Provincial Nomination
Under a shared jurisdiction between Ottawa and the other provinces, Canada operates a two-tiered immigration system. By offering programs for skilled workers, at both the federal and the provincial levels.
By the network of Nominee Programs (PNP), almost all Canada’s provinces and their three territories can nominate skilled worker candidates for admission to Canada with the specific skills required by their local economies. The candidates who receive a territorial or provincial nomination can apply for their Canadian permanent residence through Federal Immigration Authorities.
Many of the provinces run their own categories under the Canada Express Entry System. This leads to an increase in the role in the selection of economic immigrants.
In some cases, candidates who do not qualify under the federal programs. They may qualify for admission to Canada under a PNP (Provincial Nominee Program). The candidates can also qualify for a temporary work permit in the interim.
Many times there is a processing delay in the large provincial programs. Nowadays, Canada is growing interest in potential new immigrants by these programs.
The Canada Express Entry system has now satisfactorily tackled the processing delays. Whereas many of the provinces are now adopting to open and close their popular streams periodically throughout the year to avoid and clear their large backlogs.
Under some of the provincial programs, candidates are nominated by a prospective employer and, once they get approved from the province, are subject to an expedited process. In the initial stages, applicants receive only temporary, renewable work permits to enter Canada while they are being processed for permanent residence.
The provincial programs based on skilled-workers, with the exception of Quebec, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, most of the time, it requires an employer to sponsor the applicant for admission to Canada. Without a government-approved employer sponsorship, the application will not be approved or will be routinely passed over in the favor of applications with an employer-sponsored approval.
The sponsoring employers under most provincial programs have to demonstrate sufficient efforts to hire local Canadians and offer competitive terms and conditions of employment that are relevant to a particular occupation. There is a variation in the terms and conditions of employment to qualify to sponsor a foreign worker between the different provinces.
To qualify as a sponsored employee, the position being filled must obey a National Occupation Classification (NOC) skill type 0 or level A. It must meet the terms of a pilot project designed for a critical skill shortage recognized by the province.
Generally, the Pilot programs within the provinces are designed for low-skilled workers and are limited in scope for the future. Most of the provinces have variations of pilot projects for low-skilled occupations.