Canada’s PNP poised to play a big role in migration for 2020

If you are thinking of migrating to Canada, you must be familiar with the Provincial Nominee Program or PNP under which Canadian provinces can nominate you for immigration to Canada.

There are nearly 80 different PNP programs with individual eligibility requirements. Through the PNP program provinces can meet their individual immigration needs and fill jobs that are in demand and meet labor shortages in their province.

Canada has increasingly come to rely on the PNP program to meet the labor shortage in the country. With more than 400,000 jobs being vacant, the Canadian government has continuously increased its targets for the PNP program. It has set a target of 67,800 for 2020.

Canada is expected to increase the approval of new permanent resident visas through the PNP program for 2020 and 2021.

It has set a target of PR visas of 67,800 for 2020 and 71,300 for 2021 through the PNP program.

Most PNPs require applicants to have some connection to the province. They should have either worked earlier in that province or studied there. Or they should have a job offer from an employer in the province for a job visa.

However, there are some PNPs which require no previous connection to the province you are applying for, you can apply directly to the PNP program of that province.

Most PNPs are connected to the Federal Express Entry system. In this case, if your visa application makes it to the Express Entry pool, you will get an additional 600 points added to your CRS score when applying for a PR visa. This increases your possibility of getting an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for your PR visa in the subsequent invitation rounds for the PR visa.

Those wishing to apply for the PNP programs linked with Express Entry pool must first create an Express Entry profile. Provinces and territories will search the pool of Express Entry profiles to find candidates to nominate for permanent residence.

 Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan for 2020-21 plans to invite 67,800 migrants as mentioned earlier which will include principal applicants, spouses and dependents. This will be an 11 per cent increase from 2019.

The tendency is more than 80 per cent of migrants prefer to settle down in the big cities and municipalities. Provinces are looking at steering immigrants away from the big cities in provinces to promote development in smaller cities and municipalities to promote their economic development. Many provinces and territories recently introduced regional PNP streams to encourage migrants to move to regional areas.

Here are details of the invitations issued under the PNP by various provinces so far in 2020:

Saskatchewan has sent out 542 invitations from Express Entry and Occupations In-Demand stream to apply for PR visa. Invitations were submitted to candidates both in the Express Entry and Occupations in demand streams.

Ontario has issued 242 invitations for permanent residence through its French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream. Ontario’s French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream gives rights to the province’s immigrant nominee program, the OINP, to search the Express Entry pool for candidates who meet the stream’s eligibility requirements.

Manitoba issued a total of 186 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs) to candidates in the following three streams:

• Skilled Workers in Manitoba-122 letters
• Skilled Workers Overseas-42 letters
• International Education Stream-22 letters

Out of the 186 LAAs, 24 went to candidates who a profile in the Express Entry Pool.

The Canada Provincial Nominee Program was created to attract skilled international migrants to settle in its provinces which are facing a talent shortage. The PNP program has helped thousands of migrants to successfully settle down in Canada. The trend is expected to continue in 2020.