3 FAQs About New Brunswick’s Expanded PNP Skilled Worker Stream
Published:
March 19, 2021
Author(s):
Recently, New Brunswick temporarily broadened the eligibility for its Skilled Worker Stream through its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), opening this path to Permanent Residency up to international graduates on a federal post-graduate work permit who work in Skill Level D (NOC D) positions. The move responds to the ongoing travel restrictions the COVID-19 pandemic poses by focussing on offering temporary foreign workers already in N.B., rather than applicants outside of Canada, the opportunity to transition to Permanent Residency. This could boost the number of new Permanent Residents in N.B. in 2021 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The move will also help certain N.B. employers that rely on temporary foreign workers for labour positions, such as those in the Construction, Agriculture, and Seafood Processing sectors.
In response to the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has created, Canadian federal and provincial governments have introduced a number of public policy measures and provided unique pathways to Permanent Residency, opening doors for many individuals who might otherwise not have been eligible. For example, the federal government has implemented a number of temporary immigration policies to make it easier for both prospective employers to hire foreign workers in Canada, and for foreign workers already in Canada to work. Similarly, Newfoundland and Labrador recently introduced its new Priority Skills NL stream through its PNP. Following suit, New Brunswick has expanded its applicant pool through temporary changes to its PNP.
Here are the answers to three questions that international graduates on a federal post-graduate work permit who work in Skill Level D (NOC D) positions and their employers are asking about the temporary changes.
1. What are the temporary changes?
The province of New Brunswick has implemented temporary measures to allow applications from eligible individuals working in NOC D positions. In ordinary times, international graduates on a federal post-graduate work permit who work in Skill Level D (NOC D) positions aren’t eligible to apply for New Brunswick’s Skilled Worker Stream under the NB PNP. These positions include labour jobs that often provide on-the-job training, such as cashiers, cleaning staff, food counter attendants, and grounds maintenance labourers, as well as construction trades helpers and labourers, public works and maintenance labourers, fruit and vegetable harvesting and picking labourers, and fish and seafood processing labourers.
2. Who is eligible to apply?
To be eligible, applicants must meet each of these requirements:
- Meet the eligibility criteria of the N.B. Skilled Worker stream.
- Be a graduate of a New Brunswick designated post-secondary institution.
- Hold a federal Post-graduation work permit that was issued upon graduation from that N.B. institution.
3. When is the deadline to apply?
Interested individuals must submit their application on or before April 30, 2021.
Please contact your McInnes Cooper lawyer or any member of our Business Immigration Law Team @ McInnes Cooper to discuss this topic or any other legal issue.
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