Canada’s PNP will witness a rise in the arrival of economic immigrants and permanent residents. The recent declaration of the Immigration Levels Plan on November 1 revealed that 500,000 new permanent residents will likely come to Canada by 2025. This target will see a significant distribution under the Provincial Nominee Programs. Around 83,500 new permanent residents arrived in Canada in 2022. Additionally, the new Immigration Levels Plan for 2023-2025 will invite new permanent residents up to 105,000 in 2023, with a hike of 20,000 compared to the previous figure.
The new target under PNP will invite 110,000 in 2024 and 117,500 in 2025. Around 20 percent of the new permanent residents will arrive through Canada’s PNP by 2025.
Although provinces can determine the selection of immigrants, IRCC decides on issuing permanent residence to candidates.
The multi-year PNP allocation determined the summer meeting of the immigration ministers. Conversely, Express Entry streams have a new target of welcoming 82,880 new permanent residents in 2023 and 114,000 in 2025. The trend of PNP-increased targets continues and surpasses Express Entry.
Each province comprises different allocations; for instance, Alberta received 6,500 provincial nominations by IRCC in 2022, while Ontario received 9,700. However, the next three years’ distribution for each province isn’t known to the public. The Immigration Levels Plan for 2022-2024 fixed the target for permanent residence for the following three years, yet PNP distributions took place annually. However, immigration ministers believe that future PNP allocations will occur based on the next three years.
Increased Canada’s PNP targets- a request by provinces
At the beginning of 2022, the Canadian provinces fixed a meeting and requested the government to increase PNPs immigration targets due to the ongoing labor shortage. According to official data, Canada consists of one million vacant job positions, with 5.2 percent of unemployment rate. Moreover, there is a lack of capable workers to balance the Canadian workforce. Most of them specifically belong to the healthcare and tech sectors.
Hence, provinces demand more immigrants because increased immigration through immigration streams targeting in-demand occupations can help fill more urgent vacancies. Also, each province can have different job vacancies. Such immigration programs can significantly benefit immigrants to find skilled jobs and settle in the country.
Defining PNP
The immigration and Refugees Protection Act divides immigration responsibility between provincial and federal governments. The Provincial government invites skilled candidates after properly analyzing the right skills that will likely positively impact the province’s economy. Once a candidate accepts a provincial nomination, they can apply for permanent residency status.
The introduction of the PNP took place in 1998 and received just 400 immigrants in 1999. It gradually welcomed more immigrants each year and finally reached 80,000 PNP admissions annually.
The federal and provincial governments believe that PNP is responsible for promoting the province’s economic development with the less immigrant population. Initially, people preferred bigger cities like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal because, at the time, PNP didn’t exist. Consequently, Atlantic provinces, prairies, and territories didn’t have a strong workforce as they couldn’t access any immigration benefits.
On receiving a provincial nomination, Express Entry candidates get an incentive of 600 extra points under the Comprehensive Ranking System. Ineligible Express Entry candidates can also easily acquire permanent residency through a provincial nomination.
