PNP’s
Provincial Nominees
The PNPs allow provinces to select immigrants destined to their province. In this way, they can attract and retain those most likely to settle permanently in the province and to contribute to its economic activity. Several PNPs have significantly shorter processing times than the federal programs, which makes them very attractive to clients.
Dependent family members may be included in applications and will be subject to admissibility examination. A Work Permit can usually be obtained without an employer having to get an Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for approved skilled worker or semi-skilled provincial nominees who are waiting for a permanent visa.
PNPs differ significantly from federal immigration categories, in that their selection criteria are not captured in legislation or regulation. Provinces are free to change their programs with little or no notice and to post revised selection criteria on their websites as they see fit. For all intents and purposes, selection criteria and processing procedures for PNPs are contained entirely on their websites, which are the only authoritative source for information on the various programs.
