Bonus 2

The Provincial Nominee Program   

 

What is a Provincial Nominee Program?

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has entered into bilateral agreements with interested provinces to permit the admission of a limited number of provincial nominees. The program recognizes that provincial governments are best positioned to identify their unique economic needs that can be effectively addressed by immigration. of provincial authorities in the selection of immigrants destined to their province. To date agreements have been signed with Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

The province of Quebec cooperates with the Government of Canada to select its own immigrants.

The applicants are subject to Quebec's selection criteria, in addition to Federal medical and security clearance requirements. They must also pay an additional fee for processing by a Quebec Delegation. Applicants who qualify under the Federal selection criteria may not necessarily satisfy Quebec's selection requirements, and vice versa.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada retains the authority to make the final decision on an independent application using existing selection and admissibility criteria, including security, criminal, and medical factors for candidates who hold Provincial Nominee Certificates. 

Is it easier to meet the Provincial Nominee Program selection criteria?

Generally province recruits immigrants who have specialized professional skills and high likelihood to settle successfully in the province. If you possess those skills the province is looking for, it may be for your advantage to apply under PNP, since a total required number of points a provincial nominee has to achieve to be accepted is lower than under Federal Selection criteria. However, there are no guarantees. Obtaining minimum pass mark score, or any other score, does not automatically qualify an applicant to be a Provincial Nominee. There are a number of other factors to be considered by a Province before exercising its prerogative in nominating any candidate as a Provincial Nominee

PROVINCIAL NOMINEE PROGRAMS

The Provincial Nominee Program allows each province to nominate or select immigrants who will contribute to the particular labor and economic needs of that province. Each province is allowed to establish its own selection criterions and procedures to choose immigrants according to their ability to integrate and successfully settle in that province.

Similar to the Independent Immigration Program, applicants are selected on the basis of a point system designed to target individuals who will for fill the labor and economic needs of that province. Points are attributed on various grounds, such as education, work experience, age, etc. Each province sets the number of points to be attributed to each category.

Applicants must intend to reside in the province in which they apply. Once an applicant has been nominated under the program, the province of choice will issue the applicant a Provincial Nominee Certificate.

The applicant is then required to apply for Canadian Permanent Residency at the nearest Canadian Embassy, High Commission, or Case Processing Centre.

Once must keep in mind that Citizenship and Immigration Canada has the final decision making authority on admissibility. The applicant must be admissible on the basis of security, criminal, and medical grounds. 

At present the following provinces are participating in this program:

·         Newfoundland and Labrador

·         New Brunswick

·         Manitoba

·         Saskatchewan

·         British Columbia

The Province of Quebec selects its own Independent Immigrants. Similar to the Provincial Nominee Program, if you wish to live in Quebec, you are required to obtain a Certificat de selection du Quebec (CSQ). Applications must be submitted to the nearest Quebec Immigration Office in which you currently reside.

THE NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

The Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program was created through an agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. This immigration program aims at fulfilling specific economic and industrial development goals within the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The program identifies and recruits immigrants who have specialized skills, which will be of benefit to the Province in further developing our economy. The program will allow the Province to recruit persons with occupational and entrepreneurial skills.

The cost to apply for this program is $1,000 (CDN). Payment must be made by a bank money order or certified cheque payable to the Newfoundland Exchequer Account. This is a non-refundable government fee and its payment does not guaranteed the approval of your application.

Procedure

The process begins with the Province identifying and nominating persons it wishes to immigrate here, and who in our estimation will contribute to our industrial and economic development. Currently there are two programs:

1.     1.   Business Program; and  

     2.   Skilled Workers.

      A   Applicants are assessed on a point scoring system. Certain number of points is awarded to factors such as: age, education, intended occupation, work experience, language, adaptability whether or not you have guaranteed employment in Newfoundland and Labrador. You must score at least 40 points in order to qualify. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador will do checks to determine the applicant's track record as a businessperson and accreditation as a skilled worker - consistent with their chosen field for Newfoundland and Labrador. These background and other checks will also include such of the nominees' family members who may be eligible for immigration.

If your application is successful, a Nomination Certificate will be issued to the visa office where the nominee makes an application to immigrate to Canada. This certificate identifies the person as a nominee of the Province, and will be used at a Canadian visa office overseas to process the applicant. The Province will then notify to apply for Canadian permanent residency at the nearest Canadian visa office. The Government of Canada is responsible for processing these visa requests in addition to reviewing the regular requirements for health, security background checks, etc. .

The nominee must apply for their permanent resident visa within six (6) months of the date appearing on the Nominee Certificate.

 NEW BRUNSWICK  

The Canada/New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Agreement was signed in February 1999. The Agreement allows the Province an active role in selecting immigrants to fulfill specific economic needs.

