IRCC states that it will be outlining new guiding principles for the PNP. The guidelines will be on how the PNP distributes allocations to the provinces. 

Provinces have a limit on the number of applicants they can invite via the PNP. Every year, the federal government allocates a specific number of nominations to each territory/ province. 

Through the PNP, provinces can select economic immigrants who stand out as having the skills, connections, & attributes that a province requires to support its workforce & economy. The provinces & federal government share responsibility for immigration. All Canadian territories & provinces have PNP except for Quebec & Nunavut, which have a separate agreement with the federal government. 

Applicants who obtain a provincial nomination can then submit their PR application to IRCC. For instance, Express Entry applicants who obtain a nomination can gain an extra 600 points under the CRS system if they accept the nomination & submit an approved PNP application to the province that invited them. Acquiring the additional points virtually guarantees an ITA in an Express Entry draw. 

Applicants can also apply directly to a provincial government for nomination. 

New Guiding Principles For The PNP 

When IRCC decides how many nominations as a provincial government should be allocated, it generally uses new guiding principles for the PNP. IRCC states that the objective of the PNP guiding principles is to: 

  • Establish a systematic, evidence-based framework to determine PNP allocations year after year. 
  • Introduce excellent operational predictability via allocations that reflect past usage & trends, including a more accurate split between enhanced & based spaces.
  • Support more transparency with territories/ provinces by informing them of IRCC’s considerations to inform the allocation recommendations to the Minister. This includes working with them on actions to improve the predictable usage of allocations. 

IRCC further breaks down the new guiding principles for the PNP into qualitative & quantitative factors. These factors are meant to improve predictability & processing times for base PNP applications. 

The report states that by creating more predictability, IRCC will be better positioned to allocate nominations to territories/ provinces. As a result, this will reduce the number of requests for changes received from PTs.  

The department states that quantitative considerations will reflect the objectives & desired outcomes of regional immigration programming. It will show the share of economic immigrants as compared to the share of populations & the retention rate in each PT. This information will help IRCC determine the number of nominations in its allocations. 

In addition, once IRCC decides on the size of the provincial allocation increase, qualitative considerations are used to adjust the number. IRCC seeks feedback from PTs & other stakeholders through consultations to understand the needs & subsequently make changes. This includes accounting for other allocations that support a regional need like AIP or RNIP. 

Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)

The ATIP makes a special reference to the AIP. In its first year, the AIP used a population model based on every province’s percentage of the overall regional population. However, IRCC still applies this model to the primary 2,000 allocations.  

After these allocations are distributed, IRCC then factors past usage of allocations, provincial immigration growth strategies & the share of economic immigration spaces, like through Express Entry or the PNP. 

Multi-Year Allocations For PNP 

The new guiding principles for the PNP are used in the recently endorsed multi-year plan for the provincial nomination & AIP.  

The new multi-year plan will act just like the Immigration Levels Plan & offer PT governments allocations for three years in advance, although allocations can change. 

Previously, allocations were assigned only one year at a time. As a result, this created challenges for the provinces in planning infrastructure, like housing or ensuring adequate health and settlement services for immigrants.  

At the time, it was also declared that the overall number of PNP allocations had been increased by 44% for 2023. 

Immigration Levels Plan 

A new Immigration Levels Plan for 2024 – 2026 will be released by November 1, 2023. The plan will outline permanent resident admission targets for the next three years & help shape Canada’s immigration strategy. 

Moreover, in the 2023-2025 plan, PNP accounted for the highest planned number of PR admissions, with targets beginning at 105,500 in 2023 & rising to over 117,500 PNP admissions annually in 2025.   

Marc Miller has stated that he does not anticipate that targets will decrease in the forthcoming plan. Given the prevalent high targets & pressure from provincial governments to raise the number of allocations, it is likely that any revisions to the existing PNP admissions will be an increase.