Immigration to northern Ontario has now become a provincial election issue.
Kenora mayor Andrew Poirier is asking all the candidates and their leaders running in the election to commit to supporting the addition of three thousand new spots under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee program.
It’s to help address labour shortages felt right across northern Ontario.
In an open letter, Poirier says the federal government has done a good job of attracting immigrants to this region, with over four thousand in five years.
Ontario has only 800 in the same period.
In 2023, there were over 200 thousand immigrants to the province, and most located in the Greater Toronto Area.
The province is being asked to spread out the number of newcomers to different parts of Ontario, like the north.
