Synopsis on PNP's immigration result for May 2021

There has been significant activity in Canada's Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs).

The majority of the Canadian provinces were active in May inviting a wide range of graduates, foreign workers, and entrepreneurs.

Canadian provinces and territories, except Quebec and Nunavut, administer their PNPs. Each PNP has its own set of requirements for selecting foreign workers to live in the province as permanent residents. Having their immigration programs allows provincial governments to select the people best suited to meet the needs of the local labor market.

PNPs are an important route to permanent residence in Canada. The federal government has targeted to admit more than 80,000 immigrants per year through provincial nominee programs.

Canada PNP May 2021 Highlights 

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have been holding PNP-specific Express Entry raffles, on average, every two weeks since the start of the year.

During May, these draws took place on May 12 and 26 and invited a total of 1,057 PNP applicants to apply for permanent residence. This is almost twice as much as in previous months. The latest round of PNP-specific invitations also saw the minimum CRS score requirement drop to 713, the lowest score this year.

Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)

There were several notable developments within the Ontario PNP in May. Total six draws were held this month. The first draw was held on May 4, and the province invited 102 candidates under the Francophone Skilled Worker component of Ontario Express Entry. Subsequently, the province made its first employer job offer: Foreign worker and an employer job offer: the international student's stream is inspired by the new admission system for expressions of interest. It launched in April. A total of 145 foreign workers and 296 international students received invitations to apply for Ontario provincial nomination in May.

Also in May, the OINP released its provincial nomination allocation for 2021. For the coming year, 8,350 nominations are allocated to Ontario by the federal government.

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Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP)

The Express Entry stream of the Alberta PNP has been inviting immigrant applicants regularly since early 2021. In two draws, Alberta invited 500 immigrants for provincial nomination. The AINP searches the federal Express Entry pool for applicants who meet its eligibility criteria, which include a minimum score of 300 on CRS and a job offer in the province.

A representative from the Government of Alberta also recently confirmed that the province has an applicant allocation of 6,250 for 2021.

Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP)

SINP's International Skilled Worker immigration stream was very busy this month.

In May, the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) held three invitation rounds under the Express Entry and In-Demand occupations subcategories, issuing a total of 528 invitations to apply for provincial nomination.

Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP)

After a very busy April in which the province issued more than 1,000 invitations to immigrant applicants, activity slowed significantly this month under the Provincial Nominee Program. The province held two draws and issued a total of 382 notification letters to applicants in the following three streams of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP): Skilled Worker in Manitoba, International Education Stream, and Skilled Worker Overseas. Of the total number of applications, 32 went to Express Entry applicants.

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)

BC PNP is one of the active and extensive provincial nominee programs in Canada. The province invites the highest-rated provincial applicants each week through the British Columbia Express Entry, Skills Immigration, and Entrepreneur streams.

Over the past month, the province has invited a total of 915 candidates to apply for a provincial nomination.

The province also just announced that its popular technology pilot project will become a permanent program at the end of June. British Columbia runs tech draws only every week and will continue to do so once the program becomes permanent, the province said.

Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP)

PEI PNP held a provincial draw on May 20, inviting 155 immigrants for provincial nomination. Most of the invitations, 138, were sent to Express Entry and Labor Impact applicants. The remaining 17 invitations were sent to candidates with a business impact who had a minimum point threshold of 80. The Atlantic Province generally holds a pre-scheduled draw each month.