Policy Diffusion and Regionalization of Immigration: Canada's International Student Migration Policy Landscape.

Canada has been increasing allocation to the Provincial Nominee Program in the immigration target total. Regionalisation of immigration has been an ongoing transformation of migration management since the 1990s, making the immigration policy domain progressively fragmented. Adopting a policy diffusion framework, I examine 30 regional immigration streams designed to attract and retain international students. Competing for the best, provinces distinguish and privilege certain student groups, creating a diverse policy landscape, yet simultaneously, many provincial policies resemble each other, creating common student immigration scenarios. I argue that in competition for talent, provinces (a) create very similar streams and, while aspiring to differentiate, (b) impose more restrictions than the federal programs. With the shift in authority, provinces gained the freedom to not only design custom migration policies but also to deviate from the original purpose of provincial programs—to complement, not compete!—with the federal ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]