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Canada Provincial Nominee Programs or Canada PNPs allow the provinces and territories in the country to nominate candidates, who can contribute towards their economic and social development, for permanent residence. Canada PNPs have streams aligned to the Federal Express Entry system and through these streams, they select eligible candidates to nominate. Of late, more number of applicants are applying for Canada permanent residence through Canada PNPs.
But this has raised a serious challenge for provinces hosting provincial nominee programs. Many applicants nominated by a particular province move to another province after obtaining permanent residence in Canada. Quebec is the province worst hit by this trend. Quebec can select 50,000 newcomers under all categories, which means 20% of total admissions to Canada. But it could retain only a fraction of its applicants. Many other provinces including Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia also face the challenge of retaining its nominees.
Canada PNPs and mobility rights
Section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ensures to all permanent residents and citizens of the country the right to live and work in any province of Canada. As per this law, every citizen and permanent resident of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.
But new immigrants must remember that they cannot enjoy these rights until and unless their status of permanent residence is established. An important factor in this context is admissibility. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will check the admissibility of the candidates selected by the provinces. Admissibility of the candidate is again checked by the Canada Border Services Agency once the candidate lands at a Port of Entry (POE). This includes verifying the candidate’s intention to live in a particular province.
The candidate’s intentions to settle in the province that nominated them must be made clear at the POE in order to be admitted as permanent residence in Canada. If the candidate fail to convince the officials that they intend to reside in the nominating province/territory, they may be reported under section A44 (1) for non-compliance with paragraph 87(2)(b) of the IRPR. If, at worst, officials find out that the candidate never intended to reside in the nominating province or territory, it could lead to an allegation of misrepresentation, pursuant to paragraph 40(1)(a) of the IRPA.
But once admitted to Canada as permanent resident, a candidate becomes eligible to enjoy the mobility rights to live and work anywhere in Canada, ensured in the Canadian Charter. So, in short, the provinces that seek to attract immigrants are supposed to take measures to retain them.
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