Canada’s PNPs can be considered an alternative to the Quebec immigration reforms

Quebec’s recent immigration reforms took the world by storm and caused a lot of controversies. The cancellation of thousands of immigrant applications did not sit well with the common people. However, the other Canadian provinces present a stark contrast to the immigration reforms of Quebec. Most other provinces of Canada are all prepared to welcome a rising number of immigrants over the next three years on the basis of the Provincial Nominee Program.

Also called the PNP, this program grants permission to the provinces and territories who participate to nominate a certain number of foreign workers and propel their journey towards Canadian permanent residence every year.

Currently, Canada has set a target of 61,000 immigration candidates who can qualify through the PNP in 2019. However, this number will most probably increase to 67,800 in 2020. By 2021, Canada could accept 71,300 immigration candidates through the PNP programs. The news of this increase opposes the controversies in Quebec where the province simply dismissed thousands of pending applications in the Quebec Skilled Worker Program. This new legislation was passed by Quebec’s Coalition Avenir Québec government.

The allocations of PNP in provinces like Ontario and British Columbia are set to rise. Two Canadian territories and nine Canadian provinces participate in the PNP. Ontario and British Columbia recorded Canada’s highest job vacancy rate during the first three months of 2019. The provinces will definitely see some improvement in these figures with the two highest PNP allocations in the following years. Ontario’s limit is set at 6,900 while British Columbia will welcome 6,500 candidates. Almost half of all the nominations which were issued in 2018 via the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) were offered to candidates who already had a profile in the Express Entry system.