November 28, 2017
New streams and pathways for Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program
On 15 November 2017, Manitoba government announced that the province’s Provincial Nominee Program will be restructured to provide new pathways to permanent residence for international students and entrepreneurs.
In accordance with declarations made by the Manitoba Education and Training Minister, Ian Wishart, the province is clearing the application backlog and providing better services to the applicants while making the program more user friendly. The next step of revamping the Manitoba PNP will represent the addition of new pathways to permanent residence.
Additionally, the province has reached an agreement with the Federal government to expand the PNP program by adding four new application streams:
- international education;
- skilled worker in Manitoba;
- skilled worker overseas; and
- business investor.
The new International education stream will come into effect in April 2018, and will facilitate faster nomination pathways for graduates of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs who are completing internships that support industry innovation. In accordance with the announcement made by the province, post-secondary international student graduates from colleges and universities in Manitoba who find longer-term employment in an in-demand occupation consistent with their training will no longer have to work for six months before applying to the MPNP. To find the in-demand occupation list, please click here.
Further, the Skilled Worker in Manitoba Stream has been divided in two pathways:
- the Manitoba Work Experience Pathway, and
- the Employer Direct Recruitment Pathway. To learn more about these pathways, click here.
Current temporary foreign workers in the province – Skilled Worker in Manitoba stream– with strong labour market attachments to Manitoba employers will continue to represent a priority in the skilled worker in Manitoba stream. Also, the province will expand the employers’ recruitment partnerships adding more accessible ways for regional and Winnipeg-based employers to recruit and retain permanent immigrant workers graduating from training programs in Manitoba.
Under the upgraded Skilled Worker Overseas stream a new pathway to nominate qualified applicants for the federal express entry program will be implemented. The new stream will give priority to candidates with close family connections in Manitoba and spouses who have the language proficiency, training and experience to quickly find in-demand jobs. To read more, click here.
The new Business Investor stream will give preference to candidates who start a business within the first 12 months of their arrival in the province, especially the investors who open businesses outside of Winnipeg. Under this category, the applicants are allowed to secure a work permit based on their business plan. Pursuant to the Manitoba Minister’s announcement, effective immediately, the applicants in this stream are no longer required to submit a deposit to the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program. However, the candidates under this stream are required to sign a “performance agreement” undertaking to purchase an existing business or to start their own. Upon signing the performance agreement, the MPNP will provide the candidates with a support letter for their temporary work permit. To read more, click here.