Minister of Employment Matias Marttinen (NCP) has decided to launch a study on the systems used for labour-related immigration in other countries comparable to Finland.

The study is to include a review of various models for scoring immigrants on points-based systems, which are used countries such as Canada, Austria, Germany and Australia.

Two of the four government parties have proposed adopting such a system, which would assess how well a potential immigrant would succeed in the job market. However Finance Minister and Finns Party chair Riikka Purra has not welcomed the idea.

The government may consider further steps based on the report, Marttinen told the Finnish news agency STT in an interview published on Saturday. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is to publish the white paper next summer.

However, at that point the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) will have less than two years remaining in its term, so it is unclear whether it would be able to bring new legislation into effect.

Finland needs labour-related immigration

Marttinen believes it is clear that Finland needs labour-related immigration.

“It is important to ensure that Finnish companies can recruit international experts for tasks for which it is difficult to find workers and experts in Finland,” he says. “At the same time, it is extremely important that immigration policy is sustainable.”

Marttinen took over as employment minister in May. His predecessor was party colleague Arto Satonen, who returned to being an NCP backbencher in Parliament. The mid-term handover was agreed on when the government was formed in mid-2023.