Canada

• Two pathways: Enhanced (via Express Entry, +600 CRS) and Base (non-Express Entry, applied directly to IRCC)
• Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)
• British Columbia PNP (BC PNP / SIRS)
• Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP)
• Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP)
• Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP)
• Other PNPs: New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Yukon
• Stream families: skilled worker, international graduate, semi-skilled / in-demand occupation, and entrepreneur / business

• A genuine intention to live in the nominating province or territory
• Meet the specific stream's criteria — occupation, work experience, education, language, and sometimes a job offer or other connection to the province
• An approved language test for most skilled streams (IELTS / CELPIP, or TEF / TCF for French)
• An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for foreign education where the stream requires it
• For Enhanced streams: a valid Express Entry profile and eligibility for a federal Express Entry program (FSWP, FSTP, or CEC)

• Inadmissibility to Canada (criminality, security, misrepresentation, or medical grounds)
• No genuine intention to settle in the nominating province or territory
• Not meeting the chosen stream's occupation, experience, language, or points criteria
• The province's annual nomination allocation is already exhausted (you wait for the next intake rather than being refused)

1. 2025

   The 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan cut the PNP target roughly in half — to 55,000 nominations for 2025 — prompting provinces to pause or tighten several streams and shrink their allocations.

2. 2025-03-25

   Job-offer points were removed from the federal CRS, but a provincial nomination still adds 600 CRS points to an Express Entry profile.

3. 2026

   The 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan raised the PNP target back to 91,500 (a 66% increase from 55,000), with Ontario receiving the largest provincial share.

The PNP is not a single program — 11 of Canada's 13 provinces and territories run their own streams (all except Quebec, which selects its own immigrants, and Nunavut, which has none), each with its own criteria and a federally set annual nomination cap. There are 50+ streams in roughly four families: skilled worker (often Express-Entry-aligned), international graduate, semi-skilled / in-demand occupation, and entrepreneur / business. Two routes lead to PR: an Enhanced nomination adds 600 CRS points to an Express Entry profile (effectively guaranteeing an Invitation to Apply); a Base nomination is submitted directly to IRCC outside Express Entry. Many skilled streams rank candidates through an Expression of Interest (EOI) system out of a province-specific maximum, so cut-offs and in-demand occupation lists shift with each draw — always check the specific province's current stream rules before applying.