Permanent Resident

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.

Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program and the high-skilled economic immigration programs now managed by Canada’s Express Entry system are set to play increasingly vital roles in Canada’s immigration strategy over the next three years.

Canada is committing up to $10 million under its Foreign Credential Recognition Program for projects designed to help internationally trained newcomers find and keep well-paying jobs.

Canada’s goal of admitting more than a million new permanent residents by the end of 2021 is gaining new attention internationally.  

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has invited 1,000 Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates to apply for permanent residence in the latest Express Entry draw, held on September 3, 2025.

IRCC has issued 1,000 Invitations to Apply in a new Canadian Experience Class draw. Candidates needed a minimum CRS score of 533 and an Express Entry profile created before October 17, 2025.

Recent weeks have seen an impressive amount of activity among Canada’s Express Entry-linked provincial nominee streams. In the past five days alone, more than 1,400 Express Entry candidates have been contacted by Canada’s provinces to apply for a provincial nomination.

On November 13,2015 Citizenship and immigration Canada announced the result of its 20th draw for Canadian immigration through the express Entry program . A total of 1,506 invitation to apply ( ITA) were issued to candidates with 484 or more comprehensive Ranking Points (CRS) points.

Applying for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) seems simple, but even small errors can lead to refusal. Here are the most frequent causes:

The Government of Canada has named 11 Canadian communities that have been selected to take ‎part in its new Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot. ‎

Canada’s latest Express Entry pool update on November 9, 2025, shows a steady rise in high-performing candidates, with 11% now holding a CRS score above 500. This reflects growing competitiveness, but also signals that many applicants are successfully improving their profiles through education, work experience, language skills, and provincial nominations.

Saskatchewan has conducted the largest ever draw for the Entrepreneur stream of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP), with 142 international entrepreneurs having been invited to apply to the program following the May 24, 2017 draw. Another new record was set in this draw, as the points threshold required for a candidate to be invited to apply reached its lowest ever cut-off point of 80.

Canada's immigration levels remain low due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Prince Edward Island issued new invitations to immigration candidates in a draw held March 21.

Ontario has introduced major regulatory amendments to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), granting the province wider authority to suspend or return applications before issuing nominations.

The Quebec government has passed a contentious immigration bill in an early-morning vote of 62 ‎to 42.‎

International students hoping to remain in Canada on a Post-Graduation Work Permit now have six months to apply once they obtain their notice of graduation and are no longer required to have a valid study permit.  

A total of new 5,000 applications for immigration to Quebec, Canada were successfully submitted to the government of Quebec the morning of Tuesday, August 16. These applications were made under the Quebec Skilled worker program which has now reached its intake cap.

April 20th - 2016 - Canadian Immigration authorities conducted the 9th round of invitations under Express Entry in 2016 and 32nd overall, inviting 1018 applicants for permanent residence. It was the twenty-third successive draw under the Express Entry System where the lowest CRS score was under 500.

Quebec plans to implement an online 'virtual waiting room' in time for the approaching application intake period for the Quebec skilled worker , which is scheduled to begin June 13, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. EST (Montréal time).