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

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.


© 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


© 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,


© 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.


© 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.


© 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


© 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

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/laws-policy/agreements/ns/ns-2007-agree.asp



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



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

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170208/dq170208a-eng.htm

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/91-215-x/2012000/part-partie2-eng.htm

http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/ags-sca/Eng/atlantic-growth.html

http://www.wechoosenow.ca/immigration/

http://www.wechoosenow.ca/immigration



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



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/

http://novascotiaimmigration.com/news/



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.



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

http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/immigration-policy-canada-history-administration-and-debates.html

http://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/research/diversity-immigration-and-integration/canadas-immigration-programs/Seidle-No43.pdf

http://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/assets/research/diversity-immigration-and-integration/canadas-immigration-programs/Seidle-No43.pdf

http://www.ruralontarioinstitute.ca/file.aspx?id=4d84222f-a28b-4cad-a3a9-1ca89b65eddc

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/evaluation/pnp/section3.asp



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.

https://mowatcentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/publications/5_international_perspectives_immigration.pdf

https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/immigration/pdf/mb_imm_facts_rep_2014.pdf

http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2017-MPNP-Renewal-Overview.pdf



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/

http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/MIF-2014_E_Web_Programmed.pdf

http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/2014/04/28/enhanced-mpnp-online-includes-status-check/



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

http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2017-MPNP-Renewal-Overview.pdf

https://www.welcomebc.ca/Immigrate-to-B-C/B-C-Provincial-Nominee-Program-BCNP-Online



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

http://www.cicnews.com/2016/02/british-columbia-launches-registration-system-immigration-canada-bc-pnp-027101.html

http://sorc.crrf.ca/

http://calgaryherald.com/news/national/canadas-small-cities-and-rural-areas-desperate-for-immigrants





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/

http://www.producer.com/2013/01/attracting-new-immigrants-to-rural-areas-a-challenge/



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.



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.



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.



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



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.



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



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.



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.



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)



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%



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.



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%).



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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



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%)



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)



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.



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%).



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.)



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.



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.



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.



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










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










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.



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:



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



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).



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.



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: [email protected]

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

mailto:[email protected]



• Construction

• Education

• Don’t know


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


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


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



• 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


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


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


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



• A consultant


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


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)



• 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


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


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.

• Email

• Telephone

• Letter

• In person

• Don’t Know


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



• 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



Overall Satisfaction

33. Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with the Nova Scotia Nominee Program?

• Very 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



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:



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: [email protected]

Learning About the Nominee Program

1. How did you find out about the Nova Scotia Nominee Program? Select as many as apply.


• 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


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


Apply While Outside NS – Go to Citizenship When Applying When Done

4. What year did you arrive/land in NS?

• 2011

• 2012

• 2013

mailto:[email protected]



• 2014

• 2015

• 2016


Citizenship When Applying – All

5. What was your country of citizenship when you applied to the NSNP?

• India

• Philippines


• Israel

• Nigeria

• Jamaica

• Pakistan


• United Kingdom

• Egypt

• United States


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


• Israel

• Nigeria

• Jamaica

• Pakistan


• United Kingdom

• Egypt

• United States


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




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


• New Glasgow

• Kentville


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


• Truro

• Yarmouth


• Kentville

• New Glasgow


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




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


• Truro

• Yarmouth


• Kentville

• New Glasgow


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


18. Where do you currently live?

• Alberta


• Manitoba

• New Brunswick



• Nova Scotia

• Nunavut

• Ontario


• Quebec

• Saskatchewan

• Yukon




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


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


• Manitoba

• New Brunswick



• Nova Scotia

• Nunavut

• Ontario


• Quebec

• Saskatchewan

• Yukon

• Don't know / not sure


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)



• 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


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


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?



• 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


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)



• 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


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 Nominee Program staff

• Employer

• Family

• Friend

• Consultant/Lawyer

• None

• Don’t Know


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)


• Not Sure (Process Timeline)

Communication with Staff

43. How did you communicate with Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff? Select all that apply.

• Email

• Telephone

• Letter

• In person meeting

• Don’t Know


44. Did you receive the assistance or information you needed from Nova Scotia Nominee Program staff?

• Yes (Staff Assistance)



• No ((Without Staff Assistance)


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 dissatisfied

• Very dissatisfied

• Don’t know

52. Would you describe your overall immigration experience under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program as:



• 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


60. What is the total monthly gross income (before taxes) of your household from all sources?

[Open Text]



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



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


Language – All

70. What is your first official language in Canada?

• English

• French


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:

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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