Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
Monthly Roundup: Canada PNP Updates in February 2022
While Canada temporarily pauses FSW draws, provinces continue to issue immigration invitations to overseas workers through nominee programs.
Here is our monthly roundup of Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw results in February 2022.
What are Provincial Nominee Programs?
Provincial Nominee Programs allow each Canadian province to set the requirements for their own immigration streams. Each Canadian province, except Quebec, has different nominee programs that operate in different ways. Many have programs that target students, businesspeople, skilled workers, or semi-skilled workers. Additional targeted factors usually depend on labour market gaps or other needs of the province. For example, some provinces target skilled workers with strong proficiency in French to help increase their Francophone population.
Immigration through a Provincial Nominee Program makes up a large chunk of Canada’s total economic immigration. Of a total of 241,850 economic immigrants targeted for 2022, 83,500 are reserved for those applying under a Provincial Nominee Program.
How do Provincial Nominee Programs operate?
Many Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) hold draws where they invite candidates to apply to be nominated for Canadian permanent residence. Some PNPs require candidates to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) profile to be considered in these draws. Other programs invite candidates directly from the Express Entry pool that haven’t even applied for consideration.
British Columbia
In February 2022, the British Columbia Nominee Program (BCPNP) issued total of 624 immigration invitations to workers and graduates.
The province of British Columbia held six Expression of Interest (EOI) draws held under Skills Immigration and Express Entry streams.
BC PNP draws continue to invite candidates with occupation codes for retail and wholesale trade managers and restaurant and foodservice managers separately.
Alberta
This February, Alberta’s nominee program saw many changes.
The province of Alberta changed the name of its immigration program from the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) to the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP). In addition, the AAIP updated the names of three of its entrepreneur streams.
The AAIP also held a draw through its Express Entry stream. The February 1 draw inviting 400 candidates with CRS scores as low as 340.
Finally, Alberta announced two new immigration programs this month, aimed at spreading the benefits of immigration to rural areas in the province.
Manitoba
This February, the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) invited a total of 551 candidates through two PNP draws.
The MPNP invited individuals that had submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI) profile under the Skilled Workers in Manitoba, Skilled Workers Overseas, and International Education streams.
Manitoba continues to target Skilled Worker Overseas candidates who have received an invitation under a Strategic Recruitment Initiative.
An invitation under such an initiative adds an additional 500 points to a candidate’s Expression of Interest score, offering an advantage in MPNP draws.
Ontario
Ontario had a big month for nominee draws in February 2022. The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) issued a total of 3,176 invitations to potential newcomers this February through five PNP streams:
- Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream
- Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream
- French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream
- Human Capital Priorities stream
- Skilled Trades stream
The OINP’s nominee quota for 2021 was 9,000. Ontario’s Labour Minister hopes to double this to 18,000 in 2022. While Ontario has not yet published their nominee quota for 2022, the province has been issuing invitations at a high rate since the beginning of the year.
Nova Scotia
On February 8, 2022, the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) held its first Labour Market Priorities draw since October 2021.
The NSNP’s latest draw invited registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses from the Express Entry pool to apply for nomination.
To be considered in Nova Scotia’s latest draw, nurses were required to have also met additional criteria set by the NSNP.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI) PNP held an Expression of Interest (EOI) draw on February 17, 2022.
The PEI PNP invited 117 candidates through the Express Entry & Labour Streams.
An additional 6 candidates received invitations under the Business Work Permit Entrepreneur stream.
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