Canada Targets Specific Occupations Skilled Workers In Provincial Nominee Programs

Potential applicants with work experience in any skilled occupation may be invited to apply for Canadian Permanent Residence through Canada’s Express Entry System. Experience in a specific line of work can be an advantage at the provincial level.

Canada offers federal and provincial economic immigration pathways each having its own unique work experience criteria. The Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trade Class, and Canadian Experience Class are three of Canada's main federal pathways to permanent residence. The Express Entry's Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) determines a candidate’s position in the pool that considers only full-time, or equivalent part-time, work experience and ‘skilled occupation’.

Eligible occupations are those that are rated as skill type 0 (managerial), skill level A (professional) or skill level B (technical) under Canada National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Provincial Nominee Programs:

The provinces require work experience in a specific occupation by a number of provincial nominees streams some of which are also linked to the Express Entry system. The streams allow participating provinces and territories to nominate overseas workers having required work experience for Canadian permanent residence.

The express entry applicants with successful provincial nomination are awarded an additional 600 points towards their CRS score effectively guaranteeing an invitation to apply for Canada Permanent residence.

These lists are based on current labour market needs and opportunities in the respective province and below mentioned are some popular examples of provincial nominee streams that required specified work experience:

• Alberta offers Alberta Opportunity Stream
• British Columbia has Tech Pilot
• Manitoba offers Skilled Worker Overseas
• New Brunswick invites applicants through Express Entry labour Market Stream
• Ontario- Employer Job offer: In-Demand Skills Stream

The professions targeted in these lists may vary but some of the popular occupations that are mostly targeted are:

• Accounting Technicians and bookkeepers (NOC 1311)
• Administrative assistants (NOC 1112)
• Computer programmers and interactive media developers (NOC 2174)
• Social and community service workers (NOC 4212)
• Early childhood educators (NOC 4214)

Tech Occupations:

British Columbia’s dedicated Tech Pilot is an example of the growing prioritization of tech-related occupations in Canada. The tech pilot stream offers 29 in-demand tech occupations that require skilled workers to fill the labour shortages.
Also, Ontario recently announced that it will create a dedicated immigration stream for tech workers but no details have been released for its criteria and specific occupation that will be targeted.

Canadian Provinces also conducted Occupation-Specific draws:

There were many provinces that conducted occupation-specific draws.

Nova Scotia Express Entry linked Labour Market Priorities stream allows the province to search the Express Entry pool for candidates with the required work experience. Since its inception, Nova Scotia has targeted draws for early childhood educators and assistants and financial auditors and accountants.

The province also accepted profiles having experience in specific occupations through it's Express Entry Labour Market Stream under Nova Scotia Nominee Program.

New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program has also employed a list of specified occupations that targeted a range of tech-related positions among other professions.

Therefore, Provincial Nominee Programs allow skilled and qualified workers to settle in the particular province for an indefinite period of time to contribute towards their growing economy. Every province has its own unique programs. Contact our immigration experts to know which province suits you the best by filling the Canada Immigration Assessment form.

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