The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is designed to enable provinces and territories to support the immigration of people who have expressed an interest in settling in their province or territory and the province or territory believes will be able to contribute to the economic development and prosperity of that province or territory and Canada
A typical Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) consists of two stages. Selection by the province or territory and receiving a Certificate of Nomination and approval by the federal government and securing the permanent residency
Minimum requirements for PNP candidates in Express Entry
To enter and remain in the Express Entry pool as a PNP candidate, a foreign national must demonstrate that they have a PT nomination that has been validated by the nominating jurisdiction and that they meet the program requirements of one of the Express Entry federal immigration programs (i.e., Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program or Canadian Experience Class).
Province and territory nominations via Express Entry
There are two processes for PTs to nominate in Express Entry:
1) Candidates found inside the Express Entry pool
In this scenario, PTs use the PT portal to search for candidates who are already in the Express Entry pool. PTs can search the Express Entry pool using a combination of searchable fields, such as language levels, education, work experience, PT certificate of qualification, etc. Search results appear as a list of anonymous candidates. The search results include each candidate’s Express Entry profile number, for matching purposes, as well as further details about each candidate.
In their profile, candidates must select one, multiple, or all jurisdictions when identifying PTs in which they are interested. The PT portal will allow PTs to view only candidates who indicate an interest in their jurisdiction.
Notification of interest
PTs interested in a particular candidate will indicate their interest through the PT portal. When this occurs, the candidates receive a system-generated message in their online account that advises them that a PT would like to consider them for nomination.
If the candidate is interested in being nominated by that PT, they are instructed to contact the PT directly, outside of the Express Entry environment. Candidates must visit the IRCC website to find contact information for the PT. Candidates must provide their Express Entry profile number and Job Seeker validation code to the PT, because PTs require both in order to nominate candidates through the PT portal.
Nomination
A PT ready to nominate a candidate must search the portal for their desired candidate using that candidate’s Express Entry profile number and Job Seeker validation code. The PT will then be prompted to enter the nomination certificate number, the date the certificate was issued, the date the certificate expires and the date the applicant submitted a complete application for nomination (relevant to the age of dependents).
The candidate is informed through their online account that IRCC has been notified of a nomination, at which point the candidate has 30 calendar days to accept or reject the nomination in their online account. The nominating PT will monitor via case status whether the candidate has accepted the nomination. Once they have accepted a nomination, a candidate will normally be invited to apply at the next eligible round of invitations, subject to that PT’s overall nomination space and IRCC’s ministerial instructions for each particular round of invitations.
The candidate is not viewable by other PTs in the PT portal if the candidate has a pending nomination or has accepted a nomination. A nomination is “pending” when a PT has indicated in the PT portal that they wish to nominate a candidate but the candidate has not yet responded.
More than one PT may wish to nominate a candidate; however, a candidate can have only one pending nomination in the system at a time and can accept only one nomination. Once a candidate has a pending nomination or has been nominated by a PT, the nomination must be declined or expire (after 30 days) before the candidate will become viewable to other PTs in the portal.
2) Candidates found outside the Express Entry Pool
In this scenario, the PT identifies a candidate they feel is suited for their Express Entry PNP stream but who is not yet in the Express Entry pool. The PT nominates that individual and instructs them to submit an Express Entry profile.
Confirmation of nomination
The nominated foreign national creates in their online account an Express Entry profile that indicates that they have a PT nomination and identifies the nominating jurisdiction.
A candidate who meets the minimum entry criteria (MEC) of the FSTP, the FSWP or the CEC is entered into the Express Entry pool and is issued an Express Entry profile number and Job Seeker validation code which they provide to the PT. The PT uses these numbers to search for the candidate in the portal to confirm the nomination. At that time, the PT will be prompted to enter the nomination certificate number, the date the certificate was issued, the date the certificate expires and the date the applicant submitted a complete application for nomination (relevant to the age of dependents).
Express Entry candidates who have a validated PT nomination receive an additional 600 CRS points, and are normally issued an invitation to apply (ITA) at the next eligible round of invitations, subject to that PT’s overall nomination space and IRCC’s ministerial instructions for each particular round of invitations.
If you would like to know whether you could be eligible to immigrate to Canada, we invite you to complete our online assessment questionnaire.
If you are interested in seeking professional assistance to guide you through the immigration process or if you have any questions, please contact us.