Visas & Advice Detail
Provincial Nominee Programmes (PNP)
The Skilled Worker categories of both the PEI and NL nominee programmes set out a broadly similar route to nomination
Skilled Worker Category: Comparisons
With the right skills or a job offer being the key to getting government backing for your immigration, once you have decided upon either Prince Edward Island (PEI) or Newfoundland & Labrador (NL) province as your intended new home in Canada, you should:
Complete the self-assessments available online.
If you score enough points (50 in both cases), you are encouraged to make an application; and
A case officer will then review your application and decide if you do indeed fit the bill.
As with all PNPs, the great advantage is that your permanent residence visa application could be processed within six months, as opposed to up to 36 months via the federal Skilled Worker programme.
However, a glance at the self-assessment forms for each province immediately reveals differences in terms of what factors you score points for and how many points you score for each.
PEI's Skilled Worker category is run on the same lines as the federal system: there are six factors – Education, Language, Experience, Age, Arranged Employment and Adaptability, for which a total of 100 points is available. However, unlike the federal system, which requires that you score 67 points in order to qualify, the PEI system requires only 50.
The same is true of the NL system, although in this case there are nine factors – the six listed above along with Occupation on Strategic Sector List, Spousal Employment and Personal Financial Resources. Indeed, it is only worthwhile applying for the NL PNP if your occupation is of the appropriate type.
In contrast, PEI Skilled Worker applicants should not submit the pre-assessment to a programme officer for review until they have a bona fide offer of employment from a PEI employer. The employment offered must be in their field of study and/or experience, and the employer must be able to prove they have been unable to fill the position after advertising provincially and nationally. Despite the additional three categories, the theoretical total for NL is also 100 points, but the points scored in each sector differ to PEI's, meaning that the same applicant is unlikely to score the same in both PNPs. For example, in the Education factor, while a Master's Degree or Ph.D and at least 17 years of full-time or full-time equivalent study will score you 25 points in PEI, you'll get just 20 in NL. This five-point differential is mirrored throughout every level of the Education factor, although if you don't score at least 20 points under the PEI Education factor, you are discouraged from applying.
NL PNP applicants will also score four points less under Language for high proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing in the first Official Language, while Work Experience will only score them a maximum of five points compared to the 21 offered by PEI. Therefore, the same applicant could have scored 24 points more in the PEI PNP in just three factors due to the different weighting of the points scored for each. Nonetheless, by virtue of having an Occupation on the Strategic Sector List, the NL applicant scores 15 points not available to the PEI applicant, five more if his or her spouse has an offer of confirmed employment in NL and one to five more for having finances of CDN$10,000–51,000 available for settlement, all factors – hence points – not available to PEI applicants.
It is also worth noting that although the total points available for Age are identical (ten), they are weighted differently, so those who are aged 21 or 46–49 at the time of the application will score fewer points in NL than PEI but those aged 53–55 will score more. These differences can, of course, make all difference between qualifying and falling short.
Immigrant Entrepreneur Programme: Comparisons
A comparable list of similarities and differences is apparent in the Immigrant Entrepreneur category, for which the qualification mark is 50 points. Both require Relevant Business Experience, a certain Net Worth, a minimum level of Investment in a New Business Start, a CDN$25,000 Good Faith Deposit (refundable after the conditions of the PNP have been met for 12 months), an Exploratory Visit of 3–5 days (including certain strategic meetings with the PNP departments) and the provision of a full Business Plan.
Nonetheless, while you can score up to 15 points for Relevant Business Experience in PEI, you can score up to ten only in NL, although for the latter you could also score up to 15 points for business experience that is consistent with the Strategic Sector List.
Further differences are as follows:
Net Worth: PEI = CDN$400,000;
NL = CDN$750,000 (with a minimum amount of liquid assets of CDN$350,000;
Investment in a New Business Start: PEI = CDN$200,000; NL = CDN$100,000–200,000 depending on where you invest; but
Eligible Business Activity: PEI = virtually any sector of the PEI economy; NL = those investing in sectors consistent with the Strategic Sector List will be given priority (and will score you ten further points), while some sectors are ineligible. Hence, while an electricians business might be an acceptable proposal in PEI, it will almost certainly not be for NL.
Therefore, as is the case with the Skilled Worker category, the same applicant in the Immigrant Entrepreneur category will score differently in the two PNPs. So, although Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador might both be Atlantic provinces, in some respects they are almost oceans apart.
For further information:
Prince Edward Island
Newfoundland & Labrador
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