.
Nova Scotia’s demographic challenges are well known and have been extensively catalogued.
The ONENova Scotia Report (We Choose Now) that responds to the Report of the NS
Commission on Building Our New Economy (the Ivany Report) included “Immigration and
Welcoming Communities” as one of seven key Action Points deemed to be critical to the future
success of Nova Scotia – economically and socially.
Notably, during 2016, immigration broadly has also been a very high-profile issue in Nova
Scotia. Nova Scotia’s improving performance in attracting immigrants - more immigrants made
Nova Scotia their home in the first six months of 2016 than in all of 2015 or in any of the past 10
years – is an indicator of progress for the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration (NSOI) and for
Nova Scotians. This progress also provides hope that immigration will be a key driver in
offsetting the Province’s unfavourable demography.
The National Picture
Under Canada’s Constitution, immigration is recognized as a “concurrent power,” meaning that
jurisdiction is formally shared between the federal government and the provinces. The final
decisions on programs and admissions to Canada rest with the federal government.
Over the past two decades, because of a series of agreements with the federal government, 11
provincial and territorial governments have implemented Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs)
under the Federal Economic Immigration Class. PNPs enable provinces and territories to
design immigration programs according to their labour market and economic development
needs. PNPs have grown to the point where they admit about one-quarter of economic
immigrants. Consistent with one of their initial goals, PNPs have led to a shift in the
destinations of newcomers, to the benefit of smaller provinces.
Beyond immigration, the provinces also play a key role in the services associated with
immigrant settlement. Immigrant settlement services operated by the provinces include
employment counselling, employment bridging programs, welcoming community programs,
and language training.
Provincial Nominee Programs vary across the country. Because of this variation, a comparison
of PNPs across the country is challenging. The focus of the jurisdictional review and
benchmarking exercise during this evaluation was on examining comparable programming in
the provinces of Manitoba, British Columbia (BC) and New Brunswick, with a view to identifying
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. iii
trends and innovations in PNP programming that may be of interest for Nova Scotia. It also
focused on researching leading practice approaches related to immigrant settlement in smaller
rural communities. Key conclusions arising from the jurisdictional and literature review are
detailed in the report.
High Level Findings
This evaluation was undertaken during winter 2017. Analysis includes NSOI administrative
data, data from the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) and the results from a survey of
nominees and employers who used the NSNP between 2011 and 2016. Overall, findings show
that the NSNP has been successful in attracting and retaining immigrants to Nova Scotia.
Nominations increased from 518 in 2011 to 1,350 in 2016, an increase of 161%.
With respect to retention, results are positive. Nearly three-quarters (73.8%) of nominees who
responded to the survey are currently living in Nova Scotia and nearly nine in ten (87.3%)
respondents would prefer to stay in their current community. This aligns well with calculations
based on federal data indicating a 71% retention rate of nominees for the period 2008-2013, the
latest such data available.
Similar to the 2011 evaluation, survey results also show that nominees have had a positive
impact on the Nova Scotia economy. Most survey respondents were employed in full-time
positions, and household incomes were consistent with other Nova Scotians.
Overall, there was a high level of satisfaction among nominees and employers with the work of
the NSOI and with the NSNP.
Satisfaction with NSOI Staff: 98.6 % of nominees were either very satisfied (77.6%)
or somewhat satisfied (21%) with the NSOI staff. 92% of employers were very satisfied
(59.6%) or somewhat satisfied (32.7%) with NSNP staff.
Satisfaction with Process: Just over nine in ten (91.7%) nominees were either very
satisfied (58.1%) or somewhat satisfied (33.7%) with the application process.
Overall Ease of Process: Four out of five (80%) nominees described their overall
experience with the NSNP as either very easy (25.1%) or somewhat easy (54.6%). A lower
proportion of employers found the application process easy, 61.6% found the process
very easy (16.4%) or somewhat easy (45.2%).
Overall Satisfaction: The overall satisfaction rate for nominees was 92% and for
employers was 81%
Recommendations and Future Considerations
While the Nova Scotia Nominee Program is performing well, the evaluation identifies areas for
improvement over the next five-year period. Specific recommendations and future
considerations with respect to the NSNP arising from the survey of nominees and employers,
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. iv
jurisdictional research and stakeholder consultations are noted below. These are provided in
greater detail within the report.
Suggestions from Nominees and Employers
• The need for reduced processing times was a recurrent theme among both employers
and nominees. Both nominees and employers recommended improving the clarity of the
application. They found the associated paperwork burdensome and sometimes unclear.
• Greater online access for nominees. Some suggested access to an online portal with an
automated status check functionality enabling nominees to track their application
process.
• Address the duplication of information requested at the provincial and federal level.
• Enhanced communication was highlighted by both nominees and employers including
communication between the Federal immigration office and the NSOI. Some nominees
felt that the availability of staff and program information could be improved.
Strategic Considerations
Beyond these targeted recommendations from the nominee and employer surveys, the report
also addresses a range of strategic considerations for the NSOI that, in some cases, go beyond
the specifics of the NSNP. They include:
Monitor human resource requirements for processing applications to the NSNP to allow
for adjustments in respect to human resource requirements where warranted.
Maintain a human centred approach to client integration including accessibility of
officers and staff.
Coordinate efforts and provide seamless service delivery across government departments
connected with immigration.
Enhance engagement with employers and other immigration stakeholders to support the
attraction and recruitment of immigrants to all areas of the province.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. v
Enhance the understanding of Nova Scotians regarding the value of increased
immigration.
External stakeholders consulted as part of the study offered several strategic-level
considerations for the Nominee Program, including
o The desire to see Nova Scotia ultimately achieve a nominee agreement with the
Federal Government that would enable a more highly integrated Nominee
Program.
o Enhanced recruitment and attraction efforts by further leveraging community
partners including the extensive network of Honorary Consuls and post-
secondary institutions.
Conclusions
Both the Province and the Federal Government are focussed on enhancing immigration. There
is a broader understanding and acceptance of the importance of immigration in addressing our
unfavourable demography – nationally, regionally and provincially.
The three-year immigration pilot under the aegis of the Atlantic Growth Strategy is an
incremental Atlantic-wide initiative that speaks to this issue, while showing early signs of
success. Coupled with Nova Scotia’s success in having its PNP nomination cap increased over
the past few years, the numbers are improving.
Judged by nominees, employers, and the key performance metrics such as throughput and time
to process, Nova Scotia’s Nominee Program is a decided success. There is a very high level of
satisfaction among both immigrants and employers participating in the program. NSOI staff are
seen to be doing an outstanding job.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ I 1 OVERVIEW OF THE NS NOMINEE PROGRAM & EVALUATION PURPOSE ........................................ 1 1.1 The Context for this Evaluation ..............................................................................................2 1.2 Evaluation Methods ...............................................................................................................5 1.3 Structure of Report ................................................................................................................6 2 LITERATURE & JURISDICTIONAL REVIEW ..................................................................................... 7 2.1 Innovations in National Programming ....................................................................................8 2.2 Provincial Nominee Programs through a Rural Lens .............................................................. 11 2.3 Key Conclusions Arising from the Jurisdictional Review ......................................................... 14 3 OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT PROCESS ...................................................................................... 15 3.1 Findings Arising from the Stakeholder Engagement Process .................................................. 16
3.1.1 Internal Stakeholders ..................................................................................................................... 16
3.1.2 External Stakeholders .................................................................................................................... 18
3.2 Summary of Outreach .......................................................................................................... 20 4 HIGH-LEVEL SURVEY RESULTS AND FINDINGS ........................................................................... 21 4.1 Nominee Survey Results ....................................................................................................... 21 4.2 Employer Survey Results ...................................................................................................... 31 4.3 Comparison to 2003-2010 NSNP Evaluation .......................................................................... 37 5 IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS ................................................................................................... 39 5.1 Effectiveness of the NSNP in Attracting and Retaining Immigrants ........................................ 39
5.1.1 Retention ........................................................................................................................................ 39
5.1.2 Earnings ......................................................................................................................................... 41
5.2 Impact of Immigrants on the Nova Scotia Economy............................................................... 42 6 RECOMMENDATIONS AND FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS .............................................................. 47 6.1 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 47
6.1.1 Suggestions Based on Nominee and Employer Surveys ............................................................... 47
6.2 Future Considerations .......................................................................................................... 48 APPENDIX A: STREAMS INCLUDED IN EVALUATION ........................................................................... 51 APPENDIX B: EMPLOYER SURVEY ...................................................................................................... 52 APPENDIX C: NOMINEE SURVEY ....................................................................................................... 60
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 1
1 OVERVIEW OF THE NS NOMINEE PROGRAM
& EVALUATION PURPOSE Group ATN Consulting Inc. (GATN) was contracted to undertake an Evaluation of the Nova
Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) for the period 2011-2016. Under the terms of the Agreement
for Canada-Nova Scotia Co-operation on Immigration (2007)2, an evaluation takes place on a
five-year cycle. The NSNP was evaluated in 2011 for the period of 2003-2010.
This evaluation focused on three current NSNP streams (3936 nominees), as well as select
closed streams (1350 nominees). In total, there were 5,286 nominations during this period.
Skilled Worker (2,277)
Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry (609)
Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry (1,050); and
Closed streams that were accepting applications between 2011- 2016 – Community
Identified, International Graduate, Regional Labour Market Demand (1,350).
Figure 1 shows the number of nominees by stream3.
Figure 1: Nominees by Stream, 2011 to 2016
Appendix A provides a description of the streams included in this evaluation.
2 http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/laws-policy/agreements/ns/ns-2007-agree.asp
3 Source: Nova Scotia Office of Immigration via Open Data Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 2
The statement of work for the 2017 evaluation specified five key objectives focussed on
examining:
The effectiveness of the NSNP in attracting and retaining immigrants to Nova Scotia,
including assessment of attraction tools, numbers of applications/ nominations overall
and by stream, retention of nominees overall and by stream;
Their impact on the Province’s population and economy, both overall figures and figures
by stream;
The satisfaction level of nominees and their employers with the NSNP;
A better understanding of the statistical makeup of nominees by stream including
demographic, employment and occupation status of nominees; and
The overall NSNP effectiveness, efficiency and areas for improvement.
The overarching objective is focused on supporting the development of a better understanding
of the statistical makeup of nominees by stream including demographic, employment and
occupation status of nominees.
In completing this assignment, GATN undertook the following:
An extensive document review.
A literature review and benchmarking exercise examining comparable services in key
provinces.
An outreach and engagement process to secure the input of key stakeholders both
internal to the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration and external stakeholders including
immigrant serving organizations, the Premier’s Advisory Committee; and
Design and deployment of a comprehensive online survey to provincial nominees in the
foregoing categories and to employers.
1.1 The Context for this Evaluation
Globally, advanced economies are facing significant demographic challenges. The situation in
Canada is even more pressing. Canada’s median age is higher than the OECD average. An
important corollary to this observation is that the quest for immigrants is highly competitive
globally.
Population aging does not affect all parts of Canada in the same way. “From 2011 to 2016, the
population grew more slowly in the Atlantic Provinces than elsewhere in Canada, as was the case
during the two previous intercensal periods. Prince Edward Island (+1.9%) recorded the fastest
increase in Atlantic Canada, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador (+1.0%) and Nova Scotia
(+0.2%). The population declined 0.5% in New Brunswick, the only province or territory to
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 3
record a decrease from 2011 to 2016”4. This compares to the national growth rate of 0.96%
(2016).
In 2012, Canada's younger populations were found in
the territories and in the Prairies, and the older
populations in the Atlantic Provinces. The youngest
populations in Canada were found in Nunavut (24.7
years) and the Northwest Territories (32.1 years),
owing to higher fertility and lower life expectancy5.
This compares to an average age of 43.7 in Nova
Scotia.
The 2016 Census notes that the slower population
growth in Atlantic Canada was due to interprovincial
migration losses, lower immigration levels and lower
natural increases.
Against these challenges, it is not an accident that the
2016 Atlantic Growth Strategy6 includes the
development of a three-year pilot project to admit up to 2,000 immigrants and accompanying
family members to Atlantic Canada between 2017 and 2019.
Nova Scotia’s demographic challenges are well known. These have been extensively catalogued
in the Ivany Report (The Report of the NS Commission on Building our New Economy), as well
as in earlier reports. In response, the ONENova Scotia Report (We Choose Now) included
“Immigration and Welcoming Communities” as fourth in its prescription of seven key Action
Points deemed to be critical to the future success of Nova Scotia – economically and socially.
Specific recommendations included7:
Increase immigration to Nova Scotia – this recommendation included enhancing the
Provincial Nominee Program and improving International Qualifications Recognition
(IQR).
Growing the number of out-of-province and international students; and
Working together to create welcoming communities and workforce.
Figure 2 summarizes the volume of nominations by stream and year. 4 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170208/dq170208a-eng.htm
5 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/91-215-x/2012000/part-partie2-eng.htm
6 http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/ags-sca/Eng/atlantic-growth.html
7 http://www.wechoosenow.ca/immigration/
Action Point #4 -
Nova Scotia needs to welcome the
world to our shores. In order to
address our population challenges,
we need much higher immigration
levels to increase the number of
entrepreneurs in our province and to
renew our labour force.
And that means attracting more people
from other provinces and countries.
