Provincial Nomination Program

Persons who immigrate to Canada under the Provincial Nominee Program have the skills, education and work experience needed to make an immediate economic contribution to the province or territory that nominates them. They are ready to establish themselves successfully as Permanent Residents in Canada.

If you choose to immigrate to Canada as a provincial nominee, you must first apply to the province where you wish to settle and complete its provincial nomination process. The province will consider your application based on its immigration needs and your genuine intention to settle there.

Advantages

1. No points required

2. Submitting a permanent residence (PR) application through one of the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) may be a way of getting into Canada if you cannot earn enough points to enter as a Skilled worker or if you do not qualify for the federal government's business immigrant program.

3. Some British expats have gained admission to Canada as long haul truck drivers and others have gained admission as entrepreneurs through various provinces' PNPs, to quote only a couple of examples.

4. No Labour Market Opinion required

5. Many PNPs give you the ability to start working in Canada once the provincial government has approved your application, but before the federal government has granted you permanent resident status.

6. In these cases the provincial government provides a letter of endorsement that you submit to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), along with your Temporary work permit (TWP) application.

7. The letter of endorsement from the provincial government releases you from the need for the LMO that normally is required before a person can apply for a TWP.

8. Then you can move to Canada and start your job while your permanent residence visa application goes through the process.

9. But the exact terms and conditions of each PNP are unique, so make sure that you understand the rules that govern the PNP through which you are applying.

Disadvantages

1. Each province has a limited number of PNP slots, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand, depending on the province.

2. It is common for a province's quota to be used up in the first half of the year, sometimes even in the first few months of the year.

Process

1. Once the applicant has been approved by the province's PNP, he/she submits his/her application for permanent residence to CIC. Then CIC does the checks that are done on other PR applicants (medical condition, police records, etc.).

2. If CIC finds everything to be in order, it issues a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) that the applicant needs to bring to his/her port of entry when he/she "lands" in Canada.

3. When a PNP applicant lands in Canada and activates his/her PR status, he/she must satisfy the immigration official at the port of entry that he/she intends to reside in the province that approved his/her PNP application. However, since it sometimes is not practical for a person to land in his/her destination province, it is permissible to land in another province and then make one's way to one's destination province.

4. When the applicant lands in Canada, a CIC officer checks the applicant's passport and COPR. The CIC officer may ask some questions to corroborate claims that the applicant made during the application process (medical condition, character, available funds, etc.). If the CIC officer is satisfied that the applicant meets the criteria, he/she admits the applicant into Canada as a PR.

List of PNPs

Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, ten have Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs). They are:

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador

Nova Scotia (including Community Identified Stream)

Prince Edward Island

Saskatchewan

Yukon

Ontario

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Quebec (however, Quebec has its own immigration rules, effectively a "super-PNP" Quebec Immigration)