All the Canadian provinces execute their own separate provincial nominee program except Quebec and Nunavut. This program allows the interested immigrant application to apply for the provincial nomination which is further utilized as a base for gaining a Canadian Permanent Residency.
In the first week of March, 3 Canadian provinces- BC, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan released applications for provincial nominations.
The province of Saskatchewan
The province of Saskatchewan had released applications for a provincial nomination for only 85 candidates through Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program.
In comparison to withdraws of previous years, the province has called fewer immigrants this year. In 2022, the province has invited a total of 225 candidates till now, whereas the province had welcomed a total of 1,975 candidates by March 11, 2021.
One of the province’s spokespersons made a statement that the EOI aims to invite experienced workers and professionals that are presently in high demand but do not possess an employment offer.
Ideally, the province gives preference to applicants having an offer of employment from the employer of the province to depict the shortage of labor in the province. The government of the province had received a lot of applications from immigrants not possessing an offer of employment in the past few weeks.
On the same day, invitations for 39 Express Entry candidates, 43 for Occupation in Demand were sent out. Both of the categories have demanded a minimum Expression of Interest score of 87 with work experience in any of the mentioned 31 occupations.
The province of Saskatchewan has released invitations for 3 Express Entry candidates residing in Ukraine. This initiative was also taken by the government of the province on March 4 by inviting 36 immigrants from Ukraine through its PNP.
Manitoba
Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program has called for 120 immigrant applications. These applications for invitations were further divided among 3 different streams built for immigration
- Skilled workers Overseas- 34 immigrants have been invited by the government who have a minimum score of 718
- Skilled Workers in Manitoba- applications for 50 immigrants have been released scoring at least 781
- International Education Stream- this stream has released 36 invitations for immigrant applications with no least requirement needed.
Among all of the above, 33 candidates had an Express Entry profile.
On March 9, the province of Manitoba had released a special draw for citizens of Ukraine having an EOI profile with a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark of 4 among all the skill sets of the language proficiency test. Also, the candidates have to demonstrate a relation between them and the province either through relatives or education, or work experience in the province. The candidates aiming to come to Canada have to pass and score 60 points in MPNP’s assessment criteria.
The province of British Columbia
The province had released its applications for 204 candidates to apply for provincial nomination through British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program.
The applications are invited via Express Entry BC and Skills Immigration. The invitations for the same will be sent to international scholars, temporary skilled workers.
Among these, a total of 191 applications will be released through general draw only for the candidates scoring in the range of 77- 128 which varies on the program they chose for.
The other draw works specifically for candidates whose profession lies in the category of NOC 0621 or NOC 0631. This draw has released invitations for 13 candidates with a total score of at least 128 points.
During COVID, the province had started with executing a distinct round for invitations for the above two occupations. This step was taken as a result of a higher number of applications that the government was receiving from the registered candidates with SIRS.
Difference between Express Entry and Non-Express Entry PNP
The PNP is further categorized into 2 types-Enhanced PNP and Base PNP
- Enhanced PNP- The candidates are invited through the Express Entry system and the candidates are provided with an additional 600 points to their respective CRS scores. An increase in the score led to an Invitation to Apply. Post getting an ITA eases the process of getting a Canadian PR.
- Base PNP- This PNP is executed through the province on its own via the online portal. The IRCC has built a separate dedicated portal to facilitate the applicants to apply online which is soon going to start in the coming summers.
