Provincial Nominee Programs
Under the Provincial Nominee Class a Candian Provincial government is allowed to develop specific eligibility criteria based on their local needs. Most Provinces have developed a variety of Provincial Nominee Programs, some requiring an Employment Offer, some requiring applicants to start a Business, some requiring applicants to have Family Members in the Province and some based on having other connections to the Province.
Under a PNP it is the Province that decided initially whether an applicant is eligible. If the applicant meets the Province's criteria then they will issue a Certificate of Nomination and the applicant will be eligible to apply to immigrate to their local Visa Office as a Provincial Nominee. Provincial Nominees benefit from expedited processing. Typically both stages of the process take a combined 6-9 months before a Permanent Resident Visa is issued.
The Visa Office retains the ability to reject applicants on inadmissibility grounds such as health, criminality, or if the believe the applicant does not really intend to settle in the Province that has nominated them.
Because all of the Provinces have different critiera it is impossible to summarise the eligibility requirements but we have tried to summarise the main criteria in the chart below:
