PEI holds second surprise draw of the year, broadens eligibility criteria

The Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP) has held its second surprise draw of the year, breaking with the province’s Anticipated Invitation to Apply (ITA) schedule.

In a change of pace, PEI also broadened its selection criteria for this draw—relative to recent selection patterns—considering individuals with less connection to the province for nomination.

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Draw results

On December 23, the PEI PNP held its second unscheduled draw of the year, inviting 13 candidates through the province’s Labour Impact and Express Entry pathways.

Candidates were chosen solely for working in occupations and priority sectors expected to have a positive impact on PEI’s economy.

This is a break from the previous six invitation rounds (extending as far back as July of this year), which instead prioritized candidates who were recent graduates of select PEI-based Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) or were employed by a PEI employer at the time of invitation.

This year, nearly all of the 1,609 invitations issued through the PEI PNP were through the Labour Impact and Express Entry pathways. A singular invitation was issued through the Business Work Permit Entrepreneur pathway.

The second additional draw of the year

The draw is the second this year to break from PEI’s anticipated ITA schedule, which plans for one draw per month. The first surprise draw occurred on October 27.

While it is not known exactly why the province has chosen to undertake these extra draws, a common stipulation to provincial immigration authorities is that their 2025 nomination allocation will not extend to 2026, should spots be left over.

These nomination allocations are determined by Canada’s federal government, which first determines top-line figures for all provincial immigration to the country (as detailed in the annual Immigration Levels Plan) and then hands each province an allocation based on that total.

The allocations further determine the number of ITAs a province can issue in a given year. Whereas allocations detail the number of newcomers who can be nominated to immigrate to a province, ITAs determine the number of individuals who can be invited to apply for nomination. Not every ITA will lead to a nomination.

In 2025, all provinces saw their nomination allocation cut by half, in line with permanent admissions figures detailed in Canada’s 2025-2027 Levels Plan. In 2026, however, landings allocations to provinces have risen considerably.

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