Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) had been active throughout the year, and the number of nominees was kept constant. To meet the most pressing needs and sustain immigration, Provinces kept bringing new streams/plans.
The PNP immigration program is a joint one between the federal, territorial, and provincial authorities. The plan lets the Provinces develop new plans by themselves to meet their needs. The needs could be related to the labor market or the economy supported by immigrants. The program also focuses on spreading the advantages of economic immigration equally throughout the country.
The majority of the newcomers choose regions like British Columbia, Ontario/Alberta. That was the motivation for introducing the PNP. The main objective of the PNP is to convince immigrants to move to smaller provinces and less populated territories in Canada.
Since its beginning in 1998, the PNP has witnessed huge growth. The majority of the economic immigration in Canada is happening because of the PNP. Regions such as New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan are highly dependent on the program to fulfill their labor market requirements.
Functionality of PNPs
If an individual attains the PNP selection requirements of any province or territory, then the person gets a provincial nomination. Using that nomination, the individual can apply for Permanent Residence.
The PNP is administered by the territories and provinces. The program attracts individuals of all skill levels.
Most of the provinces and territories that take part in the program have at least one program that falls in line with the guidelines of the federal Express Entry System. The system is considered Canada’s main source of economic immigration.
Express Entry-linked PNP stream can be identified as Enhanced PNP. The enhanced PNP lets a Province choose Express Entry applicants and offer them the provincial nomination. If any Express Entry applicant gets a nomination from any province, then he/she earns an extra 600 points in their Comprehensive Ranking System score.
Provinces that have PNP streams that are not aligned with Express Entry can also nominate applicants, but then the applicants will have to seek PR outside of Express Entry.
Provinces and territories have to option to nominate applicants under enhanced or basic PNP. IRCC decides and allocates the nominations to provinces annually during the immigration levels planning and consultation.
Highlights of 2020 PNP
Ontario
Ontario’s Immigrant Nominee Program nominated 8,050 candidates in 2020, greater than the last year.
Ontario has 3 enhanced PNP streams.
- Human Capital Priorities.
- French-Speaking Skilled Worker.
- Skilled Trade.
Using these 3 streams, the province sent 9,000 invitations under enhanced PNP streams.
Furthermore, Ontario announced its interest in moving to the expression of interest system in 2020. The province believes the system to be a key innovation for it.
Alberta
Alberta’s government is introducing new streams for International students.
- International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream.
- Foreign Graduate Start-up Visa Stream.
Moreover, the province started a website to apply for PR by the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP).
Despite having a high number of nominations allocated to it, the province nominated only 4,000 candidates this year. The act is a portion of the province’s economic recovery plan. Alberta announced that it had achieved the required number and will resume the nominations in the next year.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba
These two provinces are the most benefitted provinces under PNP. The provinces are getting profit from a high level of attraction, and they are able to retain the immigrants too.
Saskatchewan has two major streams for international candidates.
- Saskatchewan Express Entry stream.
2. Saskatchewan Occupation In-Demand stream.
The province sent around 8,000 invitations from the 30 draws it conducted in 2020. After getting the invitation, the applicants will have to apply for provincial nominations.
Manitoba has 3 major streams using which it sends out invitations.
- Skilled Workers in Manitoba.
- Skilled Workers Overseas.
- International Education Stream.
Through each stream, Manitoba conducted around 20 draws and was able to send more than 5,000 invitations in 2020.
British Columbia
The province possesses one of the biggest PNP programs in the country. The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program is quite an influential program. The program issues invitations to top-scoring candidates every week. The province has a few remarkable PNP streams in Canada.
- Express Entry British Columbia.
- Skills Immigration.
- Entrepreneur stream.
- Tech Pilot.
British Columbia issued 9,000 invites in 2020 for provincial nomination.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia accepted a huge number of applications in 2020. The reason behind the high acceptance was to support the expanding population and boost the declining economy in the upcoming years.
Nova Scotia was allocated 3,292 nominations, but the province accepted 3,517 applications. The primary focus was on skilled newcomers in sectors like healthcare and transportation, also on the immigrants living in Canada.
The province stated that the 3,517 approved applications are mainly from two streams.
- Atlantic Immigration Program (1.617)
- Nova Scotia Nominee Program (1,900)
