Canada's Provincial Nominee Program, or PNP, is the route that lets provinces and territories pick candidates who match their local labour needs. Every province and territory except Quebec and Nunavut runs at least one PNP stream. If Express Entry is Canada's front door for skilled workers, the PNP is a set of side doors that often open at a lower score.
You apply to a province under one of its streams, usually based on a job offer, your work experience, or a connection to the region. If the province agrees that you fit, it issues a nomination. The nomination is not permanent residence by itself. You then submit a full PR application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for the federal security, medical, and admissibility checks.
Every PNP stream is either base or enhanced, and the difference matters.
A base stream runs outside Express Entry. You apply through the province's own portal, wait for the nomination, and then submit a paper PR application to IRCC. Base applications are typically slower, often a year or more on the federal side.
An enhanced stream is tied to Express Entry. You must already have an Express Entry profile, and a nomination adds 600 points to your CRS score. At current cutoffs that effectively guarantees an Invitation to Apply in the next round, and IRCC targets a six-month processing standard for the federal application.
A separate question is who starts the conversation. In active streams you apply directly to the province, often into an Expression of Interest pool it runs itself. In passive streams the province fishes candidates out of the federal Express Entry pool, usually by sending a Notification of Interest to profiles that match a target occupation or language need. Active and passive is orthogonal to base and enhanced: a stream can be any combination.
Each province and territory runs its own set of streams, with its own occupation lists, cutoffs, and draw cadence. The list below links to each program's official page.
| Province or territory | Program |
|---|---|
| Ontario | Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program |
| British Columbia | BC Provincial Nominee Program |
| Alberta | Alberta Advantage Immigration Program |
| Saskatchewan | Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program |
| Manitoba | Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program |
| New Brunswick | New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program |
| Nova Scotia | Nova Scotia Nominee Program |
| Prince Edward Island | PEI Provincial Nominee Program |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program |
| Yukon | Yukon Nominee Program |
| Northwest Territories | Northwest Territories Nominee Program |
Quebec is not part of the PNP. It runs its own immigration system, with skilled-worker candidates submitting an Expression of Interest through Arrima and, if selected, applying for a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ) before going on to the federal PR stage. The official starting point is Québec's immigration portal. Nunavut has no nominee program at all; there is no PNP stream that targets the territory directly.
Our post on Express Entry explains how the enhanced path connects to the federal programs, and the CRS score post covers how those 600 nomination points plug into the total. For the official source, read IRCC's PNP overview.
Ready to see where you stand on Express Entry before chasing a nomination? Try the free Express Entry eligibility checker and the CRS calculator.
