This week, applications for provincial immigration have been extended to five provinces: Prince Edward Island (PEI), British Columbia (BC), Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec.
Provincial Nominee Programs, a type of regional immigration program, are used in every Canadian province and territory—with the exception of Nunavut and Quebec—to choose applicants for economic immigration (PNPs). The goal of these programs is to assist each participating province and territory in welcoming talented immigrants who, in the opinion of their local government, can best assist in addressing the demands of the local labor market and demographic issues.
Note: Because of its government’s agreement with the federal government to retain control over its own economic immigration, Quebec does not run a PNP.
Provincial immigration results from April 27 to May 3
British Columbia
On April 30, 2024, British Columbia held two provincial immigration drawings.
The British Columbian government sent out 47 invitations in a general draw for the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP). As with the other general BCPNP drawings this year, applicants from each of the following five streams were taken into consideration for this draw:
- Skilled Worker
- Skilled Worker – Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) option
- International Graduate – EEBC option
- International Graduate
- Entry Level and Semi-Skilled
For provincial immigration draws, meeting a minimum score of 131 was essential for invitation across all streams except for the Entry Level and Semi-Skilled applicant groups, where the threshold was 107. Beyond the primary draw, British Columbia conducted four additional drawings, extending invitations to candidates in the Skilled Worker and International Graduate streams, which also encompassed the EEBC option. Invitations targeted candidates within four distinct occupational groups, with specific percentages allocated as follows:
- Candidates in childcare jobs received nine invites (minimum score of 91).
- Candidates with a minimum score of 93 in construction jobs received nine invites.
- Candidates with a minimum score of 100 in healthcare jobs received nine invites.
- For veterinary care vocations (minimum score of 80), less than five invitations were sent out to candidates.
Quebec
Just now, the results of two different lotteries for provincial immigration were released by Quebec, one of the two provinces that do so.
On April 11, 2024, the first of these two drawings took place. 1,036 persons were invited by the province to apply for permanent selection as a result of this draw.
Note: The Minister of Immigration, Francization, and Integration (MIFI) is in charge of immigration in Quebec. On April 8, 2024, a drawing was held from the Arrima Bank in Quebec for this batch of invites.
During this draw, candidates had to satisfy both of the following requirements in order to be invited:
- An oral French skill level of level 7 or above, as determined by the French proficiency level scale for adult immigrants in Québec or its equivalent. The Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français is the name of this scale.
- hold a legitimate employment offer from anywhere beyond the boundaries of Montréal’s metropolitan area
Furthermore, individuals whose occupations were included in one of two grouped lists of National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes were invited to participate in this draw. The website of the Government of Quebec provides further information on the particular NOCs that were invited.
It should be noted that candidates with an NOC in group one of occupations had to receive a minimum score of 536, whilst candidates in group two of occupations had to receive a minimum score of 606.
April 25 draw
An additional 1,415 individuals were invited by Quebec to apply for permanent selection on April 25. On April 22, 2024, a selection was made from the Arrima bank for this round of invites.
To receive an invitation during this draw, candidates were required to meet the following three criteria:
- An oral French competency level of seven or above, as determined by the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français
- Own a legitimate work offer from anywhere outside the boundaries of Montréal’s metropolitan area
- A minimum score of 598 points
Next Steps: Those who were invited by the Quebec government may now submit an application for a Quebec Selection Certificate. If an applicant for immigration is planning to settle in Quebec, they must have this certificate before submitting an application to the IRCC for permanent residence.
Alberta
Other than Quebec, only Alberta posts the results of its provincial immigration draw in a retroactive fashion.
The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), the province’s PNP, announced this week the outcomes of a draw held on April 17, 2024.
49 Notifications of Interest (NOI) letters were sent out by the AAIP during this draw to individuals who qualified for its “dedicated healthcare pathway with Alberta job offer” category. All of these applicants had to have a CRS score of at least 302.
Manitoba
Manitoba released updated results for a recent PNP draw on April 30. In compliance with the province government’s special immigration policy for Ukraine, this specific draw was devoted to welcome immigration hopefuls.
451 Letters of Advice to Apply under this Special Immigration Measure were sent to qualified candidates by the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) during this draw.
On May 2, Manitoba held a second draw and invited applicants from three streams.
488 Letters of Advice to Apply were sent out by the MPNP in the first occupation-specific selection from the Skilled Worker in Manitoba stream.
The following qualified candidates received these letters:
Those with the following NOC 2021 occupations:
- 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates
- 60020 – Retail and wholesale trade managers
Those with occupations under the following NOC 2021 sub-major group:
- 12 – Administrative and financial supervisors and specialized administrative occupations
- 14 – Administrative and financial support and supply chain logistics occupation
- 22 – Technical occupations related to natural and applied sciences
Apart from the aforementioned, 66 letters were sent by the MPNP to applicants who met the requirements for the province’s International Education stream. For these applicants, there was no stated minimum score criterion.
Ultimately, 26 individuals received letters from the PNP under the Skilled Worker Overseas stream. To be considered, these contenders had to get a minimum score of 796.
Notably, applicants who claimed a valid Express Entry profile number and job seeker validation code received 181 of the 941 letters that were sent out on May 2.
Island of Prince Edward
Six invitations were sent out on May 2 by the PEI Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to individuals employed in the construction and healthcare industries.
