New Canada immigration alert: Nova Scotia's 'express entry'

A new immigration opportunity to Canada has presented itself through the Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry programme.

Nova Scotia is a province situated on the east coast of Canada. Like most provinces, it runs its own immigration programme based on its specific labour demand. The new programme is unique in that it offers migrants the chance to settle down in Canada without a job offer at hand.

Programme requirements

A total of 350 applications will be accepted under this year’s progamme, which is available to individuals along with their spouse or common-law partner and dependent children under the age of 19.

Although a job offer is not a requirement, a point-based system applies, where the applicant must have a minimum of 67 points out of 100 to be eligible for application.

Points are awarded for several qualifications such as education, language ability, work experience and age. Points for adaptability are available if a candidate has arranged employment in a skilled opportunity occupation and/or has previously studied in Nova Scotia.

An occupation list dictates the labour categories available for application, and the applicant should have at least one year of work experience in one of the 29 categories on the list. The list includes occupations in the engineering, science, healthcare, finance and computing industries and is subject to change at any time.

Further, language ability in English or French is subjective to a minimum score in a test recognised by the government of Canada — either IELTS or CELPIP for English or TEF for French. The applicant must attain at least Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) seven in one of these tests.

Application procedure

With the introduction of the Express System for immigration to Canada, there are two ways to apply for a provincial programme. As Nova Scotia has opted to integrate with the new system, it can either select its nominees through the Express Entry Pool, or through its own application procedure.

When applying through the Express System, an Express Entry profile will have to be created, where the desired destination should be mentioned. Based on this information, the province will be able to browse and select its preferred candidates.

When the applicant opts to apply directly through the province’s programme, a file should be submitted to the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration (NSOI) first. With a provincial nomination, the file can then be submitted to the Express Entry pool. The nomination is likely to trigger an invitation to apply for permanent residence.

Nova Scotia has been keen on attracting new immigrants with a variety of programmes over the years. Currently, it is offering three programmes; the Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry programme, the Skilled worker programme, and the Family Business Worker programme.

Nova Scotia is predicted to have the third-highest level of economic growth of all Canadian provinces in 2015.

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