COW – Working with Provinces and Territories – June 9, 2025

Key Facts and Figures

• Under the Canadian Constitution, immigration is an area of shared jurisdiction between the federal and provincial governments.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) engagement with provincial and territorial governments on immigration is frequent, both multilaterally and bilaterally, and is key to the effective delivery of the Department’s mandate and priorities.
• The federal government engages provinces and territories multilaterally through the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration and bilaterally through legally-binding bilateral agreements that articulate high-level roles, responsibilities, and areas of collaboration on mutual priorities.

Key Messages

• Federal, provincial, and territorial governments are committed to using immigration to grow the economy sustainably, spreading the benefits of immigration to smaller and rural regions, maintaining program integrity, and to the promotion of diversity (including francophone immigration).
• The federal government will continue to work with provinces and territories to advance shared immigration priorities, including sustainable immigration levels and supporting economic growth and labour needs.

Supplementary Information

Bilateral Immigration Agreements

• Bilateral agreements between the Government of Canada and provinces et les territories outline broad immigration objectives, the parties’ roles and responsibilities, as well as reflect regional immigration needs.
• These agreements structure the operation of provincial and territorial nominee programs, used by provinces and territories to select permanent immigrants to fill their key labour market needs, and describe the interaction of these nominee programs with federal immigration processes.

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• I understand the importance of economic immigration for provinces and territories. Our formal bilateral immigration agreements govern the roles and responsibilities and shared objectives in managing immigration.
• I look forward to continuing the meaningful collaboration with my provincial and territorial counterparts to support our shared economic immigration priorities.

If pressed on Provincial Nominee Program allocation reductions:

• I recognize the importance that provinces and territories place on leveraging their provincial and territorial nominee programs to fill local labour market needs.
• I look forward to hearing from provinces and territories about their immigration priorities as we work towards the next federal immigration plan.