Provincial Nominee Programs

According to a report published last year by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), Canada needs 182,000 new workers in the Information Technology (IT) sector by 2019. Fortunately for Canadian employers and international workers alike, over the past year Canada’s Express Entry immigration system has helped to address this labour shortage.

A total of 4,449 invitation to submit Permanent residency application (ITA) were issued over the course of January for selected qualified candidates who have created their profile in Express Entry program .

East coast provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have both opened Express Entry Immigration Selection System which offers six month duration for application process. None of these immigration programs need a job offer from a Canadian employer and application can be submitted without any arrange of employment.

However, candidates must keep in mind that they must meet the eligibility requirements of at least one of the following programs:

•  Federal Skilled Worker Program
•  Federal Skilled Trades Program
•  Canadian Experience Class

New Brunswick Express Entry Labour Market Stream

This program is based on EOI submission. Candidates who want to apply under New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program must submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) form within the first 15 days of each month.

These forms will be evaluated and a score will be assigned to each. And the highest scored candidates will receive an invitation to apply for New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program. The minimum required point for this program will be 67 out of 100.

Selection factors are:

•  Language ability in English and/or French
•  Level of education
•  Work experience
•  Age
•  Job offer

Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry

Eligibility requirements of Nova Scotia Experience – Express Entry program are listed below:

•  Age
•  Work experience
•  Previous work Experience in Nova Scotia
•  Education
•  Language ability in English and/or French
•  Adaptability & intention to settle

Candidates for Express Entry are reminded that profiles are only valid for twelve months from the date they are created. Candidates who have not received an Invitation-to-Apply (ITA) for Permanent Residence and who are still interested in immigrating to Canada must create new profiles in the Express Entry pool.

Despite record-high PNP draws in the first three months of 2022, Canada has only invited 6,488 Express Entry candidates so far this year.

Canada has been playing catch-up this past quarter, resulting in a relatively slow start to the year for Express Entry.

In a complete and informative report, Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees Canada (IRCC, formerly known as CIC) has provided precious insights on the first 12 months of the Express entry selection system in 2015 , which came into operation on January 1, 2015.

CIC still  continues to select applicants without job offers or provincial nominations from Express Entry pool.

Express Entry selection report starting from January 2015 to March. 4 draws have been done so far. Here is a brief report:

The cut-off score in today’s draw was 450, which is one point lower than the minimum score in the previous draw on April 17, which was 451.
This is the fourth time that the cut-off Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score has decreased since February 20.

Provincial Nominee Program

Number of invitations issued: 392

The Minister of Immigration, John McCallum, has made it quite clear that he wants to increase the overall number of new immigrants to Canada over the coming years. Not only that, but the Express Entry system may also be modified. The exact modifications, if and when they happen, are not yet known. Consequently, and taken together with an expected increase in invitations issued over the coming draws, I would encourage individuals who are currently eligible to enter the pool to do so. It is only once they are in the pool that they can attract the attention of Canadian provinces that are looking to welcome newcomers through a PNP, as well as employers hiring through the system.”

Canada has invited 7,257 PNP candidates so far in 2022.

On April 13, Canada invited 787 Express Entry candidates to apply for permanent residence.

IRCC invites 7,000 candidates with a minimum CRS score of 490. This is the first all-program draw since January 18.

ITAs issued to candidates with a minimum CRS score of 533.

The CRS requirement in the new invitation round was 36 points lower than the previous PNP-only draw.

On September 20, 2016 – Ottawa, ON – To give travellers and airlines more time to prepare for changes when flying to or transiting through Canada, the government is extending the leniency period for the (eTA) requirement until November 9, 2016. Starting November 10, 2016, Canadian citizens, including dual citizens, will need a valid Canadian passport to board their flight to Canada otherwise they will experience delays. All visa-exempt travellers (except United States [U.S.] citizens) will need an eTA to board their flight.

The Ontario Government will be making investments in 117 settlement projects across the province that support new immigrants and their families as they adjust to life in Ontario.

The processing times for certain countries, including the time it takes to make the initial assessment of the sponsor, are now less than one year. These countries include France, Australia, Spain, Tunisia, Belgium, Algeria, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Brazil, Iran, Israel, Portugal, Poland, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine, and Switzerland. For many other countries, the processing time is around one year or slightly longer.

Halifax business owner put in limbo by permanent residency application delay.

As of 08 May 2012, the maximum number of 10,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications has been reached. This cap on applications has been put in place for individuals applying under one of the 29 eligible occupations being targeted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Unless new Ministerial instructions are received, the cap will re-open on 1 July 2012. This limit does not apply to all applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker program. Those with an offer of arranged employment are still welcome to apply. Individuals who are pursuing or have completed a PhD program in Canada may still apply as well. The cap for PhD applicants is 1000, and currently 657 applications to this stream have been received.