In 2024, Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) underwent significant changes.
PNPs are immigration pathways that allow provincial and territorial governments to select candidates that address labour market needs.
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In 2024, several provinces introduced updates or launched new streams within their Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs).
This article will break these changes down, by province.
| Province | Program | Summary of key changes |
| Alberta | PNP stream for tourism and hospitality | New stream announced. |
| Law enforcement pathway | New stream announced. | |
| Alberta Opportunity Stream | Paused between February and June. | |
| All worker streams | New expression of interest system for all AAIP worker streams. | |
| British Columbia | Entrepreneur Regional Pilot Program | Became permanent. |
| New International Graduate PNP streams | Three new streams to be announced in Jan 2025. | |
| Manitoba | West Central Immigration Initiative pilot | New pilot program launched. |
| New Brunswick | Express Entry Stream Skilled Worker Stream | Allocations for 2024 were reached early for multiple programs. |
| Northwest Territories | Northwest Territory Nominee Program (NTNP) | Exceeded its cap of 300 in July. |
| Nova Scotia | Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) | Pause on accepting applications from workers in the food and accommodation sector. |
| Ontario | Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) Employer Job Offer: International stream | Program started accepting applicants from any one-year Ontario College Graduate Certificate program. |
| Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream | Expanded to include more jobs. | |
| Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) | New process for those requesting internal review, has to be done via OINP e-portal. | |
| Saskatchewan | The Agriculture Talent Stream | New stream announced. |
| The Health Talent Stream | New stream announced. | |
| Yukon | Yukon Nominee Program | Move to an intake-based approach for applications, starting January 2025. |
Alberta
New Tourism and Hospitality Stream: In February, the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) introduced a new PNP stream for tourism and hospitality. Application targets for this new stream were met on June 12.
New Law Enforcement Pathway: On June 25, 2024, the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) announced a new Express Entry-aligned immigration pathway for those working in law enforcement. The law enforcement pathway allocated 50 nominations for PNP candidates in 2024.
Pause on applications for Alberta Opportunity Steam: In February, the province paused accepting applications for the Alberta Opportunity Stream so it could implement new guidelines to meet high demand. This resumed in June.
New Expression of Interest System: The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program also launched a new expression of interest system on September 30, 2024. The new system requires candidates interested in applying to one of the AAIP worker streams to submit a Worker Express of Interest. Candidates are then ranked according to the Worker EOI points grid, similar to Canada’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Prior to the implementation of this system, some streams assessed candidates in the order their applications were received.
British Columbia
Entrepreneur Regional Pilot Program becomes permanent: In June 2024, British Columbia (B.C.) made the Entrepreneur Regional Pilot Program a permanent fixture of their Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The program, now renamed as the Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) Regional Stream, gives eligible newcomers looking to start businesses within the province a pathway to permanent residency (PR).
New streams for international graduates: The province also announced that three streams will be open to eligible recent graduates from Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate programs in British Columbia (B.C.) in 2025. To prepare for the new streams, the last batch of ITAs for the International Graduate (IG) stream was issued on November 26th, 2024.
Manitoba
West Central Immigration Initiative pilot
On Friday, November 15, the Manitoba government announced a three-year pilot to address labour market shortages in the rural west-central region.
The West Central Immigration Initiative pilot will see the province collaborate with seven rural municipalities and Gambler First Nation.
The West-Central Immigration Initiative partners are
- Municipality of Russell-Binscarth;
- Rural Municipality of Yellowhead;
- Municipality of Roblin;
- Rural Municipality of Ellice-Archie;
- Rural Municipality of Riding Mountain West;
- Rossburn Municipality;
- Prairie View Municipality; and
- Gambler First Nation.
New Brunswick
There has been a lot of interest in New Brunswick’s PNP in 2024.
Express Entry Stream: On August 16, 2024, New Brunswick announced a pause in issuing new ITAs under the Express Entry Stream for the remainder of the year, having reached its full allocation for 2024.
Skilled Worker Stream: On August 29, 2024, the province paused issuing new ITAs under the Skilled Worker Stream for the rest of the year, as its allocation for 2024 had been reached.
As of November 15, the province also temporarily suspended the following pathways as allocations had been met:
- The New Brunswick Atlantic Immigration Program;
- The New Brunswick Private Career College Graduate Pilot; and
- The Exploratory Visit connection under New Brunswick Strategic Initiative,
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Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) food and accommodation sector: In April, the province announced that it would be putting a temporary pause on applications from workers in the food and accommodation sector who are seeking immigration through the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) due to high demand.
Northwest Territories
Northwest Territory Nominee Program
On July 22, Northwest Territories announced that it had exceeded its cap of 300 nominations for the Northwest Territory Nominee Program (NTNP), allocated by IRCC.
The 300 nominations were specifically for the Employer-Driven Stream and Francophone Stream. NWT continued to accept applications for the Business Stream.
Reaching the cap this early highlighted a growing interest in Canada’s north. For context, in 2023, the territory issued 139 nominations, 100 in 2022 and just 62 in 2021.
Ontario
Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) Employer Job Offer: International stream: On January 1, 2024, Ontario expanded the eligibility requirements for its (OINP) Employer Job Offer: International stream. With this change, the program started accepting applicants from any one-year Ontario College Graduate Certificate program. Prior to this, only those with a one-year credential that required a prior degree were eligible.
OINP Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream: In July, the province expanded the OINP Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream to include more jobs. The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development announced the addition of 35 National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes to the list of eligible jobs. This gave more workers the chance to receive Expressions of Interest (EOIs) under this stream.
OINP new internal review process: On August 26, the province announced a new process for those requesting Internal Review. Applicants now have to submit a request using the OINP e-filing portal. Requests by email, mail, fax or in-person are no longer accepted.
Entrepreneur Immigration Stream closed: On November 4, OINP formally closed its Entrepreneur Immigration Stream following a pause in application intake since December of 2023.
Full allocation limit for the year reached: The province reached its full provincial nomination allocation for 2024 by December 23. Ontario issued 21,500 nominations in 2024. New applications were accepted and considered under its 2025 allocation.
Crackdown on fraudulent immigration representatives: In November, the Ontario government announced plans to introduce legislation to crack down on fraudulent immigration representatives who exploit newcomers in the future. This is expected in 2025.
Saskatchewan
New PNP pathways: On August 30, the Government of Saskatchewan announced two new Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) pathways under the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) for newcomers.
These are
- The Agriculture Talent Stream; and
- The Health Talent Stream.
Yukon
New intake application process for the Yukon Nominee Program
In December of 2024, the government of Yukon announced its plans to move to an intake-based approach for applications to the Yukon Nominee Program (YNP).
YNP will accept a fixed number of applications with each intake, and once its cap has been reached, it will cease to accept applications. It will open for its first intake on January 29, 2025.
Prior to this, the YNP did not set intake periods or caps and would accept applications for nomination throughout the year.
Immigration Levels Plan announces scaling back of PNP admissions in coming years.
Announced in October, this year’s Immigration Levels Plan 2025-27 has cut targets for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) admissions by 50% in the coming years.
For 2025, the government allocated just 55,000 spots for PNP admissions. This is a huge drop from the targets announced in 2023, which was 110,000 for 2024, and 120,000 for 2025.
This reduction in PNP targets represents a significant shift in immigration policy on the part of the federal government.
It also means that those who planned on pursuing provincial nominations as a pathway to PR may find the PNP streams more competitive.
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