Manitoba is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its pioneering Provincial Nominee Program, which has welcomed more than 130,000 immigrants since its inception in 1998.
The creation of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program, or MPNP, made the province the first in Canada to nominate newcomers for permanent residence through streams tailored to its economic needs and priorities.
Most Canadian provinces and territories have since followed Manitoba’s lead and now have a provincial nominee program, or PNP, of their own. The only province without a PNP is Quebec, which has a separate immigration agreement with Canada’s federal government.
Driving population and economic growth in Manitoba
Since the MPNP’s creation in 1998, immigration has been the main driver of the net positive population growth that Manitoba has experienced since 2006.
Source: MPNP
The province says its GDP would be 30 per cent lower today without the economic benefit of this immigration boom generated by the MPNP, and immigrants who entered the province through its Business streams have invested more than $308 million in the province.
According to the province, an impressive 90 per cent of immigrants are employed within their first year in Manitoba and around the same percentage stay in the province.
Innovation
Over the past 20 years, Manitoba has continued to fine-tune the MPNP, introducing a nomination stream for business immigrants in 2001 and adding new skilled worker streams in the years that followed.
This innovation culminated in 2017 with a complete overhaul of the MPNP in November. A key part of this renewal program was the division of its Skilled Worker Overseas program into two immigration sub-streams, including one aligned with the federal Express Entry system.
Introduced in 2015, Express Entry manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three main economic immigration categories — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.
Manitoba’s Express Entry Stream allows the province to nominate Express Entry candidates with a strong connection to Manitoba and work experience in an occupation that the province considers in-demand, among other criteria.
The MPNP has now issued 1,155 invitations to apply for a provincial nomination to eligible Express Entry candidates since the stream became active in January 2018.
In order to be considered for Manitoba’s Express Entry Stream, individuals must have a valid Express Entry profile and submit an Expression of Interest to the MPNP.