Provincial Nominee Program (PNP): Fast-Track Your Path to Canada PR
By Anne Lui, founder and principal consultant of Hopeway Immigration
I have been telling my clients that Canada’s Express Entry system is supposed to be the fastest pathway to obtain permanent residency. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada claims that they process 80% of their PR applications within 6 months. Yes, this is true, but perhaps only for those ranked at the very top with a perfect profile.
The Express Entry system is a highly competitive sports arena. In this game, every candidate is a player, competing with each other based on a points system designed by IRCC. The government draws candidates regularly from the pool. Only those who score above a certain cut-off point are invited to apply for permanent residence.
Currently, there are over 96,000 candidates in the pool who have a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Score higher than 450. If you score lower than that, it is almost impossible for you to get an Invitation to Apply within a year. You should also bear in mind that your Express Entry profile stays valid for one year only. Once it expires, you will be kicked out of the pool and need to reapply.
If this is a situation that you are in, you should seriously consider the various Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) offered by Canada’s provinces and territories.
Source: IRCC–CRS score distribution of candidates in the pool as of Oct 13, 2025
Why PNPs may help you get permanent residency faster?
The provincial nominee program (PNP) is for workers who can contribute their skills, education and work experience positively to a specific province and wish to settle there permanently. Even if you do not have a perfect CRS score under the Express Entry system, you can still be a great fit for one of the PNPs. This is because the specific province may be seeking global talent with the qualities you can offer.
Most PNPs offer both Express Entry and Non-Express Entry streams. Applicants with an active Express Entry profile who receive a nomination from a provincial government via the Express Entry stream of a PNP are awarded 600 additional CRS points. This 600-point bonus nearly guarantees an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Permanent Residence. Conversely, the Applicants who apply for a PNP’s Non-Express-Entry Stream will not receive 600 additional points for their Express Entry profile. Instead, they must apply directly to IRCC for PR as a member of the PNP Class once they obtain a province’s nomination.
In a nutshell, a provincial nomination will significantly cut down your waiting time in the Express Entry pool, or help you bypass the pool entirely to apply for PR directly with your nomination certificate.
Who will benefit the most from the Provincial Nominee Program?
You may have noticed that Canada’s Express Entry system favours candidates who are:
- young, i.e. from 20 to 29 years old,
- highly educated with at least a bachelor’s degree,
- have Canadian skilled work experience,
- and have strong language skills in English or French.
If you do not fall into this top-tier category, you should look for a PNP stream that acknowledges your strengths while overlooking your weaknesses.
Here are two scenarios that could benefit a lot from the Provincial Nominee Program:
Scenario I: Ali, a mid-aged Senior Manager who has high earning power but weak education credentials
When an applicant reaches the age of 45 or above, they immediately lose 110 points under the Express Entry system. If they do not hold a bachelor’s degree or two education credentials, their CRS score is likely to stay below 400, making it hard for them to ever get an ITA for PR.
However, if Ali applies through an employer-driven Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) stream (e.g. Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program Employer Job Offer–Foreign Worker or BC PNP Skilled Worker) , he may stand a strong chance for provincial nomination. This is because:
- These streams give no weight to age and only limited weight to education.
- Instead, they place emphasis mainly on:
- The applicant’s work experience.
- Their occupation category
- The wage level of the job offer.
- Their earning history.
In this case, he does not even have to spend time waiting in the Express Entry pool.
Scenario II: Bonnie, an international graduate who has Canadian education credentials but no skilled work experience
Bonnie is younger with Canadian education credentials which helps her earn a higher CRS score. But, she does not have 1 year of prior skilled work experience in TEER 0-3 jobs, that means she is not even eligible to enter the Express Entry System.
The good news is that many provinces have PNP streams customized to attract recent graduates. These streams focus on attracting graduates from post-secondary schools in the province who have valid job offers, even though they may not already have skilled work experience. Some examples are: Ontario’s Employer Job Offer–International Graduate Stream, BC’s International Graduate Stream and Manitoba’s International Education. These streams could help international graduates like Bonnie who have a qualified job offer to apply for PR directly
Still Have Queries, Feel Free to Reach us!
By now, you know that the Express Entry System is not an answer to all situations. Every applicant has their own unique circumstances and considerations that may require a different pathway to permanent residency.
At Hopeway Immigration, we assess your eligibility across all provinces. After this, we design a strategy that maximizes your chances of obtaining permanent residence in Canada. Do you feel lost among the hundreds of provincial nominee programs and streams available, and would like professional advice? Connect with us, a trusted immigration expert in Ontario. Book a Consultation with us today!