Under the Provincial Nominee Program, the Province seeks immigrants with jobs skills and other attributes that will come to New Brunswick to fill labor market shortages or support employment or business expansion.

To qualify under the Provincial Nominee Program, an applicant must either have:

  1.  a guaranteed job offer in his/her intended occupation; or

  2.  a business plan that will create employment for the applicant him/herself, at a minimum.

Other Selection Factors

Also, the applicant must demonstrate a range of experience and adaptability in New Brunswick.

This is measured under seven factors:

  1. age,
  2. language skills,
  3. education,
  4. work experience,
  5. adaptability,
  6. skill shortage (for job offer applicants only), and
  7. business experience (for business plan applicants only).

These factors are awarded points. In order to qualify an applicant must have a minimum of 50 points to be considered under the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program.

Manitoba  

Situated at the heart of North America, Manitoba offers convenient and virtually tariff-free access to the United States and Mexico through a north-south trade corridor. The province is an established transportation and distribution hub with developed industries in transportation equipment, food processing, agricultural equipment, aerospace and more. The central time zone location and well-developed telecommunications infrastructure make Manitoba ideal for any business requiring regular, reliable contact with customers and suppliers from around the world.

As Manitoba's economy grows, there has been an increasing demand for skilled workers to support the Province's garment, construction, farming and aerospace industries.

In June 1998, the Federal government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba signed the Provincial Nominee Agreement. This agreement allows Manitoba to recruit and nominate prospective immigrants who have the skills to fill specific Manitoba labor market demands, and contribute to Manitoba's economic growth.

Since the year 2000, the Province of Manitoba has implemented a Business Immigration Program to attract entrepreneurs who will expand Manitoba's manufacturing and service industries.

SASKATCHEWAN  

The Canada/Saskatchewan Provincial Nominee Agreement was signed on March 16, 1998. The Agreement allows Saskatchewan officials to actively recruit and nominate individuals who have the potential to be of significant economic and industrial benefit to the province.

To qualify under the Provincial Nominee Program, an applicant must either:

  1.       be a Skilled Worker on the designated skill shortages list, or

  2.       be a Business Person whose business proposal fall under the key sectors, and whose business will have an identifiable impact on the provincial economy through diversification, value added processing and job or wealth creation.

Key Sectors and Industries

Specific emphasis on recruitment will be placed on identified key sectors and industries in order to expand the provincial economy. This expansion will be achieved either through the recruitment of Skilled Workers or Business Persons will to establish businesses within these sectors.

The key sectors and industries are:

·         Agri-value and Biotechnology

·         Forestry

·         Energy

·         Information Technology and Telecommunications

·         Tourism

·         Mining/Minerals

·         Fabricated Metal Manufacturing

·         Value Added Processing

·         Manufacturing

Selection Factors

All applicants must demonstrate a range of experience and adaptability in Saskatchewan.

 This is measured under seven factors:

  1. occupation,
  2. arranged employment (principal applicant);
  3. related work experience in intended occupation,
  4. education,
  5. adaptability,
  6. arranged employment (spouse),
  7. age,
  8. language ability,
  9. personal financial resources

All applicants must obtain 15 points on the Occupational Factor, and a minimum of 60 points.

Procedure

All applications under the Provincial Nominee Program must be submitted to the Province of Saskatchewan for review and acceptance. If approved a nomination certificate will be provided directly to Citizenship and Immigration Canada by the Province, and a letter of nomination will be forwarded to the applicant.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will only consider Provincial Nominee Program applicants after receiving the nomination certificate from the Province. Applicants will then be required to submit additional information and documentation as required by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

  BRITISH COLUMBIA

The government of British Columbia is currently developing a Provincial Nominee Program. The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) supports the recruitment of foreign workers with highly specialized skills, to meet critical skill shortages faced by British Columbia employers. The program will also support the expedited immigration of foreign residents with strong business experience and skills, and a solid business project already identified in BC.

The PNP program enables B.C. to nominate 1000 people plus their families between now and May, 2003. The program is available to all sectors of the economy that experience critical skill shortages. However, the initial implementation of PNP will be staged into selected sectors, where skill shortages are already well established. The first stage of implementation will begin with foreign nurses in the early New Year. Based on employer demand, it is expected the next stage of implementation will include sectors like information technology. The PNP program may also apply on a case-by-case basis in specific situations where an employer can clearly demonstrate that domestic recruitment efforts have been unsuccessful.

The PNP program is employer driven and nominees are required to have arranged employment prior to progressing with the application process. Employers must clearly demonstrate that domestic recruitment efforts have been unsuccessful and that a legitimate skill shortage exists before offering employment to a nominee.

End of Report