The provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador recently made exciting announcement introducing exciting new immigration pathways through their provincial nominee program.

Planned for a launch on 2nd January, 2021 this pathway intends to attract “highly educated, highly skilled newcomers with specialized experience working in sectors such as technology”

In its existing nominee programs, the province requires the applicant to secure a job offer from an employer in Canada, in order to be able to apply for nomination.
However this new pathway is destined to attract the following:

• Masters and PhD degree graduates from Memorial University (studies completed within the last 3 years)
• Exceptionally qualified individuals who have worked in a specialized, highly skilled, high-demand occupation for atleast one year in the last 10 years.

While the program offers options for candidates who may not need to secure a job offer upfront, however at this time it benefits candidates who have prior degree from Memorial University or who has earlier worked in the province or who is eligible under the in-demand occupation and is currently working in a different part of Canada, but is willing to move to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Candidates meeting the eligibility criteria (which is to be announced) will be able to create an expression of interest on the NLPNP website to be invited to apply for nomination.
The list of in-demand occupations will be updated on regular basis, depending on the labour market priorities.

The initial in-demand list includes the following occupations:

Engineers and Developers:

• Software Developer
• Biomedical Engineer
• UI/UX Developer
• Electrical Engineer
• AI Developer
• Mechanical Engineer
• Python Developer
• .NET Developer
• Infrastructure Engineer

Technical Specialists:

• Security Specialist
• Cloud Specialist
• Bioinformatician
• Computer Network Support

Minimum acceptable language scores are CLB5 and the IELTS/CELPIP language tests should have been taken within the last 12 months.

Scenarios as quoted on NLPNP website:

Post-Secondary Graduate
Mashaal is 33 years old, from Jordan, and is completing a Master’s Degree in Computer Science at Memorial University. She will complete her degree program in January 2021. Mashaal has a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 in English, but currently does not speak or write in French. Her older brother has been living and working in St. John’s for six years. Through Priority Skills Newfoundland and Labrador, Mashaal appears to meet minimum criteria due to her academic background, and would be invited to submit a full application online through the NLPNP, and pending assessment, be nominated to apply through the Express Entry pool.

Candidates with Work Experience
Li is 29 years old, from Hong Kong, and has three years of work experience as a Software Engineer. He worked in Newfoundland and Labrador for two of those years, but had to return to Hong Kong for family reasons, and subsequently lost his employment. He has applied to a number of companies in the province, but has been told by a few employers that he would need to be living in Newfoundland and Labrador in order to be considered for jobs. Li has a CLB level 6 in English. Li’s occupation is considered in-demand, and Li would appear to meet Priority Skills Newfoundland and Labrador criteria, and would be invited to apply online for nomination under the Skilled Worker category of the NLPNP.

Aurelie is 37 years old, from Mauritius, and has been living in another part of Canada for six years, working as a Project Manager for a major Canadian IT company. She previously worked for two years as a Software Engineer. Aurelie has a CLB level 7 in English, and a level 7 in Niveau de compétence linguistique canadien (NCLC) in French. Through her work experience and language competencies, Aurelie appears to meet minimum criteria for Priority Skills Newfoundland and Labrador, and would be invited to submit a full application online through the NLPNP, and pending assessment, would be nominated to apply through the Express Entry pool.

More details about this exciting program will be posted as and when available.

#foreverhopeful

For official announcement, the link is here.