What is the Provincial Nominee Program?
Provincial Nominee Program is designed specifically for individuals who want to reside in a particular province in Canada based on their skills as a professional, education and experience. The provinces in Canada have signed an agreement with the federal government to pick and choose the employee based on the economic needs of the province. So this program is province in which you are not selected by the federal government based on your credentials but rather you are selected based on the province’s requirements as a candidate. Candidates are given points for having education, experience, job, relatives in Canada, age etc. If you qualify based on the point’s criteria, you get selected. After you are selected you will be invited to apply for permanent residence in Canada under the program. We will discuss further in this blog how a person can apply and what factors will help them get points and get invitation to apply for permanent residence. Express Entry has four different programs and one of which is Provincial Nominee Program. This program is similar to other programs but there are different requirements for approval. Depending on the province you reside and want to live in, you will have to comply with the requirements of that specific province.
Provincial Nominee Requirements
We will discuss briefly what the basic requirements are that have to be met before an individual could be considered eligible to apply under this category. Total points in express entry are 1200 out of which 600 points are given for having a job or for having a PNP nomination. The estimated time for processing is 6 months. The criteria for consideration under this program has some requirements. There are seven requirements listed below:
- Job Offer
- Education
- Work experience
- Proficiency in Language
- Relatives
- Adaptability
- Medical and Police checks
Job Offer
Having a job offer of NOC (A, B, 0) is necessary for you to get points and get invitation to apply for permanent residence. Depending on the provinces the NOC requirement has to be met, in some province even the NOC (C, D) is also accepted.
Education
Education credentials are assessed to give you points on your application. Your diploma, degree and certificate, depending on how much education you have, will need to be assessed according to Canadian standards in case if they are from outside Canada.
Work Experience
Work experience is also important to boost your points. Some provinces require you to have one year worth of experience in Canada or outside Canada and some provinces expect you to have six months’ worth of experience.
Proficiency in Language
It is very important for you as a candidate to demonstrate your ability to speak the language. You need to be proficient in the language that majority of the province speaks. The purpose of that is to see if you would be a person who would fit in the province linguistically to connect with people and communicate for the purpose of employment etc.
Relatives
Having relatives in Canada is also an advantage as it gives you extra points to help you qualify for permanent residency. Your relative must be a permanent resident or a Canadian citizen of Canada residing in that province. The relatives include parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and step family members or in laws of the same family.
Adaptability
Adaptability means how comfortable and well entrenched you are in Canadian society. Adaptability is determined on the basis of your ties in Canada. If you have a job in Canada and education from Canadian institutes it will help you look good in adaptability factor.
Medical and Police checks
You will need to provide your medical certificate to demonstrate that you are physically fit and would not be a risk economically or to people’s health in Canada. Police checks indicate if you have been convicted before or have some serious criminality in the past.
How to Apply for Provincial Nominee Program?
The eligibility for the Provincial Nominee Program is different based on whether you apply through the paper based (non-Express Entry streams) or Express Entry process.
Applying through the paper-based process
- You must meet the minimum requirements of the province where you want to apply or territory’s non-Express Entry streams
- You have to be nominated in that particular stream
Applying through Express Entry
- You must meet the minimum requirements of a province or territory’s Express Entry Provincial nominee stream
- You must be nominated under the chosen stream
- You must create an express entry profile and demonstrate that you are meeting the minimum requirements of express entry, including the requirements of one of the immigration programs
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program
OINP stands for Ontario immigrant nominee program. It is for those people who have a job offer specifically in Ontario. It also helps employers in the province to find the skilled workers they need to fill the positions. In OINP program, the employers in the province apply to recruit or retain people who are foreign nationals or are temporary residents. If the province of Ontario chooses an applicant based on their skill and education, they will nominate that person for permanent residence. Once you are nominated by the province, you must apply for permanent residence with citizenship and immigration Canada.
There are quite a few categories of the nominees:
- Employers can recruit through the general category as well as from the International Student with a job offer category
- Candidates can also apply through an international masters graduate category and the international PhD graduates category
- Business owners and entrepreneurs normally apply through the Entrepreneur stream or the Corporate stream
The streams mentioned above cannot be explained all in this brief blog.
Eligibility under the General Category
To be eligible under this category you can be outside Canada and still apply for it or you could be in Canada with legal status for example, valid work permit. You need to have a job offer in Ontario and the Skill type has to be 0 (managerial occupations) or skill level A (professional occupations) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades) on the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC).
You cannot and will not be able to apply on your own, your employer must nominate you and begin the application process.
International Students
Eligibility on the International student category depends on your education. Having a diploma or a degree from a credible Canadian college or university or have a job offer from an Ontario employer that is Skill Type 0 (managerial occupations) or Skill Level A (professional occupations) or B (technical occupations and skilled trades) on the Canadian National Occupational Classification (NOC). Also, you will need an employer that is pre-screened and approved by Opportunities Ontario. Your employment offer does not necessarily have to be specific to your field of study.
Contact Akrami & Associates:
If you want further information about provincial nominee program or if you want to apply for it and need our help to make a good application for you, please do consider Akrami & Associates for all your legal needs. Our team of dedicated consultants and lawyers will take good care of you by presenting the best possible case for you and your loved ones.
With Akrami & Associates there is always a way!