Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program

Enhanced PNP streams are linked to Express Entry. When a province nominates you through an Enhanced stream, 600 CRS points are added to your Express Entry profile. 600 is the maximum additional-points total, and you can only receive it once.

IRCC has not held a general, all-program round since 2024. Recent rounds have been program-specific (Canadian Experience Class, PNP) or category-based. In 2026, rounds for nominated candidates cut off between 697 and 805 through the round of October 26, 2026, and those cut-offs already count the 600 nomination points (see the draw tracker).

An Invitation to Apply (ITA) is not a decision: an IRCC officer still decides the application. IRCC’s service standard for nominees through Express Entry is 180 days for 80% of complete applications, though actual times can run longer.

Base (non-Express Entry) PNP streams operate outside Express Entry. After receiving a provincial nomination, you submit a permanent residence application directly to IRCC rather than through the Express Entry pool. Processing is generally slower than the Express Entry route.

Base PNP does not require an Express Entry profile and may have different eligibility criteria than the Enhanced streams. A Base nomination does not add CRS points, because CRS only applies inside Express Entry.

The other three programs:

• Newfoundland and Labrador (NLPNP): Express Entry Skilled Worker, Skilled Worker, International Graduate, International Entrepreneur and International Graduate Entrepreneur.
• Northwest Territories (NTNP): the Employer-Driven Stream (Entry Level/Semi-Skilled Occupations, Skilled Worker, NWT Express Entry), the Business Stream and the Francophone Stream.
• Yukon (YNP): Yukon Express Entry, Skilled Worker, Critical Impact Worker and the Yukon Business Nominee Program.

• Ontario redesigned its program in 2026. The Ontario Workforce Priority stream, whose expression of interest portal opened on August 4, 2026, covers skilled workers with a qualifying Ontario job offer in any NOC occupation, plus eligible self-employed physicians who do not have a job offer. Applicants with a TEER 0 to 3 job offer, and physicians, can choose to be nominated through Express Entry.
• British Columbia set three priorities on April 23, 2026: Care (health care and other services in the care economy), Build (infrastructure and major projects, with priority for certified workers in 9 in-demand skilled trades) and Innovate (High Economic Impact invitations that target top talent in all sectors).
• Nova Scotia consolidated its streams in February 2026. It selects candidates from its own expression-of-interest pool through draws. A nominee applies to IRCC within 12 months of receiving the nominee certificate.
• The Northwest Territories program closed its 2025 intake, with a nomination cap of 300. To immigrate through it, you need either a job offer from an NWT employer or a business you will open, purchase or invest in there.