New Brunswick begins reopening immigration programs

New Brunswick will finally begin opening its immigration streams, after a period of adjustment following notice from the federal government that the province would only be given 2,750 immigrant nomination spaces this year.

The 2,750 spaces will be split up between the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program NBPNP (1,500) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) (1,250).

In a press release on February 5, Jean-Claude D’Amours, acting Minister of Post-Secondary Education for the province, stated that the significant reduction in allocations for 2025 has forced the province “to make difficult decisions."

"We expect it will limit our ability to manage economic growth for our province and its businesses," D'Amours said.

As part of these constraints, the province has announced that it will prioritize sectors like health, education, and construction for immigration, with some additional support to other sectors. Workers in some sectors of the economy will be “restricted from participating”.

This article will cover

• Published details for each of New Brunswick’s immigration streams; and
• Possibilities for change in New Brunswick’s allocations in the future.

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Stream and program updates

The following table provides a summary of updates for each listed New Brunswick stream:

Stream	Status	Details
New Brunswick Express Entry	Wiil begin to accept new Expressions of Interest (EOIs) under two pathways in coming weeks	Will accept NOIs under: - The Employment in New Brunswick pathway; and - New Brunswick Interests pathway.
New Brunswick Strategic Initiative	Will not accept new EOIs at this time	This stream has sufficient inventory and is not seeking new applications.
Private Career College Graduate Program	Accepting EOIs	Set to end in autumn of 2025.
New Brunswick Skilled Worker	Starting to accept EOIs	Has branched into three streams.
New Brunswick Business Immigration	Accepting EOIs	Applicants can apply for a nomination if their business has been running for six months or longer.
New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot	Accepting applications	N/A.
Atlantic Immigration Program	Accepting applications	N/A.

Further details are presented below for streams that have been changed, or that have new selection criteria imposed on them.

New Brunswick Express Entry

In the coming weeks, the New Brunswick Express Entry stream will start to accept new Expressions of Interest (EOIs) under the:

• Employment in New Brunswick pathway; and
• The New Brunswick Interests pathway.

At the current time, candidates in the following occupations will not be considered:

• Accounting technicians and bookkeepers (NOC 12200).
• Administrative assistants (NOC 13110).
• Restaurant and food service managers (NOC 60030).
• Food service supervisors (NOC 62020).
• Cooks (NOC 63200).
• Bakers (NOC 63202).

The New Brunswick Student connection under this stream will not return for 2025.

New Brunswick Strategic Initiative

The Strategic Initiative stream has reached sufficient inventory levels of EOIs, such that the PNP will not seek to accept new EOIs at this time.

The NBPNP encourages interested newcomers to check the page for this stream later in the year for further information and updates.

The “In-Person Exploratory Visit to New Brunswick” connection under this stream was paused in November of 2024, and will not return in 2025.

New Brunswick Skilled Worker

The New Brunswick Skilled Worker stream will start accepting new applications in the coming weeks, and has already been split up into three smaller pathways, which will be managed under the Skilled Worker stream:

• The New Brunswick Work Experience pathway;
• The New Brunswick Graduates pathway; and
• The New Brunswick Priority Occupations pathway.

Each pathway also has varying eligibility criteria (in addition to basic eligibility for the Skilled Worker stream) to qualify:

Pathway	Eligibility requirements
New Brunswick Work Experience	- Must have worked in a full-time, non-seasonal position for an eligible New Brunswick employer in the last 6 months; and - Must have lived within the province in the last 6 months.
New Brunswick Graduates	- Must have completed a program of study that is eligible for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) at a New Brunswick Designated Learning Institution (DLI); and - Must have a full-time non-seasonal job or job offer from an eligible New Brunswick employer.
New Brunswick Priority Occupations	- Must have a full time, non-seasonal job offer from an eligible New Brunswick employer as a result of a recruitment mission led by the Government of New Brunswick; - Must be in a position included within the list of specified priority National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes ; and - Must have at least one year of experience related to this position.

At this time the NBPNP will not be considering candidates in the following occupations for the Skilled Worker stream:

• Accounting technicians and bookkeepers (NOC 12200).
• Administrative assistants (NOC 13110).
• Shippers and receivers (NOC 14400).
• Restaurant and food service managers (NOC 60030).
• Food service supervisors (NOC 62020).
• Cooks (NOC 63200).
• Bakers (NOC 63202).
• Bartenders (NOC 64301).
• Other customer representatives (NOC 64409).
• Food and beverage servers (NOC 65200).
• Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers, and related occupations (NOC 65201).
• Process control and machine operators - food and beverage processing (NOC 94140).
• Fish and seafood plant workers (NOC 94142).
• Laborers in food and beverage processing (NOC 95106).
• Laborers in fish and seafood (NOC 95107).

Will New Brunswick’s allocation change in the future?

While it is not possible to say at this point whether New Brunswick will be able to remedy its provincial allocation woes, today’s press release did note that “the provincial government has presented its concerns to the federal government and conversations are ongoing”.

At the end of last month, Newfoundland and Labrador (which like New Brunswick and all other Canadian provinces was dealt a greatly reduced allocation of immigrant admissions in 2025) was able to recover the vast majority of its provincial newcomer allocations—turning a previously 50% reduction in spaces to a decline of just 2.3% compared to 2024.

The province was able to accomplish this through a new deal with the federal government, under which Newfoundland and Labrador has agreed to take on 290 humanitarian immigrants over the next three years—a commitment that Immigration Minister Marc Miller has not shied away from saying can result in restoration of “coveted Provincial Nomination spots” for provinces and territories.

While much remains to be seen with regard to New Brunswick’s provincial allocations, it seems possible (based on the federal government's dealings with other provinces) that should New Brunswick also want to restore their provincial allocation, they may have to reach an agreement with IRCC regarding their future intake of humanitarian immigrants.

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