PNP Fact Sheet

Q. What is a Provincial Nominee Program?

A. A Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a provincially-administered immigration program that allows a province to select immigrants, usually skilled workers or business immigrants, who will contribute to the economic development of that province.

Q. What provinces have PNPs?

A. All Canadian provinces except Ontario and Quebec have PNPs.� Ontario is in the process of developing a pilot PNP. Quebec, meanwhile, has its own immigrant selection system.

Q. What are the advantages to an applicant who is approved by a PNP?

A. An individual who is nominated by a province will be able to apply for permanent residence in Canada (i.e., immigration) without being assessed under federal selection criteria. A Provincial Nominee applies for permanent residence under the Provincial Nominee class. This allows the Provincial Nominee’s application to be processed more quickly as the only responsibilities the federal government has with respect to the application are to determine if the applicant is medically admissible and has a clean background (i.e., does not pose a security threat and has no criminal convictions).

Provincial Nominees usually have their permanent resident applications processed in 6-8 months by visa offices as opposed to 2-4 years or longer for skilled workers.

Also, a Provincial Nominee has the ability to enter Canada on a Work Permit within weeks of approval by the province and remain in Canada working while the permanent residence application is being processed.

Q. What province has the easiest PNP to obtain approval from?

A. It is not possible to generalize because each PNP is designed to meet the economic and demographic needs of the province. Some provinces are eager to attract truck drivers, for example, while others are focused more on physicians and nurses. For most provinces, having a job offer from an employer in the province is key to approval.

Q. How long does it take a province to approve an applicant?

A. Once again, it depends on the province. However, most provinces try to finalize applications in less than 6 months. As PNPs become more popular, processing times will probably rise.

Q. Is there an extra expense to apply to a PNP?

A. In some cases, PNPs charge processing fees over and above the federal fees. Others have no application fees. As an example, the British Columbia PNP has a $550 processing fee for skilled worker applicants. So an applicant is required to pay this fee (one fee per application regardless of the number of dependents) as well as the federal processing fee of $550 per adult and $150 per minor dependent. Once approved by the visa office, a $975 Right of Landing Fee is also charged to the principal applicant and dependent spouse.

Q. How do I determine if I qualify under one of the PNPs?

A. Each PNP has its own website that can be accessed at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/skilled/provnom/index.html. Each of the PNPs lay out their selection criteria on their websites. Typically, provinces only want to select applicants who have or will establish a strong connection to that province. For skilled workers, a job offer is usually required. For business immigrants, a commitment to establishing or investing in a business is required.

Q. Will I be required to complete IELTS or another language test to be approved by a PNP?

A. In most cases, no. The federal selection criteria applicable to federal skilled workers does not apply to Provincial Nominees. Provincial Nominees are not assessed with reference to the “points system” established by the federal government.

Q. Does approval by a PNP guarantee my immigration applicant will be approved?

A. No, but the likelihood of approval is very high. Over 90% of Provincial Nominees are approved for immigration by the federal government. The only reasons for not approving a Provincial Nominee are:

1) medically inadmissibility

2) criminal or security inadmissibility

3) the visa officer does not believe the applicant will live and/or successfully economically establish him or herself in the province that has nominated him or her.

Q. Who do I apply to first to be approved as a Provincial Nominee?

A. Every PNP requires that you first submit an application to the province before applying to a visa office under the Provincial Nominee Class. The province must first approve you and advise the visa office you have been nominated before you can be approved for an immigrant visa by the visa office.

Q. What if my employer in Canada wants me to come right away?

A. Many PNPs will entertain urgent requests for approval from employers in their province. Once the province has nomination – and this can often be done in a matter of a few weeks – a Provincial Nominee can apply for a Work Permit based on provincial support. A successful Provincial Nominee can be in Canada working in as short as 2-3 months.

Q. What if I have already applied under another category? Can I switch to the Provincial Nominee Class if a province approves me?

A. Technically, federal immigration legislation does not allow for an applicant to switch categories. But in practice, if an applicant has already applied as a skilled worker or other federal class immigrant and is then approved as a Provincial Nominee, that applicant can effectively switch categories by paying new processing fees to be assessed under the Provincial Nominee Class.