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How Newfoundland and Labrador chooses immigrants, the Newfoundland and Labrador streams our report checks, what changes if you already live, study or work in Canada, and what life is like in its main cities.
Photo: Natulive Canada(opens in a new tab), CC BY-SA 4.0(opens in a new tab), cropped
To move to Newfoundland and Labrador for good, one route is the province's own immigration program, the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP). The province nominates people, which means recommending them for permanent residence (PR, the right to live in Canada for good). You then apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the federal immigration department, which decides your application after checking your eligibility, your funds and whether you are admissible to Canada.
The NLPNP aims to attract people who can boost the province's economy and settle permanently, and its worker categories rest on a job: the Skilled Worker page asks for a full-time job or job offer from an eligible employer in the province, for at least 30 hours a week and at least a year, with a reasonable expectation of extension.
Yes. Newfoundland and Labrador runs the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP), a provincial nominee program: the province chooses (nominates) people it wants, and the federal government then decides on their permanent residence, the status that lets you live and work in Canada with no time limit.
Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP)A stream is one route within a program, with its own rules. Our report checks 5 Newfoundland and Labrador streams against your answers.
NLPNP Express Entry Skilled Worker
For people who have a profile in Express Entry, Canada's online system for skilled workers, and a full-time skilled job offer from an eligible Newfoundland and Labrador employer.
NLPNP International Entrepreneur
For experienced business owners or senior managers who have enough personal wealth, plan to live permanently in Newfoundland and Labrador, and will invest in and run a business there.
For graduates on a work permit for recent graduates with a full-time job offer in Newfoundland and Labrador; those who studied elsewhere in Canada must have worked there before applying.
NLPNP International Graduate Entrepreneur
For graduates of Memorial University or College of the North Atlantic who own and run a business in Newfoundland and Labrador while on a work permit for recent graduates.
For workers with a full-time job offer from an eligible Newfoundland and Labrador employer, at any skill level, who have the qualifications the job requires.
Since February 2025, the province has picked economic immigrants in two stages. First you submit an expression of interest (EOI), a brief online form about your occupation, education and plans to live in the province. The Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism (OIM) reviews EOIs and sends invitations to apply in batches through the year. The EOI overview says an invited person has a limited number of days to send a complete application, and that an EOI never picked expires after 12 months.
The province's EOI questions and answers add two rules. As a worker or graduate, you must have a job or job offer from an employer in the province, and an EOI without one will not be considered for an invitation. Invitations are not a lottery: OIM issues them according to its published prioritization criteria.
In criteria dated 23 March 2026, the province said health and health-related occupations continue to receive strong priority. It added that rural and regional jobs, graduates of the province's own institutions whose skills fit priority sectors, and people likely to stay long term may also be prioritized.
The candidate questions and answers say a nomination certificate is valid for 6 months, and that you may request an extension. Our guide to provincial nominee programs shows how a nomination leads to a PR application.
The Express Entry Skilled Worker category is for people accepted into Express Entry, IRCC's online pool of skilled workers, and it also asks for at least 67 points on the NLPNP's own point assessment grid. IRCC adds 600 points for a nomination made through Express Entry, and our Express Entry guide explains the ranking.
A Job Vacancy Assessment (JVA) is the province's own labour market test. Its page says it helps employers identify their labour force challenges and judge their need to recruit international workers for permanent, full-time positions. Among other conditions, the employer must be established and operating in the province, and the pay must meet the prevailing wage for the occupation in its region. The employer must also describe the settlement support it will offer, such as housing or job connections for a spouse, and the position is not eligible if the worker would own more than 10 per cent of the business.
The Skilled Worker page says you need an employer with a valid JVA only if you do not hold a valid work permit or other federal authorization to work in that position.
Here, one EOI system serves both programs. The EOI overview says an invitation lets the person, or their employer, submit a full application to either the NLPNP or the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), the federal route to PR for skilled workers and recent graduates of Atlantic Canadian colleges and universities.
The AIP works through employers that the province has designated. The EOI questions and answers say an AIP candidate needs an invite code from their employer to submit an EOI, and when one is invited, the designated employer is notified and starts the endorsement application. If the province endorses the candidate, the AIP workers page says the candidate, their spouse and their children can apply to IRCC for PR, and may also be eligible for temporary work permits.
Register with the Medical Care Plan (MCP), the province's public medical care insurance: every person living in the province must register to become a beneficiary. For driving, the province's licence application page says drivers from the United States or a country with a reciprocity agreement can exchange their licence without a written, vision or road test, while drivers from all other countries must pass all three and join the graduated licensing program. OIM's settlement overview points to resources for everyday needs such as language, housing and banking, and IRCC's Find free newcomer services near you tool finds funded settlement services, if you are eligible.
Having lived in the province may count in your favour. The province's prioritization criteria dated 23 March 2026 name previous residence in Newfoundland and Labrador as one sign that a candidate is likely to stay long term, which the section on how the NLPNP picks people above lists as a priority. If you already hold a work permit for your job, the section on Job Vacancy Assessments above explains when that assessment is not needed.
Applying from inside Canada brings a deadline of its own: the Skilled Worker page asks for valid immigration status and a permit with at least four months left when you apply, so start well before your permit runs low.
The province's graduate categories rest on a post-graduation work permit (PGWP), the work permit that graduates of certain Canadian colleges and universities can get from IRCC to work after they finish. The International Graduate category asks for a valid PGWP with at least four months left and a full-time job or job offer from an employer in the province, related to your field of study, with some exceptions for graduates of Memorial University or College of the North Atlantic. The Skilled Worker page adds that a PGWP holder cannot apply in that category.
The International Graduate Entrepreneur category is only for graduates of those two institutions who want to run a business here, and among its conditions you must have owned and actively managed a local business for a full year. The section on how the NLPNP picks people lists the province's own graduates among its March 2026 priorities, and the Atlantic Immigration Program section covers recent graduates of Atlantic Canadian schools.
Moving here, you still need a job or job offer in the province for a worker or graduate EOI, as the section on how the NLPNP picks people says. If you graduated from a recognized public college or university elsewhere in Canada, the International Graduate page also asks for a job or job offer directly related to your field and at least a year of work in the province before you apply.
MCP, the health plan in the first-steps section, leaves you on your old province's plan if you stay under a year. To join it:
Exchange your licence within three months of becoming a resident, by appointment; the licence page says one from another province or territory needs no written, vision or road test.
These federal programs run only in some provinces or communities, and Newfoundland and Labrador is one of them.
For skilled workers and graduates of Canadian colleges and universities with a job offer from a province-approved employer in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland and Labrador.
Atlantic Immigration Program: official page
Photo: Shhewitt(opens in a new tab), CC BY-SA 4.0(opens in a new tab), cropped
Population: 110,525 (Statistics Canada, 2021 Census)
St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, is not Saint John in New Brunswick. The City of St. John's says it began as a fishing outpost because of its sheltered harbour and closeness to rich North Atlantic fishing grounds, and has grown into a key service hub for the offshore oil and gas industry. It is also home to the seat of the provincial government, and it keeps Newfoundland Standard Time, half an hour ahead of Atlantic Standard Time.
Memorial University has its St. John's Campus here, with a full range of academic programs and the university's administrative hub, and its Marine Institute is also in the city. College of the North Atlantic calls its Prince Philip Drive Campus a flagship campus in St. John's.
The province's prioritization criteria, dated 23 March 2026, say EOIs for sales and service jobs connected to the St. John's metro area may receive lower priority when program usage is already high.
The City's site describes the St. John's Local Immigration Partnership, set up in 2015 to help newcomers take part in all aspects of life in the city. It holds a newcomer event each fall, the My New St. John's Expo.
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