Each province in Canada has stepped up efforts towards boosting interest in permanent residency for foreign residents. To date, a total of 3,625 invitations to apply were issued in tge last month alone, and each province except for Quebec and Nunavut now host their own Provincial Nominee Programs, or PNPs.
Invitations for Express Entry were issued everywhere, from Alberta to British Columbia and beyond. Anyone who showed employment experience and a varied skill set were invited to apply for a provincial nomination, which was the first step in attaining permanent residence in Canada.
The PNP Application Process
There are different strokes for different folks, and individual rules in the application process vary according to province and region. There is a blueprint which outlines six different streams, two of which are aimed at essential workers and international students, while the remaining two cover those who speak fluent Canadian French. The first essential worker stream covers those in the healthcare industry and has a maximum quota of 20,000 while students are at 40,000. Those in other essential fields are set to reach a maximum of 30,000, which brings a total of 90,000 applicants across the board.
Express Entry is the main pathway that helps lead these people towards their ultimate goal of full citizenship status. In fact, the Express Entry program works in sync with local PNPs to catapult those who have lived and worked or studied in Canada straight on the pathway towards full residency.
The PNP application process has gone almost completely digital in recent months. This appears to make it more accessible to the greater number of people seeking permanent residence in the provinces. Most applications are judged on the basis of Expression of Interest, or EOI, where personal profiles of each candidate are posted for all to see. Details are offered on work history and experience, along with languages spoken and their highest level of education that they completed. Those who ranked the highest are tapped and then invited to join in the Express Entry draws and subsequently invited to apply for a PNP afterwards.
The Two Types of PNPs: Base and Enhanced
There has been a lot of discussion generated over PNPs among the provinces and territories, but what hasn’t been brought up are the fact that there are two distinct varieties of PNPs, namely, base and enhanced. Both operate with similar guidelines, but one is in partnership with the Express Entry system and the other remains independent of it.
Apparently, the base system is good at working with applicants who might not meet the current eligibility requirements for the Express Entry draws but instead are more about securing substantial gainful employment. In short, the base portion operates independently and has no connections to Express Entry
Enhanced streams allow far more leverage by giving government officials the green light to search Express Entry candidates, and that’s due to the fact that they have a strong connection there. The Express Entry draws host people from the top three Federal High Skilled Worker and the Federal Skilled Trades programs, along with the Canadian Experience Class.
