Backgrounder - Canada-New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Agreement

The Provincial Nominee Program allows provinces to play a more direct role in selecting immigrants with specific skills that will contribute to the local economy.

Regulations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act establish a provincial nominee class, allowing provinces and territories that have agreements with Citizenship and Immigration Canada to nominate individuals for immigration based on their ability to become economically established in Canada. Nominees must meet federal admissibility requirements, such as those related to health, criminality and security. The Government of Canada retains the right to make the final selection decision.

The first five-year Canada-New Brunswick Agreement on Provincial Nominees was signed in February 1999. It was extended for one year while the terms of the new agreement were finalized. The new agreement does not have an expiry date, but will remain in effect indefinitely. The new agreement provides New Brunswick with a mechanism to increase the economic benefits of immigration to the province, based on its industrial and economic priorities and labour market conditions.

The agreement allows New Brunswick to nominate immigration candidates whose presence in New Brunswick will contribute to the province’s growth and vitality. The dependants of provincial nominees are also admitted to Canada under the agreement.

The new agreement will require New Brunswick to provide a nomination strategy to Canada to identify target markets and potential source countries and regions, and will include a joint evaluation framework. The evaluation will assess New Brunswick’s recruitment strategies, analyse the extent to which the nominees have benefited New Brunswick’s industrial and economic development, and evaluate how successfully the nominees have established themselves in New Brunswick.

The Government of Canada also has provincial nominee agreements in place with Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Yukon.