Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

What is a PNP

Under Provincial Nominee Programs, the provinces and territories can take part in the immigration program by nominating applicants they think will add value to their province. Each province has their own requirements or they may be facing shortage of workers in certain professions. Accordingly, these provinces nominate the applicants that they want to settle in their province.

Why is PNP important

Applicants who receive a provincial nomination receive additional 600 CRS points. With that score, you can clear any cut off in the Express Entry draws. People who have good CRS scores don’t need to worry about PNPs but for people whose scores are below the ongoing cut offs, it’s the difference between getting and not getting the PR. Think of it as a golden ticket to Canada!

Who can get a PNP

Each province has their own criteria for selecting candidates for nomination based on its labour market. Since the number of nominations are limited, not everyone gets them. Many provinces also have their own cut off for nominating individuals. For example, some provinces may have a cut off of 400 points. So if your score is 360, your PNP options may become limited. However, if you have a good score (but not good enough to get an ITA) and your skills are in demand, you are likely to get a nomination.

How does PNP work

This program is for people who:

Have skills, education and work experience that can contribute to the economy of a specific province
Want to live in that province
Want to become permanent residents of Canada

Each province and territory (except Quebec and Nunavut) have their own PNP streams that target people with certain skills. For example, Alberta has the Alberta Opportunity stream, International Graduate Entrepreneur stream, Self-employed Farmer stream and so on. In each stream, they are targeting students, skilled workers, business people, etc.

Cons of applying through PNP

Although a PNP can guarantee you an ITA, it has its own limitations some of which we are sharing below:

You need to settle and work in the province that nominated you. Canada’s constitution gives you the right to live anywhere in Canada and legally, you can live in any other province after getting your PNP but you may face problems later because this will be considered gaming the system. It’s best to try and settle in that province and move only if you are not able to get a decent job after trying for a few months.
PNP adds a few more months to your application process. The province will take its own time to grant you the nomination which will get added on top of the time that IRCC will take to process your PR application.
Many provinces will also charge a fee for the PNP application, so you are increasing your overall costs. For example, Ontario charges $1500 which is even more than the fee IRCC charges you for processing your PR application.

If your CRS score is very close to the recent cut off scores, then you can wait a bit more to get an ITA on your own. But if you don’t think you will be able to make it, then surely go for the PNP route.

How to apply for PNP (through Express Entry)

There are two ways to apply for a PNP:

1. You contact the Province/Territory

Under this, you are contacting the province on their website and applying for a nomination under their Express Entry stream. If the province nominates you, then you can add it in your Express Entry profile. The nomination is received through your Express Entry account.

2. Province/Territory contacts you

While creating your Express Entry profile, select the provinces and territories you are interested to settle in. If you are interested in all, then select all. A lot of provinces scan through the Express Entry profiles of the candidates and send a “notification of interest” to those who they find suitable. I received such a notification of interest from Ontario under the Human Capital Priorities stream but I didn’t proceed because my score was good enough to get an ITA.

Remember, this is just a notification of interest. This is not a nomination. You will need to accept their notification and apply for the Express Entry stream on their website. If they approve, you will get your nomination.

In both these cases, you will need to have your Express Entry profile, so get it ready as soon as you start the process. Once you receive the nomination, accept it and you will receive those 600 extra points you had been waiting for. After that, you will move to the next step – Invitation to Apply.

How to apply for PNP (paper based application)

The other option to apply for a PNP is the paper based process and it is slower than the Express Entry process we just discussed.

In this process:

You apply to the province or territory for nomination under a non-Express Entry stream
You need to meet the eligibility requirements of the province that nominates you
Once you have been nominated, you submit a paper application to IRCC