Monthly Roundup: November 2021 PNP Draws

Canada has held six consecutive Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) specific Express Entry draws since September 2021. As Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) draws remain at a halt, Canadian provinces continue to use nominee programs to meet local labour market needs. Here is our roundup of Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw results for the month of November 2021.

What are Provincial Nominee Programs?

Provincial Nominee Programs allow each province and territory to set the requirements for their own immigration streams. Each province and territory have different nominee programs that operate in different ways. Many have programs that target students, businesspeople, skilled workers, or semi-skilled workers. Additional targeted factors usually depend on labour market gaps or other needs of the province. For example, some provinces target skilled workers with strong proficiency in French to help increase their Francophone population.

Immigration through a Provincial Nominee Program makes up a large chunk of Canada’s total economic immigration. Of a total 232,500 economic immigrants targeted for 2021, 80,800 are reserved for those applying under a Provincial Nominee Program. In 2021, Canada has issued three times as many invitations in PNP-specific Express Entry draws compared to 2020.

How do Provincial Nominee Programs operate?

Each province sets its own criteria for their nominee programs. Some programs require candidates to meet the minimum eligibility requirements of their PNP in order to be able to apply for nomination. Other programs operate with an Expression of Interest (EOI) system. Provincial Expression of Interest systems operate similar to Express Entry; candidates submit a profile to the province which is scored using their unique points system. Provinces use a candidate’s score to decide who receives an invitation in their draws. Those who meet the minimum points cut-off (often in addition to other criteria) receive an invitation to apply for nomination

Other programs invite candidates directly from the Express Entry pool. These streams generally target candidates based on some combination of work experience, language results, education, and CRS score. Candidates must indicate their interest in a province on their Express Entry profile to be visible to these programs.

British Columbia

This November, the British Columbia Nominee Program (BCPNP) invited a total of 950 candidates through their Skills Immigration and Express Entry streams.

Candidates with occupation codes for retail and wholesale trade managers and restaurant and food service managers have continued to be targeted in separate draws. The minimum points requirement has been much higher in these occupation-specific draws but has been gradually declining since they began. These targeted draws started in February 2021 in order to balance labour needs across all sectors in the province.

The minimum score selected in BCPNP Tech draws remained lower than usual this month after dropping in October. After targeting a score of 80 for most of the year, eligible candidates required a minimum score between 75 and 78 to be invited in one of B.C.’s tech draws this month.

Alberta

Alberta released the results for one draw held in the month of November. On November 9^th, 2021, Alberta’s Express Entry stream issued 200 invitations to candidates with a CRS score of at least 343. Alberta does not reveal the additional criteria used to target candidates in the Express Entry pool, but have stated that meeting one of the following factors would increase the likelihood of receiving an invitation:

• Holding an Alberta job offer
• Graduating from a Canadian post-secondary institution
• Having a family member that is a permanent resident or citizen living in Alberta
• Indicating French as your first language

Manitoba

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program held two draws in the month of November, inviting a total of 849 candidates. Candidates were invited under the Skilled Workers in Manitoba, Skilled Workers Overseas, and International Education streams.

In both Skilled Worker Overseas draws, candidates who receive an MPNP invitation had previously been invited under a Strategic Recruitment Initiative. An invitation under a Strategic Initiative boosts a candidate’s Expression of Interest score by 500 points, giving them an advantage in MPNP draws.

Newfoundland and Labrador

This November, Newfoundland and Labrador published results from their first Priority Skills stream draws held throughout the year. A total of 663 invitations were issued to candidates in select occupations.

The Priority Skills stream was introduced in January 2021 for academics and foreign workers with experience in one of the province’s occupations in-demand.

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island (PEI) Nominee Program held a draw on November 18, 2021. A total of 172 candidates were invited under the Express Entry & Labour Streams. This was the province’s largest draw held this year. An additional 16 invitations were also issued to candidates eligible under the Business Work Permit Entrepreneur stream.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan invited a total of 633 candidates in their Expression of Interest (EOI) draws this November under their Occupations In-Demand and Express Entry streams. The minimum score requirement dropped to 65 in the November 18 draw, which invited candidates with experience in one of 14 select trades occupations.