The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is designed to enable provinces and territories to support the immigration of people who
Canada has entered into bilateral agreements with provinces and territories (except Quebec and Nunavut) to allow them to nominate individuals for permanent residence based on the provinces’ assessment of the nominees’ ability to contribute to the economic growth and development of those provinces.
Provinces and territories have the authority and responsibility to establish their own criteria for nomination, as long as the criteria are not incompatible with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, national immigration policy, and the Federal-Provincial/Territorial bilateral agreements, while Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is responsible for the following in relation to base nominations:
Applicants are required to submit their complete application, including all mandatory forms, fees, information, and supporting documents, to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO), in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Applications are first checked for completeness, according to the document checklist requirements in place at the time the application is received by the CIO.
If the application meets the requirements pursuant to section 10 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), the CIO does all of the following:
If the application is found to be incomplete (that is, if it does not meet the requirements pursuant to section R10), the CIO returns the incomplete application package, along with the fees, to the applicant and records the action in GCMS.
Part of the completeness check includes verifying that the applicant is listed on the monthly nomination spreadsheet that the CIO receives directly from the province or territory.
The province or territory sends an encrypted monthly nomination spreadsheet directly to the CIO, via Entrust. The spreadsheet includes the details of all the nominations the province or territory has issued each month and is considered a confirmation of the nomination certificate issuance. The CIO must be satisfied that the spreadsheet is from the responsible provincial or territorial government authority (that is, the email address is from the provincial or territorial government department that processes the nominations).
The nomination is considered valid, as long as the applicant submits a complete application for permanent residence on or before the expiry date of the nomination. A nomination extension is not required for nominations that expire while an application is being processed.
If a nominee does not apply for permanent residence before the expiry of their nomination, the province or territory may issue an extension to allow the nominee additional time to submit their application. Provinces and territories notify IRCC of all extensions through the monthly nomination spreadsheet.
Nominees are issued a nomination approval letter by the nominating province or territory, and the letter must be included in their application for permanent residence.
Nominees must also submit a copy of their nomination approval letter if they apply for a Labor Market Impact Assessment-exempt work permit for a job offer in the nominating province or territory, or if they apply for a bridging open work permit. For more information
Each province has its own set of criteria and nomination streams and programs. The following list provides the GCMS categories for the various provincial and territorial programs or streams:
The lock-in date for the age of a dependent child is the date the applicable provincial or territorial authority receives a complete application for a provincial or territorial nomination from the principal applicant.
Minimum language standards and mandatory testing for provincial nominees in National Occupational Classification skill levels C and D
