New Brunswick committed to welcoming immigrants despite COVID-19

The number of immigration candidates who were nominated by New Brunswick to immigrate to Canada in 2020 were similar to previous years.

Despite the immigration challenges that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, New Brunswick issued a total of 2,020 nominations through its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in 2020. In 2019, the province issued 2,022 PNP nominations.

Although the number of nominations did not drastically drop, only 2,740 new permanent residents landed in New Brunswick as of November 31, 2020. In 2019, this number was a record 6,000.
This drop comes as a result of travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, as well as processing delays from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, according to a New Brunswick Multicultural Council (NBMC) press release.

The President of the NBMC, Moncef Lakouas, said the immigration numbers show that the province is addressing employer needs.

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“We know many sectors have been devastated by the impacts of the pandemic, especially the tourism industry and small and medium enterprises, but other sectors haven’t slowed down and the labour needs are just as urgent,” Lakouas said in the release. “Our settlement agencies and employers have worked hard to ensure new arrivals in the province followed quarantine plans and safety protocols to avoid spread of the virus. We even saw communities rallying to support newcomers collecting food, toys and games to welcome families during the quarantine period.”

New Brunswick continues to work towards reaching their immigration targets of around 7,500 newcomers per year by 2024. The province is also trying to attract more French-speaking immigrants, as it is Canada’s only province with both English and French as official languages. By 2024 they hope that a third of new immigrants to the province are French-speakers.

“The last year has been challenging for everyone, but we know employers across New Brunswick are still looking to grow their labour force and there is still a lot of work to do to rebuild the province’s post-pandemic economy,” said Ginnete Gautreau, who is the interim Executive Director at the NBMC.

What you need to know to immigrate to New Brunswick

If you wish to immigrate to New Brunswick, here are two economic immigration pathways to consider:

New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP);
Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIP).

The NBPNP is divided into four streams.

The Express Entry Labour Market Stream is for candidates who are already in Canada’s federal Express Entry system. You will need to submit an Expression of Interest, meet age, education, language and work experience requirements and have enough money to settle.
The Skilled Worker with Employer Support Stream is for workers who have received a full-time permanent job offer from an employer in the province. They must also meet age, language, education and other requirements to be eligible.
The Post-Graduate Entrepreneurial Stream is for candidates who have graduated from a New Brunswick university or college who wish to start a business in the province. They must meet age, language, education and other requirements to be eligible.
The Entrepreneurial Stream is for foreign nationals who wish to start and manage a business in New Brunswick. Candidates must meet age, education, language and other requirements. They will also need to provide a business plan.

New Brunswick is one of four Atlantic provinces. The other four are Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.

Employers from these four provinces can use the AIP to hire foreign workers to fill jobs that they were not otherwise able to fill.

This means that to be eligible for the AIP, candidates will need a job offer. They do not need a Labour Market Impact Assessment. This is a document that proves there are no Canadian citizens or permanent residents available to fill the vacant position.

Once a candidate receives the job offer, they will be connected with a designated settlement service provider organization to help them develop a settlement plan.

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