Interprovincial migration—for example,
attracting recent immigrants or native
Nova Scotians here from other provinces—
is another method of boosting our
population.
http://www.wechoosenow.ca/immigration
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 4
Figure 2: Nominees by Stream and Year
Since the last evaluation completed on the NSNP, there have been significant changes to the
Nova Scotia program including:
An increase in the nomination cap from 600 in 2013 to 1,350 in 2016.
Development of a new website in 2014 designed to be more welcoming, informative and
user-friendly - telegraphing the value proposition Nova Scotia offers to newcomers.
An internal process improvement initiative to introduce new efficiencies within the
program.
Implementation of an on-line application system for the NSNP in 2015.
NSOI was an early adopter of federal express entry programs, launching both the Nova
Scotia Demand Express Entry (NSDEE) and the Nova Scotia Experience Express Entry
(NSEEE) in 2015.
Introduction of the Entrepreneur Stream and International Graduate Entrepreneur
Stream in 2015.
Introduction of several measures to enhance program integrity and to manage and
mitigate risk.
Since 2013, annual provincial funding to settlement service providers has been steadily
increased.
Engagement of Nova Scotians and employers in meaningful discussions on the
immigration system and its importance to the future of the province; and
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 5
Comprehensive response to the Syrian Refugee Initiative including coordination of
operational planning to coordinate refugee arrival and necessary supports and services.
More immigrants made Nova Scotia their home in the first six months of 2016 than in all of
2015, or in any of the past 10 years8. This progress also offers hope that immigration will be a
key driver in offsetting the Province’s comparatively unfavourable demography.
Notably, during 2016, immigration broadly has been a very high-profile issue in Canada. The
initiative to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees beset by war and strife within their own country
and Nova Scotia’s stellar response to this call to action has reinforced, for all Canadians, the
fundamental importance of immigration.
It is against this backdrop that this Evaluation of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) is
being undertaken for the period 2011-2016.
1.2 Evaluation Methods
In completing this evaluation, GATN undertook the following:
Designed, developed and deployed an online survey of NSNP nominees.
Designed, developed and deployed an online survey of employers.
Designed a survey of NSOI program staff.
Outreach and engagement with key stakeholders.
Comprehensive database analysis and document review.
A targeted jurisdictional and literature review; and
Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) tax information for the period 2009 to 2013
(the most recent year available).
8 http://novascotiaimmigration.com/news/
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 6
1.3 Structure of Report
This report is structured as follows:
Section 1 introduces the study, objectives, context and background on the work plan
undertaken in its completion.
Section 2 reports on the literature review and targeted jurisdictional review. It includes
the examination of immigration success through a rural lens.
Section 3 reports on the results of the outreach and engagement process.
Section 4 provides a high-level overview of the survey results and findings.
Section 5 considers the impact and effectiveness of the NSNP in attracting and retaining
immigrants; and
Section 6 addresses recommendations and future considerations.
Background information related to the study is included in Appendix A (Streams Included in the
Evaluation) while Appendix B and C, respectively, provide copies of the Employer survey and
Nominee survey used in this study.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 7
2 LITERATURE & JURISDICTIONAL REVIEW Under Canada’s Constitution, immigration is recognized as a “concurrent power,” meaning that
jurisdiction is formally shared between the federal government and the provinces. Under this
framework, the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over “naturalization and aliens,”
which enables it to determine the number of immigrants admitted to Canada, and the criteria
against which they are selected. The federal government, however, has collaborated with the
provinces to establish immigration goals and policies, though the level of cooperation has varied
historically9. Over the past two decades, through a series of agreements with the federal
government, provincial and territorial governments have acquired a more significant role in the
selection of immigrants, particularly economic immigrants. The first of these agreements was
with the Quebec government. Since 1991, Quebec has had responsibility for administering its
own immigration programs and for selecting all economic immigrants seeking to settle in the
province. From the 1990’s forward, 11 provincial/territorial governments negotiated bi-lateral
immigration agreements with the federal government and have initiated Provincial Nominee
Programs (PNPs)10.
The PNPs offer immigrants an alternative gateway from the other federal economic immigration
programs. PNPs enable provinces to design immigration programs to address their labour
market and economic development needs11. The federal government retains responsibility for
security screening, criminal and medical admissibility and final admission.
PNPs have grown to the point where they admit about one-quarter of economic immigrants.
Consistent with one of their initial goals, PNPs have led to a shift in the destinations of
newcomers, to the benefit of smaller provinces. In 2012, there were more than 50 PNP streams
across Canada12.
Canada has what is often characterized as asymmetrical immigration. Provincial nominee
programs naturally vary across the country. An important feature of the PNPs is that they
provide the opportunity for individual provinces to tailor the criteria for the recruitment of
nominees to meet their respective labour market requirements. Because of this variation,
undertaking a comparison of PNPs across the country is challenging.
9 http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/immigration-policy-canada-history-administration-and-debates.html
10 http://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/research/diversity-immigration-and-integration/canadas-immigration-
programs/Seidle-No43.pdf
11 http://www.ruralontarioinstitute.ca/file.aspx?id=4d84222f-a28b-4cad-a3a9-1ca89b65eddc
12 http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/evaluation/pnp/section3.asp
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 8
Notwithstanding, the secondary research literature
and jurisdictional review point to interesting program
features and approaches to provincial nominee
programming that can be both informative and
potentially relevant for emulation in other
jurisdictions. The focus of the review undertaken
during this evaluation was to examine these innovations within the context of their implications
for Nova Scotia’s PNP.
Manitoba, British Columbia, and New Brunswick were examined to determine successes, as well
as any or lessons learned that might be applied to the Nova Scotia paradigm.
2.1 Innovations in National Programming
The original Federal/Provincial Immigration Agreements British Columbia and Manitoba
negotiated included Settlement Annexes that gave these Provinces nearly exclusive control over
settlement services. While the examination of settlement services is outside the scope of this
program evaluation, this factor is, nonetheless, relevant in the context of the jurisdictional
review because the literature and, indeed some stakeholders consulted during this evaluation,
point to these integrated agreements as having been an important factor in creating the early
success these jurisdictions were able to achieve in the development of their nominee programs.
Research suggests that one of the benefits of this type of agreement with Manitoba and British
Columbia (BC) has been its impact on enabling these jurisdictions to introduce and manage a
continuum of flexible programs for newcomers that are responsive to local circumstances and
are coordinated with other provincial and municipal programs crucial to integration, such as
education13. BC has a new agreement with the Federal Government that does not include the
foregoing provisions and Manitoba’s agreement expired in 2014 and was not renewed.
The largest share of provincial nominees landed in Manitoba in 2014, reaching 25.6 per cent
(12,187) of the 47,618 immigrants who came to Canada through a PNP14.
Notable achievements of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) include15:
The MPNP has contributed to over 70% of all immigration to Manitoba and a 10.5 %
population increase since 2006.
An average of 20% of provincial nominees choose regional destinations outside of
Winnipeg.
13 https://mowatcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/publications/5_international_perspectives_immigration.pdf
14 https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/immigration/pdf/mb_imm_facts_rep_2014.pdf
15 http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2017-MPNP-Renewal-Overview.pdf
The original F/P Immigration Agreements British
Columbia and Manitoba negotiated included
Settlement Annexes that enabled these provinces
to take nearly exclusive control of immigrant
settlement services in their respective
jurisdictions.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 9
Manitoba Provincial nominees have high labour market participation rates.
Manitoba business nominees have created 828 business start-ups or purchases since
2003; and
Historically, Manitoba PNP has enjoyed high retention rates.
Key findings related to the review of Manitoba’s PNP program include the following:
Manitoba was the first province to aggressively use the PNP to attract newcomers. The
MPNP has consistently been the vehicle for 70% or more of the province’s new
immigrants, contributing to the continuing increase in population growth referenced
above.
The MPNP has been held out as a leading practice model throughout the country. There
are several factors that are consistently linked to this success. These include the
following:
o A consistent observation in program evaluations conducted on the success of the
MPNP is the Manitoba government’s decision to work closely with community
groups interested in bringing in immigrants. There is a strong focus on the broad
engagement of stakeholders, including employers, communities and
organizations representing businesses in the immigration process. This underlies
the importance of immigration to both economic and community development.
o One of the hallmarks of the MPNP is its integrated continuum of service from
selection through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (and other
programs), pre-arrival (Working in Manitoba Tool, Qualifications Recognition
and other planning resources), and centralized registration, referral and
employment services through Manitoba Start. Through the Department’s
Employer Direct Strategy, employers can approach either Labour and
Immigration or Manitoba Start to meet their hiring needs. This integrated
continuum of services is widely seen as an innovation in the Manitoba approach
to its Nominee Program and a best practice. The Manitoba model more closely
exemplifies an integrated or whole of government’ approach to immigrant
attraction, settlement and management. Manitoba has also been highly
successful in attracting immigrants to rural areas of the province, an achievement
that is discussed in greater detail below16.
o Manitoba offers nominees an enhanced MPNP online functionality including an
automated ‘Status Check’ enabling applicants to the Nominee Program to track
their progress17.
16 http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/MIF-2014_E_Web_Programmed.pdf
17 http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/2014/04/28/enhanced-mpnp-online-includes-status-check/
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 10
o As noted, international qualifications recognition is an important part of this
integrated continuum of services and is important to immigrant success. Led by
the Office of the Manitoba Fairness Commissioner, working with regulatory
bodies, Manitoba places a strong emphasis on ensuring that internationally-
experienced workers achieve certification in their occupations as soon as possible
and in key professional areas including engineering, agrology, pharmacy,
architecture, dentistry and engineering technology. The Recognition Counts
micro loans program also continues to provide accessible, low-interest loans for
immigrants in regulated professions so that they can achieve full certification.
Leveraging these features, Manitoba is presently undertaking a renewal of the MPNP.
This renewal effort has several important dimensions and channels many of the above-
noted features that have created successful outcomes in the past including18:
o A labour market strategy for immigration including partnerships with industry
and education that build pathways to employment.
o Working with employers, sector councils and training institutions to better
prepare and match international students and skilled worker nominees to in-
demand jobs.
o Skilled worker selection that emphasizes early and strong attachment to the
labour market.
o Priority nomination for high potential applicants able to establish early and
strong labour market attachments in all regions of Manitoba.
o Priority nomination of high potential applicants able to establish job-creating or
maintaining, value-added businesses in all regions of Manitoba; and
o Expand options and increase the numbers of Manitoba employers hiring
potential nominees and recent newcomers.
By comparison, British Columbia has not been as closely studied as Manitoba. Hence, there is
less information available. Not unlike other Canadian jurisdictions, the province has been
vigorous in its endorsement of immigration as being important to its future prosperity.
Operating under a similar devolution model as Manitoba during the 2000’s, BC has been
considered an innovator and experimenter in a wide variety of areas associated with immigrant
attraction and retention. BCPNP has an online portal19 to facilitate access to prospective
immigrants.
18 http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2017-MPNP-Renewal-Overview.pdf
19 https://www.welcomebc.ca/Immigrate-to-B-C/B-C-Provincial-Nominee-Program-BCNP-Online
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 11
In 2016, BC launched an innovative points system for immigration to Canada through the
BCPNP20. The Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) is used to prioritize newcomers
through most BCPNP categories and fast-track their arrival to the province. The system provides
candidates with a score based on the information they provide upon registration. This score
determines whether a candidate receives an Invitation to Apply for nomination from BCNP
through the Skills Immigration and Express Entry B.C. streams. This is similar to the system
NSOI presently uses with its entrepreneur streams. Applicants submit an expression of interest
(EOI), receive a score and are later drawn from the pool of EOIs based on their score.
New Brunswick’s PNP is similar to Nova Scotia’s. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual
province in Canada, with about 30 percent of the population speaking French as a first language.
2.2 Provincial Nominee Programs through a Rural Lens
Canada has struggled to entice new immigrants away from cities. Many immigrants are drawn to
Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver - the so-called MTV cities. In 2015, more than three-quarters
of permanent residents to Canada landed in just seven cities – Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver,
Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Winnipeg. Small cities and towns in Canada receive only a
small portion of immigrants.
As noted in the adjoining text box, rural regeneration is
an urgent agenda in Canada, as well as many other
Western economies. It is a priority within the ONENova
Scotia Report, We Choose Now.
In 2008, the number of workers leaving rural Canada
outstripped those arriving, partly because local youth left
for major cities, according to the Canadian Rural
Revitalization Foundation21. The situation is urgent in
Atlantic Canada, where population growth from 2011 to
2014 was near zero in all provinces except Prince Edward
Island.
The need to attract immigrants to rural areas epitomizes
another Canadian trend in immigration - one that has
small communities taking a lead in immigrant attraction
and settlement. In recent years, smaller cities have taken
a much more proactive role in immigrant attraction,
collaborating with provincial and federal governments. In 2013, Moncton developed its own
20 http://www.cicnews.com/2016/02/british-columbia-launches-registration-system-immigration-canada-bc-pnp-027101.html
21 http://sorc.crrf.ca/
As their populations age and young
adults move away, small cities and
towns across Canada are increasingly
looking to immigration as a way to
rejuvenate their workforce and
expand their tax base.
But many struggle to attract people
and convince them to stay.
