IRCC issues new guiding principles for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)

The Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued fresh guiding principles to the provinces for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). As per CIC News, the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued newly established guiding principles for the allocation of Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) quotas to different Canadian provinces through a memorandum. 

How PNPs Function?

The different Canadian provinces face restrictions on the number of candidates they can invite through their respective Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Every year, the federal government designates a specific number of nominations for every Canadian province and territory. Through the PNP, provinces can choose economic immigrants with the skills, connections, or attributes required to strengthen their workforce and economy.

Accountability for immigration is shared between the provinces and the federal government, with all Canadian provinces and territories, except Nunavut and Quebec, having a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) or a separate agreement with the federal government.

Also read- Canada Provincial Nominee Program(PNP) : How to Apply?

Candidates who get a provincial nomination through a PNP, can submit their permanent residence application to IRCC. The Express Entry candidates obtaining a nomination can gain an extra 600 points in the Comprehensive Ranking System. This efficiently guarantees an Invitation to Apply for PR visa in an Express Entry draw. The applicants can also apply directly to a provincial government for nomination (i.e. base nomination).

Guiding principles for allocations

When determining the allocation of nominations to various provincial governments, IRCC normally employs guiding principles with the objectives of forming an evidence-based framework, growing operational predictability, and enhancing transparency. IRCC aims to work closely with provinces and territories (PTs) to enhance the predictable usage of allocations by, for instance, introducing limits on reallocation and redistribution requests.

The IRCC further splits the guiding principles into qualitative and quantitative factors meant to improve predictability and processing times for base PNP applications in the long term. By creating more predictability, IRCC targets to decrease the number of requests for changes from PTs.

Quantitative considerations will take into account regional immigration programming aims, economic immigrant percentages compared to the population, and retention rates in each PT. This data will assist IRCC in determining the number of nominations in its allocation.

Once the size of a provincial allocation surge is decided, qualitative considerations are used to adjust the number. IRCC strive for feedback from PTs and other stakeholders through consultations to better understand their requirements and make changes, including accounting for other allocations that support regional needs, such as the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) or the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP).

The ATIP document specifically references the AIP, which initially engaged a population model based on each province's percentage of the overall regional population. IRCC still applies this approach to the first 2,000 allocations. Later, allocations are determined based on past usage, provincial immigration growth strategies, and the share of economic immigration spaces, i.e. through Express Entry or the PNP.

Multi-year allocations for PNP

These guidelines are also applicable to the newly approved multi-year plan for the PNP and the AIP. The new multi-year plan is akin to the Immigration Levels Plan, offering PT governments allocations for 3 years in advance, though these allocations can change. In contrast to the earlier one-year allocation system, this approach aids provinces in planning infrastructure, housing, healthcare, and settlement services for newcomers.

Moreover, it was revealed that PNP allocations had been increased by 44% for 2023.

Immigration Levels Plan

A new Immigration Levels Plan for 2024-2026 is likely to be released by November 1st of this year. The plan will set permanent resident admission targets for the next 3 years and influence Canada's immigration strategy. In the 2023-2025 plan, the PNP accounted for the highest number of planned PR admissions, beginning at 105,500 in 2023 and rising to 117,500 PNP admissions a year in 2025. Immigration Minister Marc Miller has signalled that he does not anticipate reductions in targets for the upcoming plan, and given the high existing targets and pressure from provincial governments, any revisions are likely to involve a rise in PNP admissions targets.

- Rajneesh Kumar