Ontario, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island have invited candidates in the most recent round of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The PNP was established because immigration is a shared responsibility between the provincial and federal governments. It allows provincial governments to assert more control over the selection of economic immigrants who settle within a nominating province.
Provincial governments tend to select the skilled candidates who are the most likely to fill gaps in the local labor force and therefore integrate easily into the local economy. Put another way, the provinces nominate candidates who are the most likely to stay in the province and succeed.
A candidate who is nominated by a province has a much higher chance of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. Further, Express Entry candidates who are nominated receive an additional 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points, which virtually guarantees an ITA in an upcoming draw.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) allocates available PNP nominations to each province based on targets in the most recent Immigration Levels Plan, a yearly plan that outlines the target for permanent resident admissions over the coming three years.
Recently, the provinces have been asking for more autonomy over economic immigration and have indicated they would like individual agreements with the federal government, much like Quebec. Quebec has total authority over the selection of economic immigrants as outlined in the Canada-Quebec Accord. It is the only province in Canada to have such an agreement.
While such agreements have not yet been reached, in March this year, the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration met and ratified a new initiative from IRCC, a Provincial Immigration Levels Plan that outlines provincial nomination allocations for the coming three years, most of which are higher than they have been previously.
This will give the provinces a stronger ability to plan for more newcomers and ensure there are adequate jobs, housing, and other important infrastructure in place to support newcomers and make the province an attractive destination.
Provincial Immigration Results July 15-20
Ontario
Ontario held two draws on July 20 under the Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream for candidates in targeted occupations. The province invited 902 candidates in a draw for candidates in tech occupations and 159 in a draw for healthcare professionals. All candidates required a CRS score in the range of 458-462.
These provincial results are similar to the recently introduced category-based selection rounds of Express Entry invitations. So far this summer 2,000 healthcare professionals and 500 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) candidates have received ITAs in federal Express Entry draws.
British Columbia
On July 18 British Columbia held its usual Tuesday PNP draw. This week, the province invited more than 167 candidates in four draws. All candidates were participants in the Skilled Workers or International Graduate Streams and Express Entry candidates were included.
The largest draw targeted 112 candidates with tech occupations. They required a minimum Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) score of 88. The remaining three draws were also occupation-specific, and each required a minimum SIRS score of 60. The province invited:
- 39 early childhood educators and assistants
- 16 healthcare professionals
- Less than five other priority occupation candidates
Prince Edward Island
On July 20, PEI invited 106 candidates in the first PEI PNP draw of the month. The invitations were split across two categories.
The first was for candidates in the Labour and Express Entry stream. The province invited 97 candidates under the Critical Worker Stream who are working for a PEI Employer and have a minimum EOI score of 50.
The province also invited nine candidates under the Business Work Permit Entrepreneur stream who met the minimum point threshold of 80.