That’s not the case in Winkler, where
more than half of the people who’ve
immigrated there since the late 1990s
have made it their long-term home.
http://calgaryherald.com/news/national/cana
das-small-cities-and-rural-areas-desperate-for-
immigrants
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 12
immigration plan. Now, the city’s immigration strategy officer is engaged in career fairs focused
on getting employers to hire immigrants and mounting projects to urge international students to
stay after graduation.
In northern B.C., Prince George mounted a social media campaign in 2013 to attract skilled
immigrants who had recently arrived in Vancouver and could work on LNG projects expected to
take root in the region. In other cases, businesses in partnership with small cities have used the
Temporary Foreign Worker Program, combined with provincial immigrant nominations, to
settle newcomers who wouldn’t have made it through the federal system - either because they
aren’t sufficiently fluent in English or are not appropriately educated.
Manitoba has been recognized nationally for its success in settling new Canadians in rural
communities using its Provincial Nominee Program. Manitoba’s Mennonite towns, such as
Steinbach, Morden and Winkler, have been successful at attracting German-speaking
newcomers from Mexico, Germany and other countries, while the hog processing plants in
Brandon and Neepawa have lured immigrants from China, Colombia, Ukraine and South
Korea22. Their experience is noteworthy for other jurisdictions attempting to leverage the
positive benefits of immigration in rural areas.
While access to jobs and a familiar ethnic community are important when attracting and
retaining immigrants, a continuum of other services – housing, health, local churches and
language training opportunities - are also essential to successful settlement and integration.
The town of Winkler offers a useful case study. Winkler has never been a stranger to migration.
It’s recent immigration boom began as a coordinated response to the community’s economic
needs and was launched in concert with the creation of Manitoba’s Provincial Nominee Program
(PNP). Numerous jobs were unfilled in the community in the mid-1990s, compromising
immediate human resource requirements and jeopardizing business expansion, particularly in
manufacturing and the agricultural sector.
This became known as the Winkler Initiative and was essentially the first
manifestation of a provincial nominee program in which immigrants could arrive
based on their meeting provincial selection criteria, with the province assuming
responsibility for care after arrival.
The Winkler Initiative resulted in the arrival of 50 German families within a few
short years. The arrival of 50 families had been predicted, but their large family
size had not. The incoming families tended to have many school-aged children,
soon causing schools to be over capacity. Total numbers reached to more than
22 http://www.producer.com/2013/01/attracting-new-immigrants-to-rural-areas-a-challenge/
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 13
1,000 persons, in a town of fewer than 9,000 residents at that time. As this
population grew and grew in age, a new high school was built in 2013.
Winkler is now Manitoba’s sixth-largest city (as of 2011) and the second fastest
growing city out of nine in the province.
The Winkler initiative illustrates the importance of coordination in achieving successful results
in integrating nominees into a welcoming community. In Winkler, the Chamber of Commerce
formed an Immigration Integration Committee involving the city, province, economic
development practitioners and the Chamber.
The foregoing examples offer insight into several successful approaches across Canada of
welcoming newcomers in rural areas. Lessons learned from these case studies underscore the
following:
The potential for immigration to reverse the destructive impact of rural depopulation.
The importance of local leadership in rural communities.
The importance of partnerships and collaboration between provincial and federal
officials responsible for immigration as well as municipal level government,
communities, educators, ethno-cultural organizations and immigrant settlement
agencies.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 14
2.3 Key Conclusions Arising from the Jurisdictional Review
Key conclusions arising from the jurisdictional and literature review include the following:
A hallmark of the leading practice models in relation to Provincial Nominee
Programming profiled in this review has been their ability in mobilizing an integrated or
‘whole of government’ approach.
The literature underscores the importance of partnerships to enhanced immigration
outcomes, both those within the province and in the attraction and recruitment process.
Jurisdictions are interested in using Provincial Nominee Programs to assist in rural
revitalization. There are successful models and case studies nationally that offer valuable
insights and can inform the design of individual program initiatives; and
An important take-away from the successful Manitoba model is its very targeted and
strategic approach to their nominee program. They have succeeded by reaching out to
communities with a similar ethno-cultural background within the province, for example,
attracting German immigrants to predominantly rural Mennonite communities.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 15
3 OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT PROCESS The evaluation of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) included an extensive outreach
and engagement process to secure the input of key stakeholders - both external and internal to
the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration. This was in addition to the online surveys undertaken
with immigrants and their employers detailed in Section 4. The outreach and consultation
captured qualitative input on the functioning of the NSNP and its impact.
From a methodological perspective, the outreach and consultation process was designed to
determine the perception of stakeholders on how the NSNP is working and to identify possible
areas of improvement. To support this effort, several stakeholder consultation guides were
developed customized to each audience. Collectively, these guides were focussed on addressing
the key thematic areas of importance to the evaluation of the NSNP. Issues of interest explored
with key stakeholders included:
The overall effectiveness of the Provincial Nominee Program based on their experiences,
including assessment of attraction tools.
The contribution that immigrants make to the social and economic fabric of the
province.
Their sense of how immigrants rate their experiences through the Nominee Program and
any anecdotal information they may have on nominee interactions with the Nova Scotia
Office of Immigration and NSOI staff; and
Suggestions for improvements, including process, program marketing and any other
areas that would improve the nominee experience.
The stakeholder outreach and engagement strategy targeted the following:
The NSOI senior management team.
An extensive workshop session with Nominee Officers, including preparation and
deployment of a pre-session online survey.
A bi-lateral meeting with the NSOI compliance officer.
Outreach to the Premier’s Advisory Council on Immigration; and
Discussion with community partners including Immigrant Services Association of Nova
Scotia (ISANS), Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse (FANE), YREACH
Programs (YMCA) and an immigration lawyer.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 16
3.1 Findings Arising from the Stakeholder Engagement Process
The findings arising from the stakeholder engagement process, categorized under internal and
external stakeholders, are outlined below:
3.1.1 Internal Stakeholders
Program staff demonstrated a strong awareness of the importance of immigration in
offsetting the Province’s unfavorable demography and a high level of commitment to the
mission and mandate of the office.
The NSOI has experienced considerably increased volume within this evaluation period.
As a result, the office has undertaken a major effort to implement process improvements
designed to improve processing times and overall efficiency. While process
improvements can make the system more efficient, resourcing requires careful ongoing
attention, particularly, considering the focus on the ambitious goal of significantly
increasing the level of immigration to the Province and the introduction of the new pilot
program under the Atlantic Growth Strategy.
In terms of program efficiency, the working session with Nominee Officers identified
several areas of potential further program process improvements advanced from their
perspective. These include the following:
o Enhanced information and understanding of results is important to Nominee
officers. Officers expressed the view that having regular access to data and
information on nominee results and outcomes would be helpful in better
understanding their contribution, and the results being achieved, reinforcing the
positive outcomes being achieved with the NSNP.
o Increased use of electronic communication/interaction and processing of
nominee files is seen to be important to enhancing system efficiency and
responsiveness. Staff report that the applications process and file maintenance is
very ‘paper intensive’ and they would like to see it streamlined with more
seamless and integrated electronic data sharing across platforms/ processing
steps within the NSOI. Nominee officers expressed the view that moving to an
electronic file system would likely enhance productivity and positively impact
processing time.
o Other issues identified by the Nominee Officers include the need to make
enhancements to the LaMPSS system, the case management system used to
administer the NSNP. Issues in respect to LaMPSS include redundancy of
information in forms, challenges associated with uploading documents and batch
uploading and downloading of documents. We note that this sentiment is
consistent with other program evaluations that the team has undertaken where
LaMPSS is often used by program administrators and participants as a file
transfer platform, rather than something that allows adding data points that
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 17
could then be used for more dynamic analysis.
o Officers note the importance of maintaining up to date information of target
occupations in Nova Scotia. Access to current labour market information (LMI) is
important, as is LMI targeted to newcomers. Timely, accurate and
geographically-based information in usable formats are important aspects of an
effective LMI strategy to support immigrants. Achieving this involves both the
federal and provincial governments. It is also an area where coordination with
the Department of Labour and Advanced Education (LAE) will be important.
With the increased demand on program resources and the increasing number of
nominees being processed, Nominee Officers have clear suggestions on design features
that they believe must be consistently incorporated into the process improvements being
made, built around the following principles:
o Efficiency
o Optimal use of technology
o Integrity
o Fairness/balance/flexibility
o Clarity of written documents
o Additional on-line resources
o Timeliness and responsiveness; and
o Client-focused orientation.
In exploring nominee officers’ perspectives on the effectiveness of the NSNP in attracting
and retaining immigrants to Nova Scotia, they affirmed their belief that the NSOI is
generally doing a good job in attraction and retention. In terms of attraction tools – the
website, international promotion and marketing and the focus on Francophone markets
– nominee officers perceive that the NSOI is effective in marketing the Province in a
highly competitive environment.
Nominee officers believe that engagement with the employer community is key to job
placement and retention. Internal staff strongly support increased efforts to engage the
employer community through activities like a provincial ‘roadshow’ to inform employers
of the value immigrants would bring to their workforce. This is seen to be particularly
important at a time when some employers are having difficulty finding employees and
some sectors are reporting skill shortages and challenges in recruiting talent. Rural
depopulation is likely a contributing factor to these shortages. Employer engagement will
be an important factor in the success of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, as employers
must be formally designated to participate in the pilot; and
As is the case with all stakeholders, NSOI staff believe that ongoing promotion of the
value of immigration is necessary to ensure that Nova Scotians understand its
importance to the future prosperity of the Province.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 18
3.1.2 External Stakeholders
The focus of the discussion with external stakeholders was on the NSNP and the interview
guides designed for the key informant interviews focussed on the NSNP. Not unexpectedly,
however, some external stakeholders also offered their thoughts on immigration more broadly.
Hence, some of the comments may appear to go beyond the scope of this evaluation. They are,
nonetheless, included here for their relevance to the broader mandate of the NSOI.
External stakeholders are laudatory of the progress being made with the NSNP and are
generally very positive about the program. Overall, they feel that the program is
performing well. Stakeholders report that the staff of the NSOI show real commitment to
the program and that part of their success relates to their ability to formulate a strong
and trusting relationship with their federal counterparts.
Stakeholders speak to the success of the program and note that most provincial
nominees are becoming established economically, a finding that is borne out in the
evaluation survey data. This finding speaks to the economic impact of the program.
That said, stakeholders believe that the shared or concurrent jurisdiction across federal
and provincial governments complicates matters both for the immigrants and for
program management. This view is broadly shared and, in fact, is discussed in many of
the evaluations of NPs reviewed as part of the secondary research undertaken during this
evaluation. Many point to the improvements some provinces have been able to engender
under previous enhanced ‘agreements’ (i.e. Manitoba and British Columbia) where
greater responsibility accrues to the province specifically for settlement services.
Notwithstanding its fundamentally unique situation, Quebec is also frequently held out
as a model. A few stakeholders suggested that Nova Scotia should seek an immigration
agreement more in line with the provisions of these enhanced agreements, ultimately
enabling greater control of the broad range of outcomes.
Many stakeholders consulted, echoed the findings of the Panel on Employment
Challenges of New Canadians appointed by the former minister of Employment and
Social Development Canada in the fall of 2014. Collectively, stakeholders understand the
importance of helping immigrants find work faster in jobs commensurate with their
abilities and experience. This requires:
o The right skills for newcomers
o The right attitude for stakeholders
o The right information for newcomers; and
o The right place to settle23.
At a time when many Nova Scotia SME business owners are seeking succession from
their businesses, some stakeholders express the view that more needs to be done to
attract business investment and support to immigrant entrepreneurs. While the NSNP
23 https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/foreign-credential-recognition/consultations.html#h2.4
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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Entrepreneur streams are not part of this evaluation, this observation may be of value to
the NSOI in respect to its broader mandate.
Stakeholders also make the point that Nova Scotia must optimize its partnerships in the
nominee attraction process. As an example, leveraging the Honorary Consul network is
seen to be a progressive approach. These partnership opportunities also extend to
communities – urban and rural – which are so influential in the successful integration of
immigrants in their new homes.
Stakeholders rightly point out the advantages of retaining international students and
leveraging the reach of our post-secondary education leaders and facilities for attracting
and retaining this population. Nova Scotia has achieved considerable success in
attracting international students and has launched two pilot programs to encourage
retention – Study and Stay (EduNova) and Stay (Edu Nova). Also, NSOI offers pathways
targeted to international graduates including the NS Experience Express Entry Program.
Stakeholders agree with the recent efforts to encourage more international students to
settle permanently in Nova Scotia. International graduates are generally more familiar
with the culture, their language skills are often superior and they require less in the way
of settlement services.
As a recurrent theme in the consultation, stakeholders believe that Nova Scotians in
general continue to require more education around the importance and value of
immigration. Some point to the need to continue to vigorously dispel some of the myths
around immigration (e.g., immigrants are taking our jobs). Stakeholders assert that this
could be accomplished through proactive promotional and educational campaigns.
Publicly reporting on progress, outcomes and results would also be helpful in knowledge
mobilization around immigration. Profiling success stories is also pointed to as a viable
approach to attitude change.
Stakeholders see immigration as a key to assisting in rural revitalization and addressing
rural depopulation. This is a particularly important imperative in Nova Scotia. As
explored in Chapter 2, there are best practices across the country to be emulated in this
regard. A hallmark of these is the strong collaborative effort among governments,
communities, the employer community and organizations that serve immigrants. Several
of the community-based agencies that are partners with NSOI are already leading this
effort and are indispensable to ongoing success and future growth of rural settlement.
