News Immigration
Nova Scotia should reform immigration system to meet ambitious goals: Auditor

Nova Scotia’s auditor general says the province is spending $6.4 million a year on immigrant settlement services without a “strong understanding” of whether the money is helping to keep them from moving elsewhere.

In a new report released today, Kim Adair says the Immigration Department has not completed an analysis of what types of services are needed to assist immigrants to settle in Nova Scotia.

Adair says feedback from immigrants could be valuable in determining where future funding should be targeted.

The report says the province needs to better identify gaps in the labour market so that spending is effective at matching newcomers to jobs.

Adair says she found inconsistencies in the way the province assesses immigration applications, which she says leaves the system open to fraud.

She says Nova Scotia’s immigration system needs improvements considering the province plans to double its population to two million people by 2060.