Ontario, British Columbia (BC) and Manitoba issued nominations this week through their respective Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs), while Quebec also issued invitations through its provincial immigration program.
Across Canada, 11 of the country’s 13 provincial and territorial governments — with the exception of Quebec and Nunavut, where PNPs don’t operate — use their PNPs to find immigration candidates they believe best fit with their region’s labour force and demographic needs.
Click here to learn more about PNPs operating across Canada.
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Once an Expression of Interest (EOI) is issued by a province or territory, immigration candidates can proceed in one of two ways:
- Base PNP Stream: Candidate can use the EOI to apply for permanent residence directly through the PNP program
- Advanced PNP Stream: Candidates can use the Notification of Interest to apply for a Provincial Nomination Certificate while remaining in the Express Entry pool
Candidates who receive a Provincial Nomination Certificate through the Enhanced PNP stream will strengthen their candidacy for economic immigration through Express Entry as provincial nominees automatically receive an additional 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. Adding the 600 additional CRS points will grant an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in a subsequent draw from the Express Entry pool.
Provincial Immigration Results from February 3 to February 9
British Columbia
This week, British Columbia held four targeted draws for skilled workers and international graduates through the BC PNP.
Specifically, in the February 6 draw, BC issued the following number of invitations to candidates from these occupations.
Comment: The numbers in brackets indicate the minimum marks required for candidates in that particular vocational group
- 46 invitations were issued to people engaged in child care (60)
- Invitation letters were issued to 26 people engaged in construction work (75)
- Invitation letters were issued to 39 people involved in health care (60)
- Fewer than five invitations were issued to people engaged in veterinary care (60)
In addition to this week’s targeted draw, the BC PNP also issued a total of 102 invitations in a general draw on February 6. The draw distributed invitations among candidates from the following five streams:
- skilled worker
- Skilled Employees – EEBC Option
- International Graduates
- International Graduates – EEBC Option
- Entry Level & Semi-Skilled
For all except one category, “entry-level and semi-skilled” candidates, the minimum score required was 122. In the case of entry-level and semi-skilled BC PNP candidates, the February 6 draw required a minimum score of 97.
Ontario
On February 6 itself, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) issued 2,086 Notifications of Interest (NOI) to eligible candidates for Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priority stream. The draw targeted candidates in healthcare occupations.
All candidates who received an NOI in Ontario’s February 6 draw had CRS scores between 379 and 430.
Then, on February 8, the OINP conducted three more draws, one under the Human Capital Priority stream and two under the Employer Job Offer: International Student stream. The results of the draws are as follows:
- Human Capital Priority Draw: Invitations issued to 2,118 candidates with scores between 471 and 480 in technical occupations
- Employer Job Offers – International Student Draw 1,182 invitations were issued to candidates with scores of 78 and above. This was general, meaning no one occupation was targeted.
- Employer Job Offers – International Student Draw: 1,252 invitations issued to candidates scoring 73 and above in targeted draw for health and technical occupations,
In addition to this week’s PNP results, it’s also worth noting that the Ontario government has announced it is “suspending the receipt of applications for the PNP.” [OINP’s] The suspension is effective December 4, 2023, but was officially announced this week.
In an announcement on Feb. 5, Ontario clarified that this means “no new interest or applications are being accepted” and the province directed anyone with questions to contact business.immigration@ontario.ca.
Quebec
This week, Quebec released the results of a January 24 draw that invited two separate groups of candidates based on different eligibility criteria. In total, the province invited 1,007 people to apply for the permanent selection.
The PNP does not operate in Quebec and the province has a unique arrangement with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that allows it to retain control over provincial economic immigration policies and procedures.
In the first group of candidates, which was released on January 4, all invitation recipients were required to have a valid job offer outside the territory of the Communauté métropolitain of Montreal. This means that no occupations or other human capital characteristics were targeted.
Those in the second group of candidates drawn on January 22 were part of a draw in which Quebec targeted specific professions. This group of candidates needed to obtain a minimum of 615 points to be considered, in addition to meeting the following eligibility requirements:
- Have level 7 oral proficiency (or higher) in French according to the Échelle québécoise deslevels de compétence en français (Quebec scale of French proficiency levels for adult immigrants) or its equivalent
- Having a valid job offer outside the area of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal
Those who have received an invitation can apply for a Quebec Selection Certificate and then apply to IRCC for permanent residence.
Manitoba
On February 8, Manitoba posted new results of three recent EOI draws, inviting a total of 282 candidates.
Under the Skilled Worker in Manitoba stream of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), Advice to Apply letters were issued to 151 candidates who declared that they had a close relative in Manitoba. These candidates had a minimum score of 619.
The province also issued 83 advice letters to apply through its international education stream.
Eventually, through the Skilled Worker Overseas stream of the MPNP, the provincial government released 48 consultation letters for eligible candidates with a minimum of 713 points to apply.
Know if you are eligible for Canadian immigration