Three Canadian provinces have recently nominated candidates in the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
The PNP was established in 1998 and exists to help provincial governments select the economic immigration candidates who are the most likely to settle within a nominating province and contribute to the local labour force and economy.
Provinces can do this because immigration is a shared responsibility between the federal and provincial governments. While candidates who accept a provincial nomination must still apply to Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) separately for permanent resident status, being nominated by a province is highly advantageous when it comes to having a permanent residence application approved.
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This is especially true if a PNP candidate is also in the federal Express Entry pool. Express Entry candidates who are accepted and approved for a provincial nomination automatically receive an additional 600 points through the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), a process known as enhanced nomination.
These additional 600 points virtually guarantee that an Express Entry candidate will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA)in an upcoming round of invitations. The minimum CRS score to receive an ITA so far in 2023 has never been higher than 791 (A PNP candidate-only draw on February 15). However, the minimum score is typically less than this.
Provincial immigration results September 30 – October 5
British Columbia
British Columbia generally invites candidates in the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) each week in several separate draws.
On October 4, the province invited 110 candidates in a general draw. This means no specific occupations were targeted.
The minimum score to receive an invitation varied depending on the candidate’s program stream. Those from the Skilled Worker stream needed to score 111, International Graduates needed a score of 113 and Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled candidates required a score of 91.
There were three additional draws for candidates in the Skilled Worker and International Graduate stream. Candidates required a minimum score of 60 in all three draws. The results are as follows:
- 51 early childhood educators and assistants
- 25 healthcare professionals
- Less than five other priority occupations
Alberta
On October 3, there were 33 candidates nominated through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP).
The candidates were selected from the Priority sector – Agriculture occupation with Alberta job offer category. They were also all Express Entry candidates.
A minimum CRS of 313 was required to receive a nomination.
This draw follows the first-ever Express Entry category-based selection round of invitations for Agriculture and Agri-food work experience. In many ways, the introduction of category-based Express Entry draws reflects existing PNP streams from across Canada and allows the federal government to streamline economic immigration candidates to fill Canada’s most urgent job vacancies.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island invited 20 candidates through the Labour and Express Entry category of the PEI PNP on October 5.
All candidates were working in the healthcare and food processing sectors.
PEI has been holding targeted draws since July 20. Until that point, all draws were general and did not target any specific occupation.
The province has invited 505 candidates since July, mainly targeting candidates in healthcare, food processing, manufacturing and construction. It has also invited candidates in draws for undefined critical workers.
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