CIC News is profiling Canada's various provincial nominee programs over the coming weeks
Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program has grown exponentially since its creation in the 1990s and now stands second only to the federal Express Entry system as the leading pathway to Canadian permanent residence for skilled foreign workers.
Recent weeks have seen nominee streams in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia issue more than 2,500 invitations to workers with a range of skills and professional experience to apply for a nomination for Canadian permanent residence.
Quebec is the only Canadian province that does not take part in the PNP. It has a separate agreement with the federal government that gives it sole responsibility for the selection of economic-class immigrants.
Since the PNP’s first year in operation in 1996, when only 233 people were admitted to Canada through the program, it has evolved to the point where its admissions target for 2019 is 61,000.
Looked at over the next three years, Canada could receive as many as 213,000 new permanent residents through the PNP alone.
The reasons for this expansion are clear: Canada’s population is ageing, its birth rate is declining and labour shortages are expanding as a result. This trend is especially heightened in smaller provinces, which are also struggling with the loss of residents to other parts of Canada.
