PNP
Canadian Provinces PNPs Outdid Themselves in 2020
The Provincial Nominee Programs or PNPs allow Canadian provinces to target candidates through their own streams to cater to the labor market more efficiently. 2020 saw the provinces performing well despite the pandemic.
Individual Performance:
Alberta decided to launch two immigration streams that will cater to international graduates, namely the Foreign Graduate Start-up Visa Stream and the International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream. The province also introduced the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) which is an online portal to handle applications. The immigration intake for 2020 was capped at 4,000 nominations.
Ontario managed to issue 8,050 provincial nominations in 2020. The nomination streams associated with Express Entry distributed more than 9,000 invitations among eligible candidates. Ontario might shift to an expression of interest system this year.
The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program issues invitations to new candidates every week. The province managed to invite over 9,000 candidates last year, giving them a chance to apply for a provincial nomination. The Skills Immigration, Express Entry British Columbia, and Entrepreneur stream are highly active. The Tech Pilot is also an excellent option for candidates engaged in tech occupations.
Nova Scotia decided to improve its record and invite more newcomers this year to facilitate the recovery of the province after the pandemic. The province approved 1,617 candidates belonging to the Atlantic Immigration Program. Another 1900 candidates were invited via the Nova Scotia Nominee Program.
Saskatchewan hosted around 30 draws in 2020 targeting the province’s Occupation In-Demand stream and the Express Entry stream. Around 8000 candidates received invitations to submit their application for a provincial nomination.
Manitoba organized over 20 draws for the Skilled Workers Overseas, Skilled Workers in Manitoba, and International Education streams. More than 5000 invitations were issued.
