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Four provinces held Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) this week.
The PNP (Per Last Immigration Level Plan) is the main route for economic immigrants to enter Canada. The program exists to help spread the benefits of immigration across Canada, and to assist provinces address specific labor and demographic challenges.
PNP also has express entry aligned streams, known as enhanced PNP nominations. These streams admit candidates into the Federal Express Entry pool. Candidates can apply for enhanced PNP streams of a specific province and (depending on their eligibility) receive a provincial nomination or notification of interest (NOI). From here the candidates will receive an additional 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points, almost certainly guaranteeing them the Initiation to Apply (ITA) for the specific Advanced PNP stream.
Most recently, the fifth and sixth Express Entry draws of 2023 were exclusive to candidates in the Advanced PNP stream, with a total of 1,366 ITAs issued.
Provincial Nomination Results—March 17-24
Ontario
On March 23, the Ontario PNP (OINP) held a draw for its skilled trades stream, issuing 746 NOIs to candidates with CRS scores between 250-489. Candidates who have received NOI created their profile in the Express Entry pool anywhere between March 23, 2022 to March 23, 2023.
Draws under the economic streams of OINP are targeted to specific businesses, which are specified within OINP program updates.
British Columbia
The British Columbia PNP (BCPNP) held a draw on March 21, with at least 254 NOIs issued to candidates in 6 streams.
Within the Skilled Worker International Graduate stream, BCPNP conducted three targeted draws for early childhood educators and aides, candidates in healthcare occupations, and candidates in other jobs that are considered priority occupations.
Manitoba
The Manitoba PNP (MPNP) held a draw on March 23, issuing a total of 566 NOIs (known as letters of advice applying under the Manitoba PNP).
The breakdown of NOIs issued by stream is as follows:
- Occupation Specific Selection – 266 NOI, targeting candidates in specific, in-demand occupations with a minimum CRS score of 612;
- All Occupations – 200 NOI, with a minimum CRS score of 672 considering profiles not selected in the specific occupation draw;
- International Education Stream-52 NOI; And
- Skilled Worker Overseas Stream – 48 NOI for candidates who were invited by MPNP under Strategic Recruitment Initiative with minimum CRS of 708.
Saskatchewan
On March 23 the Saskatchewan PNP (SINP) held two draws inviting candidates from both the Express Entry and Occupations In-Demand streams.
NOIs were issued to 184 Express Entry candidates with a minimum score of 82. Comparatively, the Occupation In-Demand stream issued 312 NOIs to candidates, that too with a cut-off score of 82. To be eligible for occupations in demand stream, a candidate’s profession should not be included in the SINP Excluded Occupation List.
A note on PNP in the future
As previously mentioned, the PNP represents the primary route for economic immigrants into Canada today – expected to play a larger role in Canadian immigration in the years to come.
In addition to additional consideration of the PNP, a recent meeting among the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration (FMRI) emphasized the importance of these provincial programs. After the meeting, it was announced that provincial immigration would now receive its own multi-year level plan, allowing provinces to understand their immigration allocations years in advance, and be able to plan accordingly.
In addition, several provinces saw future immigration allocations increase following the meeting:
- Alberta saw a significant increase in allocations, 9,750 spots this year;
- Manitoba’s allocation for 2023 increased to 9,500 spots;
- Ontario sees allocation increase to 18,000 places by 2025; And
- Saskatchewan will see allocations increase to 8,500 in 2025.
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