Over one-third of economic immigrants to Canada arrived through the Provincial Nominee Program prior to the pandemic
The Provincial Nominee Program was first introduced 25 years ago to increase the settlement of economic immigrants outside Canada’s three largest cities and to address the workforce needs of employers. Over the years, the share of economic immigrants arriving through the program has risen from 1% in 2000 to 35% in 2019, when 68,000 nominees entered Canada, making it the largest selection program for economic immigrants nationally.