Canada's provincial immigration draws in Dec 2020 - A look-back

What a year 2020 has been! A year hijacked by COVID-19 and also a year that revealed the will-power, resilience, and determination of people to survive any odds. Countries like Canada has been taking the pandemic head on playing hard not to lose track and suffer setbacks that can threaten its future. Canada especially has walked that fine line between caution and carrying-on whereby Canada immigration was open for many international aspirants. That included foreign students and foreign workers.

The border restrictions imposed by Canada came to being in March 18, 2020. Even the US-Canada border was closed and only essential travel was allowed. The precautionary measures like compulsory 14-day quarantine of those arriving in Canada was made mandatory. The number of new Canada PRs came down considerably.

To counter the situation, exemptions were allowed for certain categories of travelers. Canada work visa holders for specific categories of jobs deemed essential were allowed entry into the country. International students were also allowed entry to study in Canada in DLIs that had a COVID-19 prevention plan.

With the efforts of the Canadian government to handle the situation, the Canadian provinces has been to a great extent able to find the required skilled manpower for its labor markets. The PNP draws were conducted regularly and they continued in December 2020.

Here’s a look at the PNP draws conducted in December 2020.

December 22, 2020 - British Columbia invites 230 new immigration candidates

The PNP draw conducted by British Columbia PNP invited candidates to apply for provincial nomination. These skilled candidates were however not invited to join 31 occupations that were excluded from the scope of this PNP draw.

The minimum score required for candidates under different BC PNP categories were as follows:

Skilled Immigration

• International Graduate – 95 points
• Skilled Worker – 95 points
• Entry-level & Semi-skilled – 77 points

EEBC

• International Graduate – 99 points
• Skilled Worker – 99 points

December 16, 2020 - Quebec invites 133 new immigration candidates

On December 16, 2020, Quebec issued 133 invitations in a draw conducted through the Arrima EOI. The candidates who were involved were those with a job offer from the province in hand.

December 15, 2020 – Ontario Entrepreneur Stream draw with 19 invitations issued

This was the 6^th draw of 2020 via Ontario’s Entrepreneur Stream. ITAs were issued to OINP candidates with a score between 140 and 200. Those who had submitted EOIs between November 19, 2020, and December 10, 2020, were fit to be considered for invitation in this draw.

December 17, 2020 – PEI issues 195 invites to new immigration candidates

PEI issued invitations to 195 skilled worker and entrepreneur candidates. Candidates were invited through the Express Entry, Labor Impact, and Business Impact streams of PEI PNP. The distribution of invitations was as follows:

• Express Entry/Labor Impact – 174 invites
• Business Impact – 21 invites

The Business Impact candidates required a minimum score of 85 to be eligible for an invitation.

December 17, 2020 – Saskatchewan invites 576 immigration candidates

In the EOI draw conducted by Saskatchewan on December 17, 2020, 576 invitations were sent via 2 streams of:

Occupations-in-Demand– 386 candidates ofthis stream received invitations. They required experience and skills in any of the 89 NOC listed jobs. The minimum score required was 71.

Express Entry -190 candidates of this stream received invitations. They required experience and skills in any of the 89 NOC listed jobs. They required a minimum score of 71 to be eligible.

December 17, 2020 – Manitoba issues 419 LAAs to new immigration candidates

Manitoba issued 419 LAAs to international students and skilled foreign workers. There were 3 MPNP streams involved:

• Skilled Workers in Manitoba – 329 LAAs
• Skilled Worker Overseas – 50 LAAs
• International Education – 40 LAAs

December 9, 2020 – Nova Scotia issues 36 invitations to immigration candidates

On December 9, 2020, Nova Scotia conducted 2 business immigration draws. The candidates targeted included candidates from:

• Entrepreneur stream – 4 invitations with minimum score 122
• International Graduate Entrepreneur – 2 invitations with minimum score 42

December 15, 2020 – British Columbia Tech Pilot Draw invited 92 new immigration candidates

The 92 candidates invited in this draw came from the categories of International Graduates and Skilled Workers. Candidates were invited via the streams of:

Skilled Immigration

• Skilled Worker
• International Graduate

EEBC

• Skilled Worker
• International Graduate

The minimum score for all sub-categories was 80.

December 15, 2020 – Ontario Immigration draw issues 668 NOIs

Ontario held a tech draw via its Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream. 668 candidates were invited in the draw. The invited candidates had scores between 460 and 468 CRS points. The draw targeted 6 technology jobs.

December 8, 2020 – British Columbia issues 256 invitations to immigration candidates

The 256 invitations were issued by BC PNP to candidates intended for select jobs. 31 occupations were excluded from the scope of the draw. The distribution of minimum scores for different categories the candidates belonged was as follows:

Skilled Immigration

• International Graduate – 95
• Skilled Worker – 95
• Entry-level & Semi-skilled – 77

EEBC

• International Graduate – 97
• Skilled Worker – 97

December 1, 2020 – Saskatchewan issues 564 invitations to immigration candidates

The EOI draw conducted by Saskatchewan on December 1, 2020, SINP issued 564 invitations. The candidates were chosen from 2 streams:

• Occupations In-Demand – 426 invites, minimum score 74
• Express Entry – 138 invites, minimum score 74

December 1, 2020 – British Columbia invites 68 candidates in Tech Pilot draw

The Tech Pilot draw invited candidates via 4 streams who required minimum scores as follows:

Skilled Immigration

International Graduate – 80

Skilled Worker – 80

EEBC

International Graduate – 80

Skilled Worker – 80

December 1, 2020 - British Columbia issues 11 invites to entrepreneurs

The Entrepreneur Immigration draw issued 11 invites to candidates from the general Entrepreneur stream. The minimum score required was 121.

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Note:

PR – Permanent Residence

DLI – Designated Learning Institution

PNP – Provincial Nominee Program

EEBC – Express Entry BC

EOI – Expression of Interest

ITA – Invitation to Apply

PEI – Prince Edward Island

LAA – Letters of Advice to Apply

NOI – Notification of Interest

SINP – Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program