Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Lena Diab says some provincial immigrant nominee programs are getting a late-year increase to the number of slots they have.
Diab says she relayed the news to her provincial and territorial counterparts on Wednesday during a ministerial forum.
The subnational ministers have been calling for a restoration of slots in the Provincial Nominee Program, after national allotment was cut in half from 2024 to 2025 — a reduction of 110,000 to 55,000.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Diab says there was some “slippage” in the government’s broader immigration targets and she was able to allocate extra spaces to the provincial nominee program.
The Provincial Nominee Program allows provinces and territories to nominate people for permanent residency who have specific skills or education that fill holes in the local economy.
Allotments for 2026 will be included in the updated immigration levels plan, which is expected in the coming weeks, and Diab says her mandate is to reduce overall immigration.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2025.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
