A new study has shown that an increased English language requirement has drastically impacted German immigration to Manitoba.

In 2009, 1,480 people from Germany came to Manitoba through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), compared to only 131 last year.

Adele Dyck, the owner of Star 7 International, an immigration consulting company in Winkler, said rural Manitoba has seen a drastic decrease in German immigrants.

According to Dyck, the federal government, while under Harper, took over the settlement offices, including language courses, leaving the province without funding for courses. Essentially, they wanted people to come with better English skills, she said.

"Who has the best English? It's usually the professionals, but how many professionals do we really need compared to the industrial workers," said Dyck.

She believes this high level of English isn't necessary for many jobs, and employers tell her they are more concerned about hiring people with the right skills.

"If they have the transferable skills, if they have the adaptability... and the technical skills, and they know how to do the technical reading... even if they don't have the language, they catch on."

"We actually have a very high number of our immigrants starting their own business, and they came without language. But we have killed all that by these new implementations," she added.

Dyck believes the best way to increase German immigration to rural Manitoba again is to make people in government aware of these consequences, and re-think the Level 4 English requirement, which many Germans don't have.

"I think what we need to change is just the policy. Do away with the policy of that English as a requirement and let the employer decide whom they want to approve, so to speak," she said.

The lack of German immigration has been replaced by immigrants from India, who mainly prefer urban Manitoba and often have academic skills versus technical skills. Last year 3,000 people emigrated from India to Manitoba through the MPNP.

"We have clients from 85 different countries, so it's not that we have a lack of clients. But most of our clients now settle in the cities," said Dyck.

"If this stays the way it is, rural Manitoba will not have that influx of immigrants that we used to have," she added.