Canadian Immigration Blogs

What is a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)?

Through the Express Entry program; which helps valuable, highly skilled foreign nationals immigrate to Canada as permanent residents, there are various “provincial nominee programs.” Provinces and territories in Canada, with the exception of Quebec, can chose to nominate individuals and persons with certain skills and certain qualities to immigrate to Canada through the Provincial Nomination Program (PNP). This allows provincial governments to have better control of the services and employment sectors in their region, and ensure the employment market remains driven and competitive. The idea is the individuals who are being nominated into these programs, have skills or qualities which will be valuable to the Canadian labor market, and the economy.

How Do the Provincial Nominee Programs Work?

Each province and territory has a special “stream” under which they nominate foreign nationals to immigrate to their province. A “stream” is a program that targets certain groups depending on the qualifications and skills the individual has, which are necessary for a certain occupation. For example, a program in any given province or territory may target students of certain education, business people specialized in certain sectors, skilled workers or semi-skilled works.

Hiring Temporary Foreign Worker to Canada?

Are you an employer looking to hire a temporary worker? You may be wondering what an LMIA is and how it may apply to your situation. An LMIA is a common abbreviation for Labour Market Impact Assessment, which is a document that may be needed if you are an employer looking to hire a foreign temporary worker. This can be done through either the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) or the International Mobility Program (IMP).

Temporary Foreign Worker Program versus International Mobility Program

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program allows employers to hire workers to fill temporary work shortages, which can be either labour-related or skill-related. In this program, you would likely need to obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada or Service Canada. The International Mobility Program also allows the employer to hire a temporary worker; however, this program does not require an LMIA. This is because the employees to be hired from this program may provide broader economic, cultural, or other competitive advantages for Canada or can provide reciprocal benefits to Canadians or other permanent residents. However, there may be other requirements for the IMP program. For example, you may need to pay a fee or submit an employment offer to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) through the Employer Portal. For more information regarding the specifics of each program, consider visiting the Canadian and Immigration Canada website.