Based on the findings of this review, these organizations, though thin on the ground, are
strongly aligned with the mission and mandate to enhance the number of nominees
locating in rural communities.
Stakeholders are broadly supportive of the immigration pilot under the Atlantic Growth
Strategy and express support for its inclusion under this innovative umbrella initiative.
For many, this approach signals a recognition by senior levels of government of the
importance of immigration overall to the Atlantic Region’s future and its economy.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 20
One of the goals of the Provincial Nominee Program is “supporting and assisting the
development of minority language communities in NS”. The Fédération acadienne de la
Nouvelle-Écosse (FANE) is keenly interested in attracting more French-speaking
nominees and their families. FANE reports success in helping these nominees integrate
in smaller, predominantly French-speaking communities, thereby contributing to rural
revitalization. FANE would like to see an increased focus on attracting French-speaking
immigrants to Nova Scotia; and
Both the national literature and local stakeholders strongly advocate for a shared
responsibility among all partners in helping immigrants secure employment. This means
that enhanced collaboration among employers, immigrant-serving organizations and
governments is key to optimizing outcomes. At a time when the recruitment and
management of talent is so important, the nominee program provides the employer
community with a deeper and more diverse talent pool.
3.2 Summary of Outreach
Overall, stakeholders – internal and external – are proud of the success achieved by the NSNP.
They also are clear in pointing out areas for possible improvement. A recurrent theme
throughout was the importance of ongoing public education and the need to continue to
enhance understanding around the importance of immigration. The many useful suggestions
arising from stakeholder input will be curated and included in Section 6 – Recommendations
and Future Considerations.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 21
4 HIGH-LEVEL SURVEY RESULTS AND
FINDINGS GATN designed and deployed two surveys to secure optimal feedback from both nominees and
employers. These were subsequently approved by the NSOI. This section of the report provides a
high-level summary of the results of the two surveys undertaken as part of the primary research
into the Nova Scotia Nominee Program. The two surveys provided the nominee and employer
stakeholder groups the opportunity to contribute their perspectives on the performance of the
program, among other dimensions. The findings are presented in the sections below.
4.1 Nominee Survey Results
The Nominee Survey was designed in consultation with the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration
and, for consistency of results, was adapted from a nominee survey used as part of the 2011
evaluation. However, modifications were required to ensure alignment of the questions with the
more recent nominee streams.
Nominees were sent an e-mail outlining the purpose of the study and each e-mail contained a
survey link (URL) that was unique to that nominee. The nominee then had to choose to click the
link and further choose to participate in the survey (popup and other forms of in-page-
promotion were not used). Participation was incentive-based: those who provided responses
had the option to enter their name into a random draw for a gift card valued at $100.
The online survey was deployed on February 16th, 2017 and was closed on March 5th, 2017. The
invitation was sent to over 5,100 nominee e-mail addresses accumulated by NSOI since 2011.
The result of the 5,151 e-mails were as follows:
4,164 opened (80.8%)
800 unopened (15.5%)
150 bounced (2.9%); and
37 opted out.
At the close of the survey, 2,309 nominees had responded (46% response rate24), with 1,980
providing complete responses (reached the end of the survey), resulting in an 85.8% completion
rate. Survey results allow for statistically reliable analysis of the findings with the following
confidence levels
based on total responses (2,309) is +/- 1.52% 19 times out of 20.
based on only completed responses (1,980) is +/- 1.73% 19 times out of 20.
24 Response Rate = 2,309/(5,151-150)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 22
Survey Respondents Compared to Population of Nominees
Because survey participants volunteered to participate in the online survey, the resulting sample
is not random.
The tables below provide a comparison of the NSNP population from 2011-2016 and survey
respondents by NSNP stream and sex. In most cases, survey respondents closely match the
2011-16 nominee population. One area of note, nominees from the Community Identified
stream are under represented in the survey respondent group.
Nominee Survey
Stream Population Survey Respondents
Community Identified 11% 4%
Skilled Worker 43% 47%
Family Business Worker 1% 1%
International Graduate 10% 6%
Regional Labour Market Demand 3% 3%
NS Demand Express Entry 20% 19%
NS Experience Express Entry 12% 16%
Other/Don’t Know --- 4%
Sex Population Survey Respondents
Male 65% 63%
Female 35% 36%
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 23
Profile of Nominees
Nearly half (47.3%) of all survey respondents immigrated to Nova Scotia under the
Skilled Worker stream. One in five (19%) immigrated under the Nova Scotia Demand
stream and 15.9% immigrated under the Nova Scotia Experience stream.
Program Awareness: Half of all nominees who responded to the survey (51.4%)
learned about the NSNP from the NSOI website. Just over a third (36.3%) of the
nominees found out about the NSNP from a friend or family member.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 24
Figure 3: Method of Learning About NSNP, by Stream
Most (58.7%) nominees were living in Nova Scotia when they applied to the NSNP. Two
out of five (41.3%) were not living in Nova Scotia at the time.
Of the nominees not living in NS when they applied and who provided an arrival year,
most indicated they arrived in 2016 (57%), 2015 (20%) and 2014 (7%).
The three largest groups of nominees surveyed had citizenship from India (28.2%), the
Philippines (18.6%) and China (10.3%).
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 25
More than half of nominees (56.8%) resided outside of their country of citizenship when
they made their application to the NSNP. The remaining 43.2% were resident in their
country of citizenship at the time.
The majority of (95%) nominees reported English as their first official language (in
Canada), while 1.6% indicated that their first official language was French. The
remaining 3.4% indicated an official language that was not French or English.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 26
Choosing NS
73.8 % of nominees were living in Nova Scotia at the time of the survey.
Nearly half (47.8%) of nominees said a job was the primary reason for choosing Nova
Scotia. Over a quarter (26.4%) said it was lifestyle. Themes among the “other reasons”
given by respondents included growing economy of the province, ease of the
immigration process, Shambhala community, climate, ocean, safe and peaceful place to
raise a family.
Of those nominees who lived in Nova Scotia at the time of the survey, 75.8% lived in the
HRM. The CBRM (3.8%) was the leading area outside of Halifax.
Among those who settled in Nova Scotia, the majority of respondents (85%) said that
Halifax and the surrounding metropolitan area was their first destination. Outside of the
HRM, CBRM (4.81%) and Truro (2.8%) were the most common first settlement
communities.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 27
Most (78.4%) nominees reported they have lived in one place in Nova Scotia since they
arrived.
21.6% of survey respondents have lived in more than one community in Nova Scotia
since arriving.
Among those who resided in more than one location, most lived in the HRM at some
point. Other communities mentioned were CBRM, Kentville, New Glasgow, Truro,
Wolfville and Antigonish.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 28
Living in Other Provinces
Nine in ten nominees (93.5%) have not lived in another province since being nominated.
The remaining 6.5% lived in another province since their nomination.
Of the nominees currently living outside of Nova Scotia, two thirds would prefer to move
to NS. After Nova Scotia, the next most preferred residence is Ontario (12%).
63% of nominees not living in the province left Nova Scotia for a job opportunity. Other
common reasons for leaving Nova Scotia were family or friends elsewhere (17.9%) or
higher wages (19.3%). Some respondents also mentioned job transfers and an illness in
the family as reasons for leaving NS.
Of those nominees currently not living in NS, 54% said they currently live in Ontario,
while 24% were in Alberta and 7% in British Columbia.
Reasons to Stay in Community:
Availability of job opportunities was the leading factor (78.1%) for nominees choosing to
remain in their current community. Other common factors are safety (58.2%),
welcoming community (51.7%) and health and wellness services (41.3%).
Nine out of ten (87.3%) nominees said they would prefer to stay in their current
community. The remaining 12.7% indicated they would prefer not to stay in their current
community.
Employment Overview
Nearly nine in ten (87.5%) of all nominees said they were employed at the time of the
survey. One in ten (11.5%) were not currently employed, while 3.2% were self-employed
(percentages add to more than 100% since some nominees were both employed and
operating their own business).
Of those who were employed, 92.1% were
employed full-time, while 5.2% were employed
part-time.
Of those who were self-employed, most
(92.9%) started their own business, while the remaining 7.1% purchased a business.
Three quarters of the self-employed nominees hired staff.
70% of survey respondents who came to Nova Scotia with a job-offer remain with the
same employer. Of those who left their job with their original employer, 54.8% reported
a new job as the reason, while 5% were laid off and 5% returned to school. Another 5%
reported they became self-employed. Among the reasons specified as “other” were a
change in life circumstance, business closure and the expiry of a contract.
The incidence of unemployment with survey respondents was very low. Of the 869
nominees that were still living in Nova Scotia, 36 were unemployed and 20 of these were
looking for work.
Most nominees (85.2%) have not had periods of unemployment since their nomination.
Nearly nine in ten (87.5%) of all
nominees were employed.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 29
Fewer than one in five (14.8%) nominees have experienced unemployment since being
nominated.
Nearly one in five (17%) nominees plan to start a business within five years.
One in five nominees (20.7%) expect be in the same job. Three in ten hope to be
promoted (28.1%) or working in a related occupation (27.1%).
Application Process
Four out of five (78%) nominees did not use a paid representative, while the remaining
22.1% used this service (includes consultants and lawyers).
Nine in ten (87.9%) nominees completed the application themselves.
Of those who completed the application themselves, three quarters (75.4%) of nominees
reported the application to be very easy (22.4%) or somewhat easy (53%) to complete.
Just under a quarter (22.6%) found the application form somewhat difficult, while 1.8%
described it as very difficult.
Of those who reported the application to be difficult to complete, 78% cited the
collection of documents as a factor. Four in ten (40.8%) cited problems with
understanding the form, while 25.2% found submitting the completed application
(electronically or by mail) difficult.
Source of Information
Nearly nine in ten (87.6%) nominees used the Nova Scotia Immigration website as a
source of information on the NSNP. The second most popular information source was
family and/or friends (42.7%), followed by information from a consultant, lawyer or
employer (29.2%).
Assistance from NSNP Staff
Six in ten (61.5%) nominees communicated with NSNP
staff during the application process. The remaining
nominees did not communicate with NSNP staff or were
unsure.
Of those who communicated with NSNP staff, 87.8% used
email while 42.7% phoned. A further 15.5% communicated with NSNP staff in person.
The vast majority of nominees (95.4%) who communicated with NSNP staff received the
assistance or information they needed. Only 2.7% did not receive the assistance or
information that they needed.
A quarter of respondents (24%) reported that NSNP staff took less than a day to
respond, while 43.8% waited between 1 and 3 days. The remaining 27.3% indicated that
it took over three days to obtain the information or assistance they needed from NSNP
staff.
Virtually all nominees were either very
satisfied (77.6%) or somewhat satisfied
(21%) with the NSNP staff. Only 1.2%
were somewhat unsatisfied or very
unsatisfied.
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Virtually all nominees surveyed were either very satisfied (77.6%) or somewhat satisfied
(21%) with the NSNP staff. Only 1.2% were somewhat unsatisfied or very unsatisfied.
Overall Perspective
Most nominees were either very satisfied (58.1%) or somewhat satisfied (33.7%) with
the application process. Only 7.8% reported being somewhat dissatisfied or very
dissatisfied. The equates to a 92% satisfaction rate.
Four out of five (80%) nominees described their overall experience with the NSNP as
either very easy (25.1%) or somewhat easy (54.6%). Of the remaining nominees, 17%
described their overall experience as somewhat difficult and 2.1% as very difficult.
Reasons given for their difficult experience include the level of detail that was required in
the application process, the level of difficulty associated with the terminology, reliance
on slow mail service, lack of feedback and the timliness of feedback on information
submitted. In some cases, nominees felt that the requirements and documents requested
by NSOI changed during the process.
Four in ten (43.6%) nominees waited less than 8 weeks to receive a decision of the
NSOI. Just over half (52.1%) reported that the NSOI decision took longer than 8 weeks.
The remaining 4.6% did not know.
Education and Training
The majority (91.8%) of nominees had some level of post-secondary training as follows -
PhD (2.4%), Master’s (23.1%), Bachelor’s degree (40%), college diploma (9.5%) and
trade certificate or diploma (5.1%). Only 6% of nominees surveyed had no post-
secondary education.
Just under two thirds of nominees (62.6%) indicated their foreign credentials were
recognized in Nova Scotia. Of the 8.6% of nominees whose credentials were not
recognized in Nova Scotia, more common explanations included planning to or in the
process of receiving certification, enrolled in a bridging program or training/upgrade, or
have not yet arrived in Nova Scotia. The remaining respondents said this question was
not applicable or did not know if their credentials were recognized.
One in five (21.6%) nominees had taken language training since arriving in Nova Scotia.
The remaining 78.4% had not taken any language training since they arrived in the
province.
Nearly three in ten nominees (28.8%) had taken training or education since arriving in
Nova Scotia.
Personal Profile
Just under two thirds (62.5%) of survey respondents were male, while 36.3% identified
as female.
Half (52.7%) of survey respondents reported that over 90% of total household income
comes from their income. Three quarters (76.5%) of nominees surveyed indicated that at
least 50% of their total household income comes from them. Only 6.4% of nominees had
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 31
no work based employment income.
