Prince Edward Island
The Province of Prince Edward Island welcomes newcomers wishing to embrace the opportunities presented by living in Canada’s smallest province. As the birthplace of Canada, Prince Edward Island has a long and proud history of welcoming newcomers who have gone on to become some of our greatest leaders, entrepreneurs, trades people and artisans.
There are strong social, economic and strategic reasons for pursuing greater immigration. Enhanced promotion of immigration is playing a significant role in the Province of Prince Edward Island’s strategic direction enabling our immigration system to be more flexible and responsive to our labour market needs.
With the introduction of the Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP) in 2001, the province has taken a leadership role in setting its own immigration criteria and objectives. Under the Agreement for Canada-Prince Edward Island Co-operation on Immigration, the PEI PNP is a Federal-Provincial partnership between the Province of Prince Edward Island, represented by Immigration Services, and the Government of Canada, represented by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Through this program Immigration Services has the ability to nominate individuals to CIC. CIC has the final authority to issue a permanent resident visa. The PEI PNP is responsible for the majority of all international newcomer entries to Prince Edward Island