A busy final quarter of 2017 for Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs
Ontario, B.C. and Manitoba led the way, issuing invitations late into the year
Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs continued to prove over
the past few weeks why they are becoming an increasingly popular pathway to
Canadian permanent residence.These programs, which allow provinces and territories to
nominate individuals for Canadian permanent residence based on labour market
needs, have been especially active in Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba
since CIC News last provided an update in mid-October.
Ontario
Ontario’s Express Entry-aligned Human Capital Priorities
Stream once again opened and issued new Notifications of Interest in early
November. This immigration stream allows the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program
(OINP) to select candidates from the federal Express Entry pool with the
professional skills and ability to integrate into the province’s labour market
and communities.Candidates identified through this stream are issued a
Notification of Interest that invites them to apply for provincial nomination
by Ontario. Express Entry candidates with a provincial nomination receive an
additional 600 points towards their Comprehensive Ranking System score.
After announcing on November 22 that it had reached its
nomination allocation limit for 2017, the OINP issued an update on December 18
announcing that it had received an additional allocation from the Government of
Canada and would continue processing applications and issuing nominations until
this additional quota was met.
In late December, the OINP also issued a progress report
that provided a number of interesting details about the program, not least of
all the fact that the majority of 2017 nominees are employed in Information and
Communications Technologies (ICT) occupations. Software engineers and designers
led the OINP’s top five nominee occupation categories, followed by computer
programmers and interactive media developers.In the same report, the OINP showed 1,835 nominees in 2017
hailing from India, with China a close second at 1,608 nominees.
British Columbia
British Columbia’s Provincial Nominee Program, the BC PNP,
also had a busy final quarter of 2017. The program issued 1,738 invitations to
apply for provincial nomination to candidates from a number of categories in
the Skilled Immigration and Express Entry streams over five draws held between
October 11 and December 13. This number included invitations to apply issued
under the BC PNP’s Tech Pilot, which supports efforts by the province’s
technology sector to attract and retain skilled talent.The minimum scores required for an invitation to apply
remained relatively stable over the course of the quarter. The only variation
was a slight jump in the minimum under the Express Entry BC Skilled Worker
category, which rose from 73 to 80 in the December 6 draw.The BC PNP also issued 23 invitations to apply through its
Entrepreneur Immigration Stream in draws that took place November 1 and
November 29.
Manitoba
The big news out of Manitoba in the last quarter of 2017 was
the November 15 announcement of its restructured Provincial Nomination Program,
the MPNP.The big changes included the creation of an in-demand
occupations list and a new pathway aligned with Canada’s Express Entry system.
Manitoba also restructured three existing immigration streams —MPNP-B business
immigration stream, Skilled Worker in Manitoba Stream and Skilled Worker
Overseas Stream — and introduced a new International Education Stream.
The MPNP remained active through the last quarter of 2017,
with three draws on October 31, November 23, December 13 and December 29. The
draws saw a combined 943 Letters of Advice to Apply issued to candidates in the
Skilled Worker in Manitoba stream and another 156 issued to candidates in the
Skilled Workers Overseas categories.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan topped off a busy 2017 with two draws in the
final quarter of the year, one from its International Skilled Worker — Express
Entry sub-category and another from its Entrepreneur stream.The International Skilled Worker — Express Entry draw took
place October 26 and accepted up to 1,000 new applications for provincial
nomination. The intake was the sub-category’s largest to date and surpassed the
600 applications that were accepted in each of its two previous openings in
2017.The International Skilled Worker — Express Entry
sub-category is for skilled workers with experience in one of Saskatchewan’s
in-demand occupations who are already in the federal Express Entry pool.The Saskatchewan Entrepreneur Stream held its largest ever
draw a few days later, on October 31. This draw saw 285 international
entrepreneurs invited to apply for provincial nomination.
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia reopened Category B of its Nova Scotia Demand:
Express Entry stream December 9 to a maximum of 225 applications.Category B: Paid Work Experience in an Opportunity
Occupation requires at least one year of continuous full-time (or 1,560 hours
or more) or an equal amount in part-time paid work experience in the last six
years in a so-called opportunity occupations, which are defined as professions
for which there may be employment opportunities in Nova Scotia.As with previous openings in 2017, Category B, which
operates on a first-come, first-served basis, reached its intake limit quickly.Category A: Arranged Employment in Nova Scotia remains open.
Applicants to this category must have an arranged job offer supported by a
positive Labour Market Impact Assessment from a Nova Scotia employer. The job
offer must be in a National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill level O, A,
or B occupation.
The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) announced in
October that it would launch two new provincial nomination streams in the new
year — the Alberta Opportunity Stream and the Alberta Express Entry Stream.The Alberta Opportunity Stream will combine the current
Employer-Driven Stream and Strategic Recruitment Stream and 11 sub-categories
and consolidate them under one set of eligibility criteria.The Alberta Express Entry Stream will allow the AINP to
nominate a limited number of candidates
in the federal government’s Express Entry pool, which includes candidates from
the federal government’s three economic immigration classes — the Federal Skilled
Worker Class (FSWC), the Federal Skilled Trades Class (FSTC), and the Canadian
Experience Class (CEC).
A glance at 2018
The new year promises to be an even busier one for Canada’s
PNPs. Under the federal government’s Multi-Year Immigration Plan, 2018 should
see a slight increase in PNP allocations. The allocation target of 55,000 for
2018 represents an eight per cent increase over 2017’s target of 51,000.
| PNP target admissions | |||||
| Year | Low | High | Target | Target Increase | |
| 2017 | 49,000 | 54,000 | 51,000 | ||
| 2018 | 53,000 | 57,400 | 55,000 | 4,000 (8%) | |
| 2019 | 57,000 | 63,500 | 61,000 | 6,000 (11%) | |
| 2020 | 62,000 | 68,500 | 67,800 | 6,800 (11%) | |
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