Provincial nominee programs, or PNPs, permit participating provinces and territories to nominate number of economic immigration candidates for Canadian permanent residence each year based on a limited cap.
PNPs have been playing an increasingly fundamental role in Canada’s immigration strategy in recent years and it is set to continue under the federal government’s latest multi-year immigration plan .
Over the 2019-2021 period covered by the plan, admissions of new permanent residents admitted through provincial nominee programs are slated to increase each year, from 61,000 in 2019 to 71,300 in 2021.
Canada has two types of provincial nomination streams enhanced nomination streams and base nomination streams.
Enhanced nomination streams are aligned with the federal Expressed Entry, which manages the pool of candidates for three of Canada’s main economic immigration categories — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class..
Express Entry candidates with an enhanced provincial nomination receive an additional 600 points toward their Express Entry ranking score and are effectively fast-tracked for an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence.
Base nominations are granted outside the Express Entry system and can also be used to apply for permanent residence.
Many provinces have been trying to align their immigration program with the Express Entry system such as Saskatchewan . The update saw the list of in-demand occupations grow from 20 to 24, with the addition of 13 new occupations and the removal of nine.
The Saskatchewan Immigration Nominee Program(SINP) updates its In-Demand Occupations List regularly to reflect the province’s evolving labour market needs.
Saskatchewan has issued a total of 817 invitations over the course of the five draws through these streams so far in 2019.
Ontario, also announced an increase in selection cap for 2019 . The province is trying to increase its annual selection cap as much as possible . Manitoba , Nova Scotia provinces also have been actively revising their immigration program and started selecting eligible foreign skilled workers through Express Entry selection pool.
