Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Manitoba hold provincial immigration draws this week

This week four provinces held Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws, inviting candidates to apply for Permanent Residence (PR) and immigrate to their province. Read below to get the full results.

Ontario

This week (July 25th) Ontario help a general draw under its French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream, issuing 95 Notifications of Interest (NOIs)—the Ontario PNP (OINP) equivalent of an Invitation to Apply (ITA)—to candidates who had a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score between 321-374.

British Columbia

On July 25th British Columbia held two separate draws across 6 different streams of the British Columbia PNP (BCPNP).

Note that for the BCPNP, Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) Options Streams refer to PNP streams that are Express Entry aligned. These are also called enhanced nominations and allow candidates in the federal Express Entry pool to be nominated by a specific province (receiving an addition 600 CRS points through this process) to immigrate there.

The first draw saw 175 ITAs delivered in a general draw, between the following streams, with corresponding CRS cut-off scores:

• Skilled Worker Stream—106 CRS cut-off;
• Skilled Worker Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) Option Stream—106 CRS cut-off;
• International Graduate Stream—109 CRS cut-off;
• International Graduate EEBC Option Stream—109 CRS cut-off; and
• Entry Level and Semi-Skilled Stream—87 CRS cut-off.

The second draw was exclusive to the Skilled Worker International Graduate Stream (which includes an EEBC option), targeting specific professions:

• Childcare: Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202)) who had a minimum CRS score of 60 points received 30 ITAs;
• Healthcare professionals with a minimum CRS score of 60 received 30 ITAs; and
• Other priority occupations (specifically Veterinarians (NOC31103)) and Animal Health Technologists and Veterinary Technicians (NOC32104))) with a minimum CRS score of 60 received at least four ITAs in the latest draw.

Manitoba

Manitoba held three different draws across separate streams on July 28th. These draws were for the:

• Skilled Worker in Manitoba Stream—which issued 299 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs)—the Mantioba PNP (MPNP) equivalent of an ITA—to candidates with a minimum CRS score of 633;
• International Education Stream—which issued 41 LAAs to candidates of unreported minimum CRS score; and
• Skilled Worker Overseas Stream—which issued 15 LAAs to candidates who had a minimum CRS score of 726, under a Strategic Recruitment Initiative.

Of the 354 LAAs that were issued, 56 were to candidates who declared a valid Express Entry profile, likely indicating these are enhanced nominations.

Quebec

In addition to these results, Quebec also held a draw through its separate provincial immigration program on the 20th of July, inviting 1633 candidates from the Arrima portal (Quebec’s own immigration portal) that either:

• Had a level 7 proficiency in French according to the Quebec scale of French proficiency levels for adult immigrants) or its equivalent; or
• Had a minimum CRS score equivalent or greater to 596 points; or
• Had a valid job offer outside of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (the Montreal Metropolitan Area).

About the Provincial Nominee Program

The PNP was started in 1998 as a means to spread the benefits of immigration across Canada. While traditionally most immigrants tend to settle in one of Canada’s most populous provinces (Ontario,British Columbia,or Quebec), the PNP allows provinces to nominate individuals who meet their labour market or demographic needs, to be chosen to immigrate to their specific province.

Every province runs a PNP in Canada, with the exception of Quebec (which has its own immigration program) and Nunavut. The PNPs have been successful at spreading immigration across Canada, and today are collectively Canada’s main pathway for economic immigration, expected to welcome over 333,000 new Canadians between 2023 and 2025..

While most PNP streams are dedicated to professionals (often in targeted professions), there are also PNP streams that target other kinds of competencies and qualifications, including international students who have studied in that specific province, and those with specific language abilities (usually in French).