Recently, Canada’s three provinces have released the provincial nomination results in which the provinces nominated the potential candidates under the PNP. The nominating provinces include British Columbia, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island. 

The draws occurred between September 30 and October 5, and the number of ITAs and the minimum required score varied significantly. 

Understanding Provincial Nomination Results: What is it? 

The Provincial Nomination Program was launched in 1998 with the aim of helping provincial governments nominate potential candidates who they believe can establish themselves economically within the nominating province and contribute to the provincial labor market. 

The provinces are allowed to select the economic candidates, as immigration in Canada is a collaborative responsibility of the federal and provincial governments. 

Although candidates who receive provincial nominations are required to apply to the IRCC separately to obtain Canadian permanent residence, having a provincial nomination is still valuable as it increases the likelihood that the PR application will be accepted by the department. This is particularly relevant in cases where a PNP candidate is also present in the Express Entry Pool. 

Candidates in the Express Entry who are selected and invited for provincial nomination additionally receive 600 CRS points, increasing the candidate’s chances of obtaining PR status. This process is known as enhanced nomination. 

This is because these extra 600 CRS points almost ensure that in the next round of invitations, the Express Entry candidates will obtain an invitation to apply. Up to this point in 2023, the minimum required CRS score a candidate needs to obtain an ITA has never exceeded 791. This CRS score was required in a PNP candidate-only draw on February 15. However, the minimum required score is often lower than this. 

Provincial Nomination Results between September 30 – October 5 

The following are the PNP draw results of the three Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island, which were held between September 30 and October 5. Explore how many candidates received nominations and what the required minimum score was for each province. 

British Columbia 

British Columbia’s PNP is known as the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP), through which it invites potential candidates. The province held various separate draws on October 4 and selected and nominated candidates for provincial nomination. 

The province issued a total of 110 invitations to candidates in a general draw, meaning that no specific professions were targeted in the draw. 

The lowest required CRS score for the draw differed based on the program stream of the candidates. The following are the required minimum CRS score and the targeted stream: 

• The Skilled Worker stream-111 CRS score 
• The International Graduates-113 CRS score 
• The Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled stream-91 CRS score. 

BC also held three additional draws besides this draw, targeting candidates in the Skilled Worker and International Graduate streams. Here are the results for these draws: 

• 51 candidates were invited from the early childhood educators and assistant occupations 
• 25 candidates were invited from the healthcare occupations 
• Less than five were invited from the other priority occupations 

Alberta 

Alberta’s PNP is known as the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), through which it invites potential candidates. 

The province, on October 3, nominated 33 candidates who had a minimum CRS score of 313. Alberta selected candidates from the Priority sector in Agriculture occupation with Alberta job offer category. Besides this, Express Entry candidates were also included in this draw. Alberta held this draw after the most recent and very first Express entry category-based draw for Agriculture and Agri-food Work Experience was held in Canada. 

These Categories-based draws under Express Entry, in many respects, mirror the PNP streams that already exist across the country. These draws enable the federal government to simplify the immigration process for economic candidates to address the urgent labor shortages in Canada. 

Prince Edward Island 

PEI’s PNP is known as the Prince Edward Island Provincial Nomination Program (PEI PNP), through which it invites potential candidates to the province. 

On October 5, the province held its PNP draw and invited 20 candidates. In this draw, PEI targeted candidates from the Labour and Express Entry categories. The targeted candidates were already employed in the healthcare and food processing sectors. 

Starting July 20, PEI has been inviting candidates through the targeted draws. Prior to that, the province was conducting general draws to invite candidates instead of targeting specific occupations. 

Since this July, PEI has issued a total of 505 invitations to candidates and mainly targeted candidates from different sectors such as healthcare, food processing, manufacturing, and construction. In addition to these, the province also held draws for unspecified critical workers.