Four in ten (42.4%) nominees financially support family abroad. The remaining 48.1%
did not send financial support to family abroad, while 9.5% declined to respond.
A quarter (24.5%) of nominees lived alone, while the majority (75.5%) lived with others.
Family Profile
Eight in ten (79.6%) nominees were living with a spouse or common-law partner.
Seven in ten (70.4%) nominees were living with children under the age of 12, while
43.6% lived with children between the ages 12 to 18.
Three in five (59.5%) nominees who had partners indicated that their partners were
working.
The most common reason for a spouse not working related to employment 23.7% said
there were a lack of employment opportunities and 22.9% said they were not able to find
a job in his/her field. A frequent response was also taking care of family at 31.9%. The
most common reason specified under “other”, was the spouse only arrived recently or
had not yet arrived.
4.2 Employer Survey Results
As part of the comprehensive evaluation, a survey was conducted with employers who
participated in the Nominee Program within the period of the study. The survey was designed in
consultation with the NSOI, leveraging the 2010 questionnaire, with modification to examine
specific areas of interest and/or to match specific attributes of more recent streams.
Employers were sent an e-mail outlining the purpose of the study, with each e-mail containing a
survey link (URL) that was unique to that employer. This allowed the team to be more strategic
in terms of sending subsequent reminder notifications.
Participation was voluntary. Employers had to choose to click the link and then choose to
participate in the survey. As with the nominee survey, a modest incentive was used to encourage
participation. Those who responded were eligible for a random draw for a gift card valued at
$100.
Eight hundred employer e-mails were compiled from NSOI records. The online survey was
deployed via e-mail beginning on February 15th, 2017 and was closed on March 5th, 2017.
During that time, 150 employers provided responses and 97 completed the questionnaire (they
reached the end of the survey). Of the 800 emails to organizations:
372 were opened (46.5%)
345 were unopened (43.1%)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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78 e-mails bounced (9.8%); and
5 opted out (0.6%).
With a total response of 150 and 97 completed responses this is a response rate of 21%25 and a
65% completion rate. The survey provides NSOI with sufficient data on a range of employer
characteristics to enable a statistically reliable analysis of the findings with the specific
confidence intervals (CIs) as follows:
CI based on total responses (150): +/- 7.22% 19 times out of 20.
CI based on completed responses (97): +/- 9.33% 19 times out of 20; and
CI based on nominees represented by employers (701): +/- 3.44% 19 times out of 20.
Survey Respondents Compared to Population of Employers
Because survey participants volunteered to participate in the online survey, the resulting sample
is not random. The table below compares the employer-backed streams used by the total
population of employers from 2011-2016 and employer survey respondents. The table shows
survey respondents include a higher proportion of employers who used the Family Business
Worker stream than the total 2011-2016 population of employers.
Employer-backed Stream Population Survey Respondents
Skilled Worker 97% 80%
Family Business Worker 3% 9%
Other/Don’t Know --- 18%
Business Profile
Most (51%) businesses were in Halifax, while 21.1% were in Dartmouth, 10.2% in
Bedford, 12.2% were located elsewhere in HRM Other communities included Truro
(12.2%) CBRM (7.5%), New Glasgow (7.5%), Kentville (5.4%), and Yarmouth (3.4%).
Businesses most commonly (32.2%) described themselves as hospitality, while 11% were
IT and 8.9% healthcare. Mentions in the other category (28.8%) included a mix of
business types. Examples include retail operations, seafood processing, manufacturing
and other service based organizations.
Businesses were most often (24.1%) operating in the accommodation and food services
industry. One in ten (11%) were in the professional, scientific, and technical industry,
while 6.9% were involved in health care and social assistance.
Program Participation and Awareness
Most employers who responded to the survey used the NSNP in 2016 (141 nominees
hired) and 2014 when 157 nominees were hired. In 2015, employers who responded to
25 Response rate: 150 respondents/(800-78 bounced e-mails)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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the survey hired 118 nominees and with 112 hires in 2011, 95 in 2013, and 78 in 2012.
The largest share of businesses (37.7%) learned about the Nominee Program through
the Nova Scotia Immigration website, while 36% learned about the program from the
employee. One quarter (23.7%) learned about the program from other employers or
business owners, with 16.7% learning from Nova Scotia Office of Immigration staff.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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The largest share of businesses (38.1%) learned about the nominee(s) they hired when
the employee directly applied.
One quarter (26.5%) learned about the nominee(s) they hired through referral or word of
mouth, while 23.9% said that the employee already was working for them. Just under a
quarter (22.1%) learned about the nominee(s) they hired through advertising in the
media/Job Bank/online career website.
The largest share of employers (34.2%) indicated that employees had citizenship in the
Philippines, while 18.4% of employers hired employees with Indian citizenship. Three in
twenty employers (15.8%) had hires with citizenship in China, while the UK registered at
12.3%.
The majority of employers (67.9%) have not used international recruitment efforts (the
remaining 32.1% employed these methods).
Of the employers who used international recruitment efforts, the largest share of
employers (32.4%) used a recruitment agency, while 21.6% used a consultant. One in five
(18.9%) worked with NSOI to promote jobs at an international recruitment event, while
16.2% used an international recruitment event that was organized by the Nova Scotia
Office of Immigration.
More than four in five employers (83.3%) reported that the nominees are still working
for them.
In cases when nominees left their job, the most common reasons reported by the
employer were to move to another province (32.4%) and to take another job (25.9%).
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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Most Recent Nominee
Employers report that the average wage rate paid to their most recent nominee was
$20.23/hour, the lowest paid hourly rate was $11.50 per hour, the highest paid hourly
rate was $64.00 per hour, and the most often cited (mode) hourly rate was $14.00 per
hour.
Employers indicated that 79.2% of the most recently hired nominees are still with their
organization, while 20.8% are not.
Application Process
Most employers (66.7%) completed the application themselves. One third (33.3%) of
employers said someone else in their organization completed the application.
Most employers found the application form very easy (16.4%) or somewhat easy (45.2%)
to complete. Three in ten (30.1%) found the application form to be somewhat difficult
and very difficult.
Most (65.4%) of the employers who said the application form was difficult said it took
too long to collect all the information needed for the application form. One third of this
group (34.6%) found the instructions on the form were not clear, while 30.4% said that
too much information was required.
The majority (65.1%) of employers used the Nova Scotia Immigration Office website to
understand the NSNP. Just under half (45.3%) contacted Nova Scotia Nominee Program
staff, while 19.8% talked to other employers who went through the process in the past.
Just over half of the employers (52.9%) were in direct contact with the NS Nominee
Program staff while applying. The remaining 47.1% were not in direct contact.
Most (91.1%) employers used the telephone, and 76.8% corresponded via email with
NSOI staff
Among those in contact, over nine in ten (92.9%) employers indicated they received the
assistance they needed. Only 1.8% said they did not.
Just over half (55.8%) of employers said it took 1-3 days to receive assistance, 17.3% said
it took 3 days to less than 1 week, and 9.6% said it took less than a day.
Most employers (59.6%) were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied (32.7%) with their
dealings with the NS Nominee Program staff. e.
Timeliness of Decision
One third (34%) of employers said it took more than 8 weeks for the employee to receive
a decision from the NSOI, while 25.2% said it took 4 to 8 weeks, and 13.6% said it took
less than 4 weeks.
The largest share of employers (37.3%) said it took about as long as expected, while
24.5% said it took a lot longer than they expected, and 15.7% said it took a little longer
than expected.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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Just under a half (47.6%) of employers reported that they requested a letter of support,
while 25.2% did not, and 27.2% did not know.
The largest share of employers (46.9%) said it took about as long as they expected to
receive the letter of support, 16.3% said it took a little longer than expected, and 14.3%
said it took a little less time than expected.
Overall Satisfaction with the NSNP
The largest share of employers (48%) were somewhat satisfied with the program, while
33% were very satisfied. Combined, this equates to a satisfaction rate of 81%.
The largest share of employers (48%) described their experience as somewhat easy, 22%
said somewhat difficult, and 15% described it as very difficult.
The majority (57.4%) rated their employee(s) performance and knowledge as excellent,
while 39.4% rated it as very good.
Four out of five (83.3%) employers said that their nominee(s) arrived with the skills
necessary for the job.
The majority (92.8%) of employers would consider using the Nova Scotia Nominee
Program again to hire an international candidate. Among those who would not, the time,
cost, and level of effort were offered as barriers, with the suggestion that these are more
pronounced for smaller organizations. Others noted the changes in applications,
streams, and processes were a deterrent.
General Comments:
Six out of ten (61.5%) employers offered no comment on their experiences working with
the NS Nominee Program. In general, the comments from the remaining 48.5% of
employers were positive and encouraged the NSOI to continue to attract immigrants to
the province. Concerns expressed by employers included comments related to:
o Challenges retaining workers who after their engagement in Nova Scotia may find
employment elsewhere in Canada.
o The need for process simplification, highlighting the complexity of the language
used in applications. One respondent noted the duplication of information
needed by the province and required by the federal government.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 37
4.3 Comparison to 2003-2010 NSNP Evaluation
The evaluation of the NSNP for 2003-2010, completed in 2011, also included a survey of
nominees and employers. A comparison of some of the survey findings from the two evaluations
are highlighted below.
Nominee Survey Results
Top Five Reasons for Choosing Nova Scotia
Overall nominees in 2003-2010 and 2011-2016 chose Nova Scotia for similar reasons. It is
interesting to note that there were more nominees who chose Nova Scotia for education (27%) in
2011 versus only 7% in 2017. The 2017 survey questionnaire included more response options for
this question and this may have diluted the responses received.
Reason for Choosing NS % 2011 Evaluation % 2017 Evaluation
Job 45% 48%
Education 27% 7%
Lifestyle 22% 26%
Family 11% 7%
Friends 9% 3%
Most Common Methods for Communicating with Staff
In the 2011 survey results, e-mail (61%) and telephone (62%) were the most common methods
for nominees to communicate with NSNP staff with 49% saying they communicated with an in-
person meeting. In 2017, nominees were more likely to communicate with the office by e-mail
(88%) and 43% said they communicated by telephone. Only 16% of respondents said they
communicated with an in-person meeting.
Satisfaction with Staff
Both survey results indicated a very high overall satisfaction with NSNP staff, 97% of 2017
survey respondents and 95% of 2011 survey respondents were very satisfied or somewhat
satisfied with NSNP staff.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 38
How long after submitting your application did you wait for a decision from NSOI?
Both survey results indicated similar wait times for a decision from NSOI, see table below.
% 2011 Evaluation % 2017 Evaluation
More than 2 months 47% 52%
1-2 months 31% 27%
Less than one month 18% 17%
Employment Outcomes
Both survey results indicated strong employment outcomes for nominees with 85% of nominees
in the 2017 survey employed and 84% of nominees in the 2011 survey employed.
Employer Survey Results
In 2017, employers were more likely to be using NSOI’s web site to learn about the NSNP and as
a source of information while they completed their application. In 2017, 38% of employers
heard about the NSNP from NSOI’s website compared to 8% in 2011. In 2017, 65% of employers
used the website for assistance in completing their application (compared to 32% in 2011).
In 2011 and in 2017, business associates and the employee hired were common ways for the
employer to hear about the NSNP. In 2017, 24% of employers heard about the NSNP through a
business associate and 36% heard about the NSNP from the employee compared to 2011 when
24% heard about the program from a business associate and 23% heard about the program from
the employee.
Employers were much more likely to use NSNP staff in 2017 (45%) to assist with completing
their application than in 2011 (21%).
Employers overall satisfaction with the application process was higher in 2011, 90% were
satisfied in 2011, compared to 2017 when 81% of employers said they were satisfied with the
application process overall.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 39
5 IMPACT AND EFFECTIVENESS 5.1 Effectiveness of the NSNP in Attracting and Retaining Immigrants
With full utilization of federal Provincial Nominee Program allocations, the NSNP is effective in
attracting nominees. Without comparative benchmark data to further assess this - for example,
the cost of outreach and attraction results – we are unable to compare Nova Scotia with other
provinces in this regard.
To assess retention, we used both nominee and employer surveys (which both suggest high
levels of retention); and the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB). The IMDB is a
comprehensive source of data on immigrant outcomes administered by Statistics Canada on
behalf of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and provincial immigration
officials. The database links administrative files from IRCC (immigrant landing files and non-
permanent resident files) with tax filing data collected by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
and is considered a highly reliable source of information concerning labour market outcomes,
mobility, and demography of immigrants to Canada. All immigrants included in the IMDB must
have obtained permanent resident status (from 1980 onwards) and filed at least one tax return
(from 1982 onward)26, allowing a proxy assessment of retention. In our work, we examined
IMDB data for the period of 2009 – 2013 (2013 was the most recent year for which accurate
data are available).
5.1.1 Retention27
According to IMDB data, the retention rate for NSNP nominees is 71% for the period between
2008 and 2013. In other words, 71% of NSNP nominees who arrived in Nova Scotia between
2008 and 2013 are still in the province in 2013.
The following are retention rates by year for the years included in this study and where data are
available.
