Skilled Workers

CIC News is profiling Canada's various provincial nominee programs over the coming weeks
Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program has grown exponentially since its creation in the 1990s and now stands second only to the federal Express Entry system as the leading pathway to Canadian permanent residence for skilled foreign workers.

Recent weeks have seen nominee streams in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia issue more than 2,500 invitations to workers with a range of skills and professional experience to apply for a nomination for Canadian permanent residence.
Quebec is the only Canadian province that does not take part in the PNP. It has a separate agreement with the federal government that gives it sole responsibility for the selection of economic-class immigrants.

Since the PNP’s first year in operation in 1996, when only 233 people were admitted to Canada through the program, it has evolved to the point where its admissions target for 2019 is 61,000.
Looked at over the next three years, Canada could receive as many as 213,000 new permanent residents through the PNP alone.
The reasons for this expansion are clear: Canada’s population is ageing, its birth rate is declining and labour shortages are expanding as a result. This trend is especially heightened in smaller provinces, which are also struggling with the loss of residents to other parts of Canada.

Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program and the high-skilled economic immigration programs now managed by Canada’s Express Entry system are set to play increasingly vital roles in Canada’s immigration strategy over the next three years.

Promoting immigration to smaller provinces, cities, and towns across Canada — a process known as “regionalization” — has been the rage since the 1990s.

Manitoba has invited a total of 638 skilled workers to apply for a provincial nomination in its 4th round of invitations in 2018, including 253 candidates in the Express Entry pool.

New Innovation Stream under the IMP

Saskatchewan’s decision to open its popular Express Entry and Occupation In-Demand immigration sub-categories to candidates with work experience in more than 200 high-skilled occupations marks yet another major development for the province’s immigrant nominee program, the SINP.

The new online portal for the Quebec Skilled Worker Program will only be available to users in September, the province’s Immigration Ministry says. Quebec’s Immigration Ministry, MIDI, said in a news release issued August 17 that the new portal, called Arrima, is undergoing final user experience tests and should be available in September.

Canada is committing up to $10 million under its Foreign Credential Recognition Program for projects designed to help internationally trained newcomers find and keep well-paying jobs.

Canada’s goal of admitting more than a million new permanent residents by the end of 2021 is gaining new attention internationally.  

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program held its second Expression of Interest draw of 2019 on January 31 for candidates in its Skilled Worker Overseas, Skilled Worker in Manitoba and International Education immigration streams.

Recent weeks have seen an impressive amount of activity among Canada’s Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams. In the past five days alone, more than 1,400 Express Entry candidates have been contacted by Canada’s provinces to apply for a provincial nomination.

The Government of Canada has named 11 Canadian communities that have been selected to take ‎part in its new Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot. ‎

Express Entry, Labour Impact and Business Impact candidates invited

The Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island has issued 169 invitations in a new draw announced Friday, including 75 to Express Entry candidates. The draw took place on April 19 and is the third through Prince Edward Island’s Expression of Interest system, which was introduced in February.

The Quebec government has passed a contentious immigration bill in an early-morning vote of 62 ‎to 42.‎

International students hoping to remain in Canada on a Post-Graduation Work Permit now have six months to apply once they obtain their notice of graduation and are no longer required to have a valid study permit.  

The 82nd Manitoba Expression of Interest draw took place on January 30, issuing invitations to immigration candidates vying for a provincial nomination for permanent residence.

There was a flurry of activity in the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) over the final days of 2016, with two draws for its Skilled Worker immigration stream taking place on December 21 and December 30. In total, 316 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs) were issued to eligible candidates who had previously made a formal 'Expression of Interest' in immigrating to the province. These individuals may now submit an application for a provincial nomination certificate. With this certificate, the individual, as well as his or her accompanying family members, may then apply for Canadian permanent residence.

The government of Quebec has released the 2013 list of areas of training for Quebec Skilled Worker Program. Those applicants planning to immigrate to Canada through Quebec Skilled Worker Program should contact us immediately to prepare their file before the limit is reached.

A total of new 5,000 applications for immigration to Quebec, Canada were successfully submitted to the government of Quebec the morning of Tuesday, August 16. These applications were made under the Quebec Skilled worker program which has now reached its intake cap.