Manitoba nominated record number of immigration candidates for permanent residence in 2018

Manitoba issued a record 5,207 nominations for Canadian permanent residence in 2018, with 98 per cent going to skilled worker candidates.

Newly released numbers from the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) show that 5,119 nominations went to candidates in the Skilled Workers in Manitoba and Skilled Workers Overseas immigration streams in 2018.

The remaining 88 nominations went to candidates in Manitoba's Business Investor Stream.

The MPNP is part of Canada's Provincial Nominee Program, which allows participating provinces and territories to nominate a set number of economic immigration candidates for Canadian permanent residence each year.

The MPNP is Canada's oldest provincial nominee program and one of its most popular. The program marked its 20th year in operation in 2018 and has welcomed more than 130,000 immigrants to the province since its introduction.

According to the province, 90 per cent of immigrants are employed within their first year in Manitoba and around the same percentage choose to stay in the province.

Of those nominated in 2018, 21 per cent did not have a job offer in the province but had a family or community connection instead.

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Skilled worker nominations

The skilled worker nominations issued by the MPNP in 2018 broke down as follows:

Skilled Workers in Manitoba: 3,399 nominations, or 65 per cent
Skilled Workers Overseas: 1,720 nominations, or 33 per cent

The MPNP confirmed to CIC News that 535 nomineess were candidates with a valid profile in the federal Express Entry system, which manages the pool of candidates for three of Canada's main economic immigration categories — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and the Canadian Experience Class.

The MPNP introduced a new Express Entry-aligned pathway in 2018 as part of its renewal program. The pathway is open to candidates in the Express Entry pool with work experience in a profession found on the MPNP's In-Demand Occupations List, among other criteria.

Express Entry candidates with a provincial nomination receive an additional 600 points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, effectively guaranteeing an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

To be considered for a nomination from the MPNP as a skilled worker, the first required step is to create and submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) profile with the province.

Profiles receive a score out of 1,000 based on factors such as education, work experience and a candidate's connection to Manitoba and the highest-ranked are issued a Letter of Advice to Apply for a provincial nomination.

The MPNP said 26,443 skilled worker candidates submitted an Expression of Interest profile in 2018 and 7,950 Letters of Advice to Apply were issued.

Other key findings from 2018:

Skilled Workers in Manitoba applications approved: 98%
Skilled Workers Overseas applications approved: 90%
Percentage of nominees without a job or job offer in Manitoba: 21%
Top country of citizenship for nominees: India
Top skill type for nominees: 6 — Sales and Service
Processing time for Skilled Workers in Manitoba applications: 2.8 months
Processing time for Skilled Workers Overseas applications: 3 months
Nominees with a Manitoba post-secondary degree: 1,292

Citizens of India and Sales and Service professionals led 2018 nominees

Citizens of India led nominees with 1,780 nominations, or 34.2 per cent of the 2018 total. This was up slightly from 2017, when Indian citizens received 31 per cent of nominations.

Citizens of China received 825 nominations, or 15.8 per cent of total nominations in 2018. This was also a slight increase over 2017, when 686 Chinese citizens were nominated by the MPNP.

Top 10 Countries of Citizenship

Country of Citizenship	# of Nominations	% of Total Nominations
India	1,780	34.2%
China, People's Republic	825	15.8%
The Philippines	617	11.8%
Nigeria	306	5.9%
Brazil	191	3.7%
South Korea	190	3.6%
Pakistan	130	2.5%
Algeria	84	1.6%
Ukraine	80	1.5%
Vietnam	66	1.3%

Nominations by occupation

In terms of occupations, immigration candidates with skilled work experience in the Sales and Service sector led nominees with 1,885 nominations. They were followed by candidates with work experience in the business, finance and administration occupations, who received 728 nominations.

A total of 1,847 nominations went to candidates with work experience in occupation rated as Skill Level B under Canada's National Occupational Classification (NOC) and another 1,659 nominations went to candidates with work experience in an occupation rated Skill Level C.

Nominations by Skill Type

Skill Type	# of Nominations
0 Management occupations	402
1 Business, finance and administration occupations	728
2 Natural and applied sciences and related occupations	499
3 Health occupations	87
4 Occupations in education, law and social, community and government services	225
5 Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport	49
6 Sales and Service occupations	1,885
7 Trades, transport and equipment operators	599
8 Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations	90
9 Occupations in manufacturing and utilities	555

Job offer, Manitoba graduates

Of the 5,119 skilled worker candidates who were nominated in 2018, 79 per cent (4,101) had a job offer in Manitoba. The MPNP said this was an increase of 51.2 per cent over 2017.

The MPNP also established a record in 2018 for the number of nominees who completed post-secondary studies in Manitoba, which stood at 1,923. In 2017, 1,292 nominees were Manitoba graduates.

International graduates in Manitoba are the focus of the MPNP's new International Education Stream, which provides faster pathways to permanent residence for international graduates of Manitoba post-secondary institutions with skills required by employers in the province.

The International Education Stream has three pathways — Career Employment Pathway, Graduate Internship Pathway, and the Student Entrepreneur Pathway.

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