89% of Nominees and family members who arrived in 2013 remain in the province that
year
77% of Nominees and family members who arrived in 2012 remain in the province in
2013
74% of Nominees and family members who arrived in the province in 2011 remain in the
26 The IMDB results concerning earnings can be considered authoritative as they are drawn from CRA data. The
retention rates calculated using IMDB data are estimates as they reflect the mobility patterns of only those
immigrants who have filed a tax return in the relevant period.
27 Retention is estimated using tax filings data for principal applicants and dependents.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 40
province in 2013
There are limitations to the above analysis. Given that it applies only to immigrants who are
working and paying taxes. The retention rates are not reflective of retention that would include
dependents and family who are not working and filing income taxes. Likewise, the retention
rates do not consider immigrants working under a short-term contract in other than their home
province. As well, since the retention rates are based on tax filer data, they are not able to
disambiguate between immigrants that remain but leave the work force, immigrate to another
country, or stop filing because of death.
Another challenge related to use of the IMDB data is that it does not provide immigration details
using the nomenclature of NSOI’s streams. Therefore, we are not able to use this information to
compare retention rates across streams.
The retention rate based on the Nominee Survey aligns with the IMDB data. Nearly three
quarters of nominees were living in Nova Scotia at the time of the survey, a 74% retention rate.
The survey found that availability of jobs (78%), the safety of the community (58%), a
welcoming community (52%) and health and wellness services (41%) were the most common
factors influencing a decision to stay in their community.
When nominees who were not living in the province (26%) were asked why, the most common
reasons were job opportunity (63%), more pay (18%), and family and friends elsewhere (19%).
Most commonly these nominees were living in Ontario or Alberta.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 41
Retention by NSNP Stream
The table below shows the percentage of respondents by stream who responded that they were
currently living in the province. Retention rates for most streams were relatively high with 82%-
94% of nominees still living in the province. Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry (47%) and the
former International Graduate (67%) streams had the lowest proportion of nominees who are
still living in the province.
NSNP Stream
Nominees surveyed still living in NS
% N
Skilled Worker 86% 860
Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry 47% 187
Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry 87% 293
International Graduate 67% 83
Community Identified 82% 67
Regional Labour Market Demand 83% 50
Family Business Worker 94% 15
Most survey respondents indicated they were living in Halifax Regional Municipality. Skilled
Worker (28%) and the former Community Identified (34%) streams were the NSNP streams
with the highest proportion of nominees living outside of HRM. Between 6% and 14% of
nominees from the remaining NSNP streams included in the evaluation lived outside of HRM.
5.1.2 Earnings28
The IMDB Earnings data for principal applicants provides valuable insights into the labour
market outcomes of the 2009-2013 cohort. In general, the principal applicant saw a steady
increase in employment earnings in the years immediately after landing. By the third year after
landing, 47% of principal applicants in Nova Scotia reported employment earnings above the
Canadian average.
28 Reported for the years 2009-2013 for principal applicants to the NSNP (any employment earnings reported by
dependants is not included.)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 42
Table 1: IMDB Earnings data for principal applicants
Years after landing29
Type of Earning 1 2 3
Average Employment Earnings $45 208 $46 417 $47 000
% Reporting Employment Income 84.0 80.0 73.0
% w/ Emp. Earnings Over Cdn. Avg. 40.0 44.0 47.0
% w/ EI Benefits 8.4 11.3 11
% w/ Self-Employment Earnings 9.4 12.9 14.6
Source: Statistics Canada/IRCC (IMDB)
There is also evidence of steadily increasing self-employment among principal applicants in the
years immediately after landing in Nova Scotia. However, the data also suggest a divergence in
outcomes among principal applicants. While average earnings and self-employment earnings
continue to rise, the percent of principal applicants reporting employment income tends to fall
in the years after landing while the share receiving EI benefits rises slightly over the same
period.
5.2 Impact of Immigrants on the Nova Scotia Economy
The data needed to measure the economic impact of the Nominee Program using an Input-
Output (IO) model did not result from the study. The income data available through the
administrative data and from the survey differed from each other and that maintained by IMDB.
While there is no agreed-to view of the net impact of immigration, Nova Scotia’s Nominee
Program focuses on high-value, highly-qualified candidates with strong potential for
employment and therefore, a high probability of making positive economic contributions to the
Province and to Canada.
A more focused study would be needed to unequivocally benchmark and measure the economic
contribution of the NSNP, but responses to the nominee survey provide useful insights that help
identify the range of economic contribution of NSNP participants.
First, retention, although influenced heavily by more recent nominees and applicants, is high:
nearly three-quarters (73.8%) of nominees are currently living in Nova Scotia and nearly nine in
ten (87.3%) nominees would prefer to stay in their current community.
29 Earnings data for ‘Year 0’ has been excluded as the data does not necessarily reflect a full year of employment or
other earnings.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 43
Just under nine in ten (87.5%) nominees were currently employed and the clear majority
(85.2%) had not experienced periods of unemployment since their nomination. Of those who
were employed, 92.1% were employed full-time. Further, three quarters (76.5%) of nominees
indicated that at least 50% of their total household income was derived from employment.
Self-employment was low (3.2%), but of those self employed, the majority (92.9%) started their
own business and 7.1% purchased an existing business. As well, three quarters of the self-
employed nominees hired staff.
Three in five nominees who had spouses or partners (59.5%) indicated that their partners were
working.
The nominees are generally highly educated. The clear majority (91.8%) of nominees had some
level of post-secondary training as follows - PhD (2.4%), Master’s (23.1%) and trade certificate
or diploma (5.1%). Only 6% of nominees had no post-secondary education prior to arriving in
Nova Scotia.
The following figures, from NSOI administrative data shows income levels for the Skilled
Worker and Family Business Worker streams from 2011 to 2016.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 44
Figure 4: Average of Salary by Year, Job-Offer Streams
While family business worker incomes have increased, skilled worker average incomes have
remained relatively stable. It should also be noted that the data is selected for only those
incomes above $20,000 per year and those below $150,000 per year. Income information,
collected in both the survey and in the administrative data, vary widely.
The survey indicated that 42.4% financially support family abroad. While the magnitude of this
financial support is unknown, there is the potential that some of the economic contribution from
nominees outlined above is accruing to another country.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 45
Employment by NSNP Stream
The table below shows employment figures by NSNP stream. Skilled Worker, Nova Scotia
Experience Express Entry as well as the former Family Business Worker and International
Graduate streams had the highest employment rates, all with 94% or more nominees employed
at the time of the survey. Nominees from the former Regional Labour Market Demand stream
were the least likely to be employed (66% were employed at the time of the survey).
NSNP Stream
Nominees Currently Employed
% N
Skilled Worker 94% 890
Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry 73% 287
Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry 95% 313
International Graduate 97% 116
Community Identified 74% 52
Regional Labour Market Demand 66% 39
Family Business Worker 100% 11
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 46
Survey respondents were asked if they have been unemployment or had periods of
unemployment since being nominate. Nominees from the former Community Identified stream
(44%) were the most likely to have experienced unemployment. Nominees from Skilled Worker
(9%) and Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry (7%) were least likely to have experienced
unemployment.
NSNP Stream
Nominees who have Experienced
Unemployment
% N
Skilled Worker 9% 83
Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry 28% 90
Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry 7% 23
International Graduate 19% 22
Community Identified 44% 32
Regional Labour Market Demand 28% 13
Family Business Worker 27% 4
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 47
6 RECOMMENDATIONS AND FUTURE
CONSIDERATIONS 6.1 Recommendations
The employer and nominee surveys predominantly provide the basis for a range of important
potential recommendations as outlined below. Others are drawn from the observations of key
stakeholders consulted as part of the evaluation.
6.1.1 Suggestions Based on Nominee and Employer Surveys
When asked about their experiences applying under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program,
Nominees made a total of 1,354 comments. Employers were also asked to comment on their
experience. While many of the comments from both nominees and employers were positive,
suggestions generally fell under a few common themes.
Reduce Processing Times: This recommendation was echoed by employers and nominees
alike. Any changes that reduce processing times, including the application and decision making
components, would be welcomed. It seems that the longer time frames are particularly
challenging, for smaller companies. The issue of timeliness is also a more acute challenge for
companies recruiting skilled workers required to meet a specific contractual obligation.
Greater Online Access: The need for greater online access was a recurrent theme heard from
nominees. Access to an online portal with an automated status check functionality enabling
applicants to track their application process was also referenced as a possible feature.
Improved Communications: Communications and availability of program information was
and area nominees and employers highlighted for improvement. Comments from both groups
indicated that some experienced difficulties with staff availability to answer questions or to
clarify information and this placed some nominees and employers in challenging circumstances
where they needed to interpret information needs with limited information.
Simplify and Clarify the Process: Both nominees and employer comments indicated a need
for more clarity with the application process. Both groups found the associated paperwork
burdensome and sometimes unclear. Accessing, collecting, and submitting the documentation
in support of the application was among the most often cited challenges faced my nominees who
reported difficulties with the process. Some nominees felt that application forms, instructions
and associated documentation should be in ‘plain language’ to the extent possible.
The sense from some nominees was that, given language issues, clarity issues, and the need for
supporting documentation, the system is designed in a way that the nominee needs to seek
professional assistance. Some nominees felt that NSOI should be providing these resources.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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Some employers indicated a need for flexibility in the salary criteria. It was felt that the
requirement for all contracts to have salaries at the industry median wage is problematic.
Improve Federal and Provincial Collaboration: Feedback suggested that better
communication between the federal immigration office and the Nova Scotia Office of
Immigration could advance system refinements to reduce or even eliminate paperwork
duplication, reduce preparation time, among other factors. Some employers felt that there is
duplication of information requested at the provincial and federal level and suggested that the
information used to obtain approval at the provincial level should be automatically provided to
the federal decision makers.
Provide Options for Posting Positions: Given modern labour force dynamics and the
methods of recruitment that are used, some employers believe that posting to the Job Bank is
ineffective. In some cases, the prescribed process causes unnecessary demands on the employer
to vet unqualified applicants.
6.2 Future Considerations
Beyond the specific recommendations arising from the survey of nominees and employers,
through this evaluation, the NSOI was also seeking to identify potential areas for improvement.
This section of the report addresses this interest. It also addresses a range of strategic
considerations for the NSOI that, in some cases go beyond the specifics of the NSNP. These are
informed by the jurisdictional review, the secondary research undertaken as part of this
evaluation, and input received from stakeholders during the outreach and engagement process.
These are not specific recommendations; rather, they are ideas, approaches and strategic
considerations that the NSOI may wish to consider over the next five years.
Judged by the feedback from nominees and employers, Nova Scotia’s Nominee Program is a
decided success. Nova Scotia is doing well with its Nominee Program. There is a very high level
of satisfaction among both immigrants and employers participating in the program. NSOI staff
are seen to be doing an outstanding job.
Further, conditions are increasingly supportive of the ambitious goal in the One Nova Scotia
Report to increase immigration to the province by 2020. The Province and the Federal
Government are strongly focussed on enhancing immigration. There is a broader understanding
and acceptance of the importance of immigration in addressing our unfavourable demography.
The three-year immigration pilot under the aegis of the Atlantic Growth Strategy is an
incremental Atlantic-wide initiative that speaks to the importance of this issue for the Atlantic
Region. Coupled with Nova Scotia’s success in increasing the PNP allocation over the past few
years, the numbers are also improving.
Notwithstanding this success, as part of this study, key strategic areas for on-going and future
improvement were identified. These are itemized below:
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 49
On a practical level, NSOI has significantly increased the number of nominees processed
while maintaining a strong service standard related to NSNP response timeliness. While
there has been an increase in nominee officers from seven to twelve during the
evaluation period, nominee officers consulted during the evaluation suggested that,
because of the volume, they do not have as strong a connection with the nominee as they
had in the past. Given the importance of immigration as a prominent policy initiative,
going forward, it will be important to monitor human resource requirements, indexed to
the number of nominees being processed to allow for adjustments in respect to human
resource requirements where warranted. This is particularly important considering that
the Province has established immigration as a key priority and the steady increase in
PNP allocations.
Quite aside from the specific nominee streams that were the subject of this evaluation, it
is recognized that the broad needs of immigrants span many government departments
including those involved with business, labour market matters, health, education and
housing. Coordinating efforts and providing seamless service delivery across these
departments is complex. The analogues reviewed as part of this evaluation that have had
the most success in nominee programming, Manitoba and BC, have explicitly taken a
more integrated approach to overall program design and management to support their
nominee programs and immigration programs generally. This ‘whole of government’
approach has worked well in this context and is an approach that has the potential to
enhance overall results.
Both the national literature and local stakeholders strongly advocate for a shared
responsibility among all stakeholders in helping immigrants secure employment.
Applied to the nominee program, this means that employers, immigrant service
organizations, local communities and governments need to optimize collaboration to
support immigrants in employment.
While Nova Scotia is working hard to address its challenges with the rural economy and
depopulation, enhancing outcomes in rural areas through the recruitment of more
immigrants is an important initiative to pursue. Manitoba offers a useful analogue from
which to learn. Manitoba mobilized both public and private sector resources,
communities and municipal government to support nominee recruitment for rural areas.
In recognition of the challenges that Nova Scotia faces and the strong interest in rural
revitalization, the Province may wish to develop a pilot program with dedicated
resources as a possible approach to better understand the requirements and critical
success factors related to rural settlement using the NSNP.
Stakeholders noted that some employers are experiencing skill shortages, with talent
attraction reported as an ongoing challenge. It will be important for NSOI to consider the
suggestions from the employer survey to optimize results of the NSNP.
NSOI staff expressed the view that more outreach, engagement and promotion of the
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 50
program with employers on an ongoing basis would be desirable.
NSOI Nominee officers also express the need for enhancements to LaMPSS such as
creating the data entry fields, particularly for quantitative inputs, that allow for sharing
of key metrics. These could be configured in a way that allows them to be compiled and
made available to program managers and staff in a ‘dashboard’ format, addressing
program monitoring requirements.
Findings from this study suggest that it continues to be necessary to enhance the
understanding of Nova Scotians with respect to the value of increased immigration,
including the benefits of the provincial nominee program, dispelling some lingering
‘myths’, and supporting communities critically important role in being ‘welcoming’.
These factors contribute to the retention imperative.
External stakeholders consulted as part of the study offered several strategic-level
considerations for the Nominee Program, including the following:
o The desire to see Nova Scotia ultimately achieve a nominee agreement with the
Federal Government that would enable a more highly integrated Nominee
Program. Those who offered this observation were generally in favour of the
approach reflected in the former Settlement Annexes in Manitoba and British
Columbia Immigration Agreements. While this issue is broader than the
provincial nominee program, stakeholders raised it during the consultation phase
associated with this evaluation.
o While the NSNP is having significant success in attracting nominees, Nova Scotia
is seen to have additional partners that could be mobilized to support the
recruitment and attraction effort including, its extensive network of Honorary
Consuls and post-secondary institutions that have been successful in attracting
international students. Some stakeholders urge greater leveraging of key partners
to target international students/graduates, and improve communication about
the Nova Scotia Experience Express Entry Stream (NSEEE).
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 51
APPENDIX A: STREAMS INCLUDED IN
EVALUATION The evaluation includes three current NSNP streams: Skilled Worker, Nova Scotia Experience:
Express Entry and Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry as well as closed streams that were
accepting applications between 2011-16 as detailed below.
Current NSNP Streams:
Skilled Worker: Introduced in 2003, individuals must have a guaranteed, full-time,
permanent job offer from a Nova Scotia employer.
Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry (NSEEE): Introduced in May 2015, NSEEE
provides a pathway for individuals with high human capital and at least one year
experience working for a Nova Scotia employer. This stream takes advantage of the
federal Express Entry system.
Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry (NSDEE): During the period of this evaluation,
NSDEE accepted applications from January – December 2015. At that time, applicants
to NSDEE had to have either a permanent full-time job offer from a Nova Scotia
employer or experience and training in a Nova Scotia Opportunity Occupation. This
stream takes advantage of the federal Express Entry system.
Former NSNP Streams:
Family Business Worker: Introduced in December 2006 and closed in 2015. Applicants
were required to have a guaranteed full-time permanent job with a Nova Scotia employer
who was a close relative of the applicant
Regional Labour Market Demand (RLMD): Introduced in March 2014 to attract
immigrants with the skills needed for Nova Scotia’s labour market. RLMD was closed in
April 2014 due to an overwhelming number of applications.
Community Identified: Introduced in 2003 and closed in March 2014. Targeted
applicants who had long-established connections to a Nova Scotia community and were
able to contribute to the labour market and economy of that community.
International Graduate: Targeted international graduates with strong ties to Nova Scotia
and helped employers hire and retain recent international graduates.
Excluded from This Evaluation
Because the Entrepreneur and International Graduate Entrepreneur streams were only
launched in January 2016, they were excluded from this evaluation.
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 52
APPENDIX B: EMPLOYER SURVEY Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) Evaluation Survey (Employers)
Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your input is valuable to the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration, we appreciate your time. By completing any part of this survey, you are consenting to the collection, retention, use and disposition of the information provided in the survey for the purposes of evaluating the Nova Scotia Nominee Program, in accordance with Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) Act. If you require further information about this evaluation, contact the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration at 1(800) 670-4357 or (902) 424-5230. For technical assistance with this survey, e-mail: surveys@groupatn.ca
1. Please provide the following:
• Organization's name:
• Your Name:
• Your Title:
About Your Company
The first questions are about your company.
2. Where is your business located? Select all that apply..
• Halifax
• Bedford
• Dartmouth
• Elsewhere in Halifax Regional Municipality
• Truro
• Yarmouth
• Cape Breton Regional Municipality
• New Glasgow
• Kentville
• Other (please specify)
3. How would you describe your business? Select as many as apply.
• Hospitality (i.e. hotel, restaurant, food service, tourism)
• Seafood
• Forestry
• Agriculture
• Financial Industry
• Automotive/Trucking
• Healthcare
• IT
• Gaming
• Engineering
• Manufacturing
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 53
• Construction
• Education
• Don’t know
• Other (please specify)
4. Please select the industry in which your business operates? Select best match.
• Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
• Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
• Utilities
• Construction
• Wholesale Trade
• Information
• Finance and Insurance
• Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
• Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• Management of Companies and Enterprises
• Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
• Educational Services
• Health Care and Social Assistance
• Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
• Accommodation and Food Services
• Other Services (except Public Administration)
• Public Administration
• Other (please specify)
Using the Nova Scotia Nominee Program
5. How many foreign nationals have you hired that went through the Nova Scotia Nominee
Program between 2011 and 2016?
• 2011
• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
6. How did you learn about the Nova Scotia Nominee Program? Select all that apply.
• Nova Scotia Immigration website
• Nova Scotia Office of Immigration staff
• Other employer/business owners
• The employee
• Business organization or event
• Employment Agency
• Recruitment Agency
• Don’t Know
• Other (please specify)
7. How did you learn about the nominee(s) that you hired? Select as many as apply.
• Referral or word of mouth
• He/she or they are members of my extended family
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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• Employee directly applied
• Employee already worked for me.
• University or college Graduate recruitment
• Advertising in the media/Job Bank/online career website
• Don’t Know
• Other (please specify)
8. Did you ever use international recruitment efforts (i.e. advertising overseas, going overseas, etc.)?
• Yes (International Recruitment Efforts)
• No (Nominee Attachment) 9. Under what stream of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program did your employee(s) apply?
• Skilled Worker
• Family Business Worker
• Don’t know
• Other (please specify)
10. Were any of these employees here in Nova Scotia already on a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) supported work permit?
• No
• Don’t know
• Yes (How many?)
11. What was the country(ies) of citizenship of your employee(s)? Select all that apply.
• India
• Philippines
• China, People’s Republic of
• Israel
• Nigeria
• Jamaica
• Pakistan
• Korea, Republic of
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Egypt
• Don’t know
• Other (please specify)
International Recruitment Efforts
12. What type of international recruitment services did you use? Select as many as apply.
• Attended an international recruitment event with the Nova Scotia Office (NSOI) of Immigration
• NSOI brought job postings from my company to an international recruitment event.
• An international recruitment event that was organized by the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration
• Virtual international job fair
• A recruitment agency
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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• A consultant
• Other (please specify)
Nominee Attachment
13. On average, how long do nominees tend to stay with your organization? [Open Text]
14. Are any of the nominees still working for your organization?
• Yes, How Many
• No
Reason Nominees Leave
15. When nominees leave your organization, what do you think is the usual reason they have for leaving? Select all that apply.
• All nominee(s) continue to work at my company.
• Left province
• Fired/terminated
• Took another job
• Promotion
• Don’t know
• Other (please specify)
Most Recent Nominee
The next questions ask about your more recent nominee. 16. How long did your most recent nominee stay with the organization?
[Months]
17. What was/is their hourly wage rate?
[Rate]
18. Is this person still with the organization?
• Yes
• No
Application Process
For the next questions, please think about the Employer Information Form (NSNP 200) that you completed as part of the application process. 19. Did you complete the application form yourself?
• Yes (Organization Completed Application)
• No (Sources of Information)
Organization Completed Application
20. Thinking about all aspects of the application form, how easy or difficult did you find it to complete?
• Very easy (Sources of Information)
• Somewhat easy (Sources of Information)
• Somewhat difficult (Difficult Application)
• Very difficult (Difficult Application)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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• Don’t Know (Sources of Information)
Difficult Application
21. What did you find difficult when completing the application form? Select all that apply.
• Too much information was needed
• Instructions were not clear
• It took a long time to collect all the information that was needed
• Don’t know
• Other (please specify)
Sources of Information
22. What sources of information did you use to understand how the Nova Scotia Nominee Program worked? Check all that apply.
• Nova Scotia Immigration Office website
• Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff
• Other employers who have gone through the process in the past
• Other online research/sources
• None
• Don’t Know
• Other (please specify)
Assistance from Nova Scotia Nominee Staff
This section asks about your experience in seeking assistance from Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff during the application process. 23. Did you have direct interaction with the Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff during your
application process?
• Yes (Method of Communications)
• No (Process Timeline)
Method of Communications
24. What method of interaction did you have with Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff? Check all that apply.
• Telephone
• Letter
• In person
• Don’t Know
• Other (please specify)
25. Did you receive the assistance or information you needed from the Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
• Yes (Assistance from Staff)
• Don’t Know (Process Timeline)
• No (please explain) (Assistance from Staff)
Assistance from Staff
26. How long did it take to get the assistance or information you needed from the Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
• Less than one day
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 57
• One day to less than 3 days
• 3 days to less than 1 week
• 1 week or longer
• Don’t know
Satisfaction with Staff
27. How satisfied were you with your dealings with the Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
• Very satisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Somewhat unsatisfied
• Very unsatisfied
• Don’t know
28. Why were you satisfied or not satisfied with your dealings with staff? [Open Text]
Process Timeline
29. On average, how long after submitting your completed Employer Information form (NSNP 200) did it take for your employee to receive a decision from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration (NSOI)?
• Less than 4 weeks (1 month)
• 4 weeks to 8 weeks (1 to 2 months)
• More than 8 weeks (more than 2 months)
• Don’t know
30. Thinking about how long it took for the nominee to receive a final decision from NSOI, would you say it took…
• A lot longer than you expected
• A little longer than you expected
• About as long as you expected
• A little less time than you expected
• A lot less time than you expected
• Don’t know
31. Did you request a letter of support from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration for a work permit for your nominee?
• Yes (Letter of Support)
• No (Overall Satisfaction)
• Don’t know (Overall Satisfaction)
Letter of Support
32. How long did it take for you to receive the letter of support from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration?
• A lot longer than you expected
• A little longer than you expected
• About as long as you expected
• A little less time than you expected
• A lot less time than you expected
• Don’t know
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 58
Overall Satisfaction
33. Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the Nova Scotia Nominee Program?
• Very satisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Somewhat dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Don’t know
34. Would you describe your experience as it pertains to the Nova Scotia Nominee Program of bringing a foreign national to Nova Scotia as:
• Very easy (Employee Suitability)
• Somewhat easy (Employee Suitability)
• Somewhat difficult (Experience was Difficult)
• Very difficult (Experience was Difficult)
• Don’t know (Employee Suitability)
Experience was Difficult
35. Please describe any difficulties you had in bringing a foreign national to Nova Scotia under the NSNP.
[Open Text]
Employee Suitability and Adaptability
This section asks question about your satisfaction with the foreign nationals you have hired using the Nova Scotia Nominee Program and their adaptability to life in Nova Scotia.
36. How would you describe your overall level of satisfaction with the performance of employee(s) you have recruited?
• Very satisfied (Overall Performance of Workers)
• Somewhat satisfied (Overall Performance of Workers)
• Somewhat unsatisfied (Comments Recruited Workers)
• Very unsatisfied (Comments Recruited Workers)
• Don’t know (Overall Performance of Workers)
Comments Recruited Workers
37. Please explain why you were unsatisfied with the performance of the employees. [Open Text]
Overall Performance of Workers
38. How would you rate the overall performance and knowledge of those nominees who worked or are still working for your organization?
• Excellent
• Very Good
• Poor
• Very Poor
39. Did the nominee(s) arrive(s) with the skills necessary to do the job?
• Yes
• Don’t Know
• Prefer not to Answer
• No, please explain
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 59
40. What kind of training (workplace or other training) did you provide to your employee(s)? [Open Text]
Operational Impacts
41. Do you have challenges in hiring / retaining certain occupations or skills sets? What are these occupations or skill sets?
[Open Text] 42. Over the past year, have employment levels at your organization…
• Increased
• Stayed the same
• Decreased
43. Since hiring nominees, have your revenues / sales…
• Increased
• Stayed the same
• Decreased
44. How do you describe the business and economic value to your organization and the economy of
hiring nominees? [Open Text]
Overall Comments
45. Taking into account all of your experiences working with the Nova Scotia Nominee Program, do
you have any other comments you would like to make?
• No
• Yes (please specify)
46. Would you consider using the Nova Scotia Nominee Program again to hire an international candidate?
• Yes
• No (Please explain)
End of Survey
This is the end of the survey. Thank you for your time and assistance. 47. If you are interested in participating in a random draw for a pre-paid visa valued at $100, please
provide the following information.
• Name:
• e-mail Address:
• Day-time Phone Number:
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 60
APPENDIX C: NOMINEE SURVEY Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) Evaluation Survey (Nominee)
Introduction
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. Your input is valuable to the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration, we appreciate your time. By completing any part of this survey, you are consenting to the collection, retention, use and disposition of the information provided in the survey for the purposes of evaluating the Nova Scotia Nominee Program, in accordance with Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) Act. If you require further information about this evaluation, contact the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration at 1(800)670-4357 or (902)424-5230. For technical assistance with this survey, email: surveys@groupatn.ca
Learning About the Nominee Program
1. How did you find out about the Nova Scotia Nominee Program? Select as many as apply.
• Nova Scotia Immigration website
• Nova Scotia Office of Immigration Staff
• Employer
• Family
• Friend
• Lawyer/Consultant
• Someone who participated in the NS Nominee Program
• Information provided by the Government of Canada
• An event held in my country
• Don’t Know
• Other (please specify)
2. Did you apply to the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) while you were living in NS?
• Yes (Apply while in NS)
• No (Apply while Outside NS)
Apply While in NS – Go to Citizenship When Applying When Done
3. What was your immigration status before you applied?
• International student
• Post-Graduate Work Permit
• Visitor
• Temporary Foreign Worker
• Seasonal Resident
• Other (please specify)
Apply While Outside NS – Go to Citizenship When Applying When Done
4. What year did you arrive/land in NS?
• 2011
• 2012
• 2013
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• Other (please specify)
Citizenship When Applying – All
5. What was your country of citizenship when you applied to the NSNP?
• India
• Philippines
• China, People’s Republic of
• Israel
• Nigeria
• Jamaica
• Pakistan
• Korea, Republic of
• United Kingdom
• Egypt
• United States
• Other (please specify)
6. Was your country of residency different to your country of citizenship when you applied to the NSNP?
• Yes (Residency When Applying)
• No (Choosing NS)
Residency When Applying – Go Choosing NS When Done
7. What was your country of residency when you applied to the NSNP?
• India
• Philippines
• China, People’s Republic of
• Israel
• Nigeria
• Jamaica
• Pakistan
• Korea, Republic of
• United Kingdom
• Egypt
• United States
• Other (please specify)
Choosing NS – All
8. What was your primary reason for choosing to immigrate to NS, rather than to another Canadian province or territory?
• Job
• Education (e.g. university, college)
• Family
• Lifestyle
• Friends
• Other (please specify)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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Community Selected – All
9. What city, town or community did you first settle in when you arrived in NS?
• Halifax
• Bedford
• Dartmouth
• Elsewhere in the Halifax Regional Municipality
• Truro
• Yarmouth
• Cape Breton Regional Municipality
• New Glasgow
• Kentville
• Other (please specify)
10. Have you lived in more than one place in Nova Scotia since you arrived?
• Yes (Elsewhere in NS)
• No (Lived in Other Provinces)
Elsewhere in NS – Go Lived in Other Provinces When Done
11. Where else have you lived? Choose all that apply.
• Halifax
• Bedford
• Dartmouth
• Elsewhere in Halifax Regional Municipality
• Truro
• Yarmouth
• Cape Breton Regional Municipality
• Kentville
• New Glasgow
• Other (please specify)
Lived in Other Provinces – All
12. Have you lived in another province(s) after you were nominated?
• Yes (Which Provinces)
• No (Living in NS)
Which Other Provinces – Go to Living in NS Done
13. Which provinces have you lived in? Select all that apply.
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon
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• Other (please specify)
14. How long did you live in other province(s)? (# months)
[Open Text]
Living in NS - all
15. Are you currently living in Nova Scotia?
• Yes (Currently Living in NS)
• No (Not in NS)
Currently Living in NS – Go to Choice of Community When Done
16. Where do you live in Nova Scotia?
• Halifax
• Bedford
• Dartmouth
• Elsewhere in Halifax Regional Municipality
• Truro
• Yarmouth
• Cape Breton Regional Municipality
• Kentville
• New Glasgow
• Other (please specify)
Not Living in NS – Go to Choice of Community When Done
17. Why did you leave? Select all that apply.
• Job opportunity
• More pay
• Family or friends elsewhere
• Other (please specify)
18. Where do you currently live?
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon
• Other (please specify)
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Choice of Community – All
19. What factors would be the most important in your decision to remain in the community where you currently live? (Check all that apply):
• Availability of job opportunities
• Presence of people from your ethno-cultural background
• Being able to practice your religion
• Availability of adequate housing
• Availability of education opportunities
• Friends close by
• Family close by
• Safe community
• Welcoming community
• Health and wellness services
• Recreation services / opportunities
• Organizations that represent / support your culture
• Other (please specify)
20. Would you prefer to stay in your current community?
• Yes (Stream)
• No (Plan to Move)
Prefer to Move – Go to 22 When Done
21. Where would you like to move?
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon
• Don't know / not sure
• Other (please specify)
Stream – All
22. Under what stream of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program did you immigrate?
• Skilled Worker (Skilled or Family Business Worker)
• Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry (Employment)
• Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry (Employment)
• Community Identified (Employment)
• Regional Labour Market Demand (Employment)
• International Graduate (Employment)
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• Family Business Worker (Skilled or Family Business Worker)
• Don’t know (Employment)
• Other (please specify) (Employment)
Skilled or Family Business Worker
23. Did you have a job offer from a NS Employer when you applied to the NSNP?
• Yes (Had a Job Offer)
• No (Employment)
Had a Job Offer
24. Who was the employer offering you the job?
[Open Text]
25. Are you currently working for the employer who provided you with the job offer?
• Yes (Employment)
• No (Not Employed in Job on Application)
Not Employed in Job on Application – Go to 27 When Done
26. Why did you leave that job?
• I found a new job
• I went back to school
• For family obligations
• I was laid off
• Self-employment
• Other (please specify)
Employment – All
27. Are you currently employed?
• Yes (Currently Employed)
• I am self-employed (Self-Employed)
• No (Not Employed)
Currently Employed – Go to 33 When Done
28. Which of the following best describes your employment?
• Employed full time
• Employed part time
• Other (please specify)
Self Employment – Go to 33 When Done
29. Did you start the business on your own or did you buy it?
• I started the business
• I bought the business
30. Have you hired any staff?
• No
• Yes, (How many?)
Not Employed
31. Why are you not employed?
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
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• A disability prevents me from working (Periods of Unemployment)
• I am a student (Periods of Unemployment)
• I am looking for work (Months of Unemployment)
• Stay at home to care for family members (Future Occupation)
• Other (please specify) (Periods of Unemployment)
Months of Unemployment
32. In total, how long in months have you been unemployed since being nominated? [Months] (Future Occupation)
Periods of Unemployment
33. Have you been unemployed or have you had periods of unemployment since being nominated? A person is unemployed if they are actively searching for work but is unable to find work.
• Yes (Unemployed Since Being Nominated)
• No (Future Occupation)
Unemployed Since Being Nominated – Go to 36 When Done
34. How many times have you been unemployed? [Months]
35. In total, how long in months have you been unemployed since being nominated? [Months]
Future Occupation – All
36. What kind of job (occupation) do you hope to have in five years?
• The same job I have now
• A promotion
• A job in a related occupation
• I plan to retire
• I plan to start a business in the next 5 years
• Stay at home to care for family members
• Other (please specify)
The Application Process - all
For the next questions, please think about the NSNP Application Form that you completed as part of the application process.
37. Did you use a paid consultant?
• Yes
• No
38. Did you complete the application form yourself?
• Yes (Completed Application)
• No (Assistance from NSNP Staff)
Completed Application
39. Thinking about all aspects of the application form, how easy or difficult did you find it to complete?
• Very easy (Information Sources)
• Somewhat easy (Information Sources)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 67
• Somewhat difficult (Difficult Application Form)
• Very difficult (Difficult Application Form)
• Don’t Know (Information Sources)
Difficult Application Form – Go to 41 When Done
40. Why did you find the application form somewhat difficult or very difficult? Select all that apply.
• Understanding the form
• Collecting the documents
• Submitting the completed application (electronically or by mail)
• Don’t know
• Other (please specify)
Information Sources - all
41. What sources of information did you use to understand how the Nova Scotia Nominee Program worked? Select all that apply.
• Nova Scotia Immigration website
• Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff
• Employer
• Family
• Friend
• Consultant/Lawyer
• None
• Don’t Know
• Other (please specify)
Assistance from NSNP Staff - all
This section asks about your experience of seeking assistance from Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff during the application process.
42. Did you communicate with the Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff during your application process?
• Yes (Communication with Staff)
• No (Process Timeline)
• Don’t Know (Process Timeline)
• Not Sure (Process Timeline)
Communication with Staff
43. How did you communicate with Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff? Select all that apply.
• Telephone
• Letter
• In person meeting
• Don’t Know
• Other (please specify)
44. Did you receive the assistance or information you needed from Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
• Yes (Staff Assistance)
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 68
• No ((Without Staff Assistance)
• Don’t Know (Process Timeline)
Without Staff Assistance – Go to Process Timeline When Done
45. Why did you not receive the assistance or information you needed from Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
[Open Text]
Staff Assistance
46. How long did it take to get the assistance or information you needed from Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
• Less than one day
• One day to less than 3 days
• 3 days to less than 1 week
• 1 week or longer
• Don’t know
47. How satisfied were you with your dealings with Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
• Very satisfied (Process Timeline)
• Somewhat satisfied (Process Timeline)
• Somewhat unsatisfied (Unsatisfied With Assistance)
• Very unsatisfied (Unsatisfied With Assistance)
• Don’t know (Process Timeline)
Unsatisfied With Assistance
48. Why were you unsatisfied with your dealings with staff?
[Open Text]
49. Do you have any suggestions to improve dealings with Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?
[Open Text]
Process Timeline – All
50. How long after submitting your completed application did it take for you to receive a decision from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration?
• Less than 4 weeks (1 month)
• 4 weeks to 8 weeks (1-2 months)
• More than 8 weeks (more than 2 months)
• Don’t know
Overall Satisfaction – All
51. How satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the application process?
• Very satisfied
• Somewhat satisfied
• Somewhat dissatisfied
• Very dissatisfied
• Don’t know
52. Would you describe your overall immigration experience under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program as:
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 69
• Very easy (Education and Training)
• Somewhat easy (Education and Training)
• Somewhat difficult (Difficult Immigration Experience)
• Very difficult (Difficult Immigration Experience)
• Don’t know (Education and Training)
Difficult Immigration Experience
53. What difficulties did you encounter in your overall immigration experience?
[Open Text]
Education and Training – All
54. What is the highest level of education you had prior to your arrival in NS?
• Less than high school
• High school diploma
• Trades certificate or diploma
• College
• University without degree
• University with degree
• Bachelor degree
• Master’s degree
• PhD degree
55. Were your credentials and/or training acquired outside of Canada recognized in NS?
• Yes
• Not Applicable
• Don’t Know
• No please explain
56. Have you taken any language training since you arrived in NS?
• Yes
• No
57. Have you taken any other education or training since you arrived in NS?
• No
• Yes, what other education or training courses have you taken?
About You and Your Household - All
58. How old are you?
[Open Text]
59. How do you identify your Gender?
• Male
• Female
• Prefer not to Answer
• Other (please specify)
60. What is the total monthly gross income (before taxes) of your household from all sources?
[Open Text]
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 70
61. Approximately what share of the total household income comes from your work?
• 0%
• 1% to 10%
• 11% to 20%
• 21% to 30%
• 31% to 40%
• 41% to 50%
• 51% to 60%
• 61% to 70%
• 71% to 80%
• 81% to 90%
• More than 90%
62. Do you financially support family in your home country?
• Yes
• No
• Prefer not to answer
Current Living Arrangements – All
63. Do you live alone?
• Yes (Language)
• No (Live with Others)
Live with Others
64. Do you currently live with a spouse (partner or common-law relationship)?
• Yes (Employment of Spouse)
• No (Language)
65. How many other people live with you (including your spouse if applicable)?
• Number of adults (over 18) related by blood
• Number of adults (over 18) related through spouse
• Number of own children 12 to 18 years
• Number of own children under 12 years
Employment of Spouse
66. Is your spouse (partner or common-law) currently working?
• Yes (Employed Spouse)
• No (Unemployed Spouse)
Employed Spouse - Go to Language
67. What is your spouse’s current primary job?
[Open Text]
68. How long has your spouse been working at their current job?
• Under one year
• 1-3 years
• Over 3 years
Nova Scotia Office of Immigration: Nova Scotia Nominee Program Evaluation 2016 – Final Report
© 2017 Group ATN Consulting Inc. pg. 71
Unemployed Spouse - Go to Language
69. Why is your spouse is not currently working, what are the reasons? Select all that apply.
• Language problems
• Qualifications or credentials from outside NS were not recognized
• Would prefer not to work
• Not enough job experience
• The lack of employment opportunities
• Not able to find job in his/her field
• Attending school
• Transportation
• Not being able to find or afford child care
• Taking care of children/elderly/disabled family members
• Other (please specify)
Language – All
70. What is your first official language in Canada?
• English
• French
• Other (please specify)
71. Did you receive services through the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration in your first official
language?
• Yes
• No
Final Comments - All
72. Taking into account all of your experiences applying under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program, please share any other comments, suggestions, ideas you would like to make?
[Open Text]
End of Survey - All
This is the end of the survey. Thank you for your time and assistance.
73. If you are interested in participating in a random draw for a pre-paid visa valued at $100
(Canadian), please provide the following information.
• Your name:
• e-mail Address:
• Day-time phone number:
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