Provincial Programs for Skilled Workers Immigration

Overview of Provincial Programs for Skilled Workers

Each Canadian province offers its own programs or streams that enable skilled workers to obtain permanent residence when they meet specific criteria. These criteria vary and are defined by each province based on its labor market and economic needs. As these indicators tend to change over time, provinces frequently update their criteria and programs based on performance.

Canadian provinces have multiple and often complex criteria to qualify for their streams, but there are common characteristics that provide insight into the immigration process for skilled workers:

• ‍Points: Most provinces have internal grids assigning points for a skilled worker’s education, work experience, language skills, age (in some cases), job offers, and family in Canada. The total score serves as an indicator of a candidate’s ability to meet provincial labor needs and their capacity to settle and contribute to economic development. Candidates with a certain score may be invited to apply for permanent residence by the province where they will commit to settling.‍
• Occupations: Labor and skill shortages in certain occupations, jobs, and trades are evident in Canada but vary by province. Provinces target skilled workers in specific occupations that are in shortage and invite them to settle in the province to fill those gaps. Many provinces have occupation-based streams.‍
• French Language: While the ability to communicate in either English or French remains a primary requirement for eligibility to immigrate, French-speaking candidates can receive additional points and have higher chances of receiving an invitation. Furthermore, some provinces offer immigration pathways for French-speaking workers.‍
• Job Offer from a Canadian Employer: In most provinces, having a job offer is a mandatory requirement to receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence. In other cases, possessing a job offer from a Canadian employer can significantly increase the overall score, making it more viable for a candidate to receive an invitation for permanent residence from a Canadian province.‍
• Express Entry or Expression of Interest Process: Provinces invite candidates through two major methods: selecting them from the Express Entry Pool or their internal Expression of Interest Systems, as they set for each immigration stream.

Prospective skilled worker immigrants who possess the necessary skills, education, work experience, and meet other provincial criteria can obtain permanent resident status to settle in that province and eventually become Canadian citizens.

Below, we provide the list of immigration streams for skilled workers based on the Canadian province.

Provincial Streams for Skilled Workers

As described above, each Canadian province has pathways for immigration for skilled workers. Below we list provincial programs leading to permanent residence for skilled workers and specify whether a job offer from a Canadian employer is a mandatory requirement.

Alberta

• Alberta Opportunity Stream (job offer or employment contract required)
• Alberta Express Entry Stream (job offer is not mandatory)some text
  • Accelerated Tech Pathway (job offer or currently working)
• Rural Renewal Stream (job offer or employment contract required)

British Columbia‍

• Skilled Worker (job offer required)some text
  • Tech occupations (not a separate stream)
• Health Authority (job offer required)
• Entry Level and Semi-Skilled (job offer required)

Manitoba

• Skilled Worker in Manitoba Stream (job offer or currently working)
• Skilled Worker Overseas Stream (job offer is not mandatory)

Nova Scotia

• Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities (job offer is not mandatory)
• Labour Market Priorities for Physicians (job offer required)
• Physician Stream (job offer required)
• Skilled Worker Stream (job offer required)
• Occupations in Demand stream (job offer required)
• Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry (job offer is not mandatory)

New Brunswick

• New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream (job offer required)
• New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program: Express Entry Stream (job offer is not mandatory)
• Atlantic Immigration Program
• New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot (job offer required)

Newfoundland and Labrador

• Express Entry Skilled Worker Category (job offer required)
• Skilled Worker (job offer required)

Northwest Territories

• Employer-Driven Stream (job offer required)some text
  • Skilled Worker (job offer required)
  • Entry Level/Semi-Skilled Occupations (job offer required)
  • NWT Express Entry (job offer required)
• Francophone Stream (job offer required)
• Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (job offer required)

Ontario

• Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream (job offer required) 
• Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream (job offer required)
• Human Capital Priorities stream (job offer is not mandatory)
• Skilled Trades stream (job offer is not mandatory)
• French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream (job offer is not mandatory)

Prince Edward Island

• Critical Workers (job offer required)
• Intermediate Experience Stream (job offer required)
• Occupations in Demand (job offer required)
• PEI Express Entry (job offer required)
• Skilled Workers in PEI (job offer required)
• Skilled Workers Outside Canada (job offer required)

Quebec

• Regular Skilled Worker Program (job offer is not mandatory)
• Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ – Québec Experience Program) (job offer is not mandatory)
• Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for Workers in Food Processing (job or job offer required)
• Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for Orderlies (job or job offer required)
• Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for Workers in the Artificial Intelligence, Information Technologies, and Visual Effects Sectors (job or job offer required)

Saskatchewan

• International Skilled Worker: Employment Offer (job offer required)some text
  • International Skilled Worker: Tech Talent Pathway (job offer required)
  • International Skilled Worker: Occupation In-Demand (job offer is not mandatory)
  • International Skilled Worker: Saskatchewan Express Entry (job offer is not mandatory)
  • Hard-to-Fill Skills Pilot (job offer required)
• Worker with Saskatchewan Work Experiencesome text
  • Skilled Worker With Existing Work Permit (job offer required)
  • Semi-skilled Agriculture Worker with Existing Work Permit (job offer required)
  • Health Professionals
  • Hospitality Sector Project
  • Long-Haul Truck Driver Project

Yukon

• Critical Impact Worker I (job offer required)
• Skilled Worker I (job offer required)
• Express Entry I (job offer required)
• Yukon Community Program (includes a Critical Impact Worker and Skilled Worker stream) (job offer required)

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