Immigration is an area where jurisdiction is shared between the Federal and Provincial governments. As such, various provinces and territories of Canada, by agreement with the Federal government, have established their own immigration programs to nominate potential immigrant for Canadian permanent residency status. Once an Applicant has been nominated by a province/territory as a Provincial Nominee, the Applicant is assured of a prompt processing of his/her Application for Permanent Residence.

As such, various provinces and territories have established their own nominee immigration programs allowing them to “nominate” applicants for permanent residence in Canada, save for the province of Quebec  has the authority to establish its own “selection” criteria for economic immigration. The granting of residence status remains with the Federal Government. 

The PNP helped provinces reap the benefits of immigration and attract newcomers across Canada who were otherwise used to remain focused on settling down mostly in British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario. As such, PNP offered an equal opportunity to each province and territory to attract and retain skilled professionals offering skills that were suitable for the particular province. Currently, provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Nov Scotia, New Brunswick are actively participating in the PNP program and have welcomed thousands of newcomers.