ONTARIO: MORE SKILLED WORKERS & FRANCOPHONES; fewer poor unskilled immigrants.

QUICK FACTS 19 Feb 2014 Ontario remains the number one destination for newcomers to Canada, receiving more immigrants than the combined total of all the provinces and territories west of here. Newcomers make up 30 per cent of Ontario's labour force. Over the next 25 years, immigration will account for all of the increases in Ontario’s working age population and is expected to be a major source of future labour force growth. Ontario’s Immigration Strategy sets a goal that five per cent of newcomers be Francophone. The federal government makes key decisions about immigration that impact Ontario. Federal decisions over the last 10 years have reduced the proportion of economic immigrants coming to Ontario to 50 per cent, while the average for other provinces is 70 per cent. Ninety-eight per cent of Ontario’s provincial nominees remain in the province. The Provincial Nominee Program is for employers who would like to fill skilled positions that they have not been able to fill domestically with foreign workers and international students who want to live and work in the province.