Ontario, British Columbia (B.C.), and Manitoba have issued nominations through their respective Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) this week, while Quebec has also issued invitations through its provincial immigration program.
Across Canada, 11 of the country’s 13 provincial and territorial governments – excluding Quebec and Nunavut, where PNPs are not operated – use their PNP to find immigration candidates who they feel best align with the labour force and demographic needs of their region.
Click here to learn more about the PNPs that operate across Canada.
Upon being issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) by a province or territory, immigration candidates can proceed in one of two ways:
- Base PNP Stream: the candidate can use the EOI to apply for permanent residence directly through the PNP program
- Enhanced PNP Stream: the candidate can use the Notification of Interest to apply for a provincial nomination certificate while in the Express Entry pool
Candidates who receive a provincial nomination certificate through an Enhanced PNP Stream will strengthen their candidacy for economic immigration through Express Entry because provincial nominees automatically receive an additional 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points. Adding 600 additional CRS points will result in an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence at subsequent draws from the Express Entry pool.
Provincial immigration results from February 3 to February 9
British Columbia
This week, British Columbia conducted four targeted draws for Skilled Workers and International Graduates through the BC PNP.
Specifically, in the February 6 draw, B.C. issued the following number of invitations to candidates in these occupations.
Note: The numbers included in brackets indicate the minimum score required for candidates in that particular occupational group
- 46 invitations were issued to those in childcare (60)
- 26 invitations were issued to those in construction (75)
- 39 invitations were issued to those in healthcare (60)
- Less than five invitations were issued to those in veterinary care (60)
In addition to the targeted draws this week, the BC PNP also issued a total of 102 invites in a general draw on February 6. This draw saw invitations spread between candidates from the following five streams:
- Skilled Worker
- Skilled Worker – EEBC option
- International Graduate
- International Graduate – EEBC option
- Entry Level and Semi-Skilled
For all but 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
Also on February 6, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), issued 2,086 Notifications of Interest (NOIs) to candidates that qualified for Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream. The draw targeted candidates in healthcare occupations.
All candidates who received an NOI in Ontario’s February 6 draw had a CRS score in the range of 379 and 430.
Then, on February 8, the OINP conducted three more draws, one under the Human Capital Priorities stream and two under the Employer Job Offer: International Student stream. The draw results are as follows:
- Human Capital Priorities draw: 2,118 invitations issued to candidates in tech occupations with scores ranging from 471 and 480
- Employer Job Offer – International Student draw 1,182 invitations issued to candidates with scores ranging from 78 and above. It was general, meaning no occupations were targeted.
- Employer Job Offer – International Student draw: 1,252 invitations issued to candidates who had scores ranging from 73 and above in a targeted draw for health and tech occupations.
Aside from this week’s PNP results, it is also worth noting that the Ontario government has announced it is suspending the receipt of “applications to the [OINP’s] Entrepreneur Stream.” This suspension has been in effect since December 4, 2023, but was announced officially this week.
In an announcement on February 5, Ontario clarified that this means “no new expressions of interest or applications are being accepted” and the province is directing anyone with questions to contact business.immigration@ontario.ca.
Quebec
This week, Quebec has 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 permanent selection.
Quebec does not operate a PNP and the province has a unique arrangement with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that instead allows it to maintain control over provincial economic immigration policies and procedures.
In the first group of candidates, extracted on January 4, all invitation recipients were required to have a valid job offer outside the territory of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal. This means that no occupations or other human capital attributes were targeted.
Those in the second group of candidates, extracted on January 22, were part of a draw that saw Quebec target specific occupations. This candidate group was required to have a minimum score of 615 to be considered, in addition to having to meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Having a level 7 oral proficiency (or higher) in French according to the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français (Québec scale of French proficiency levels for adult immigrants) or its equivalent
- Having a valid job offer outside the territory of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
Those who received an invitation can then apply for a Quebec Selection Certificate and then apply to IRCC for permanent residency.
Manitoba
On February 8, Manitoba posted new results from three recent EOI draws, inviting a total of 282 candidates.
Under Skilled Worker in Manitoba Stream of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), 151 Letters of Advice to Apply were issued to candidates who declared that they had a close relative in Manitoba. The minimum score of these candidates was 619.
The province also issued 83 Letters of Advice to Apply through its International Education Stream.
Finally, through the Skilled Worker Overseas Stream of the MPNP, the provincial government issued 48 Letters of Advice to Apply to eligible candidates with a minimum score of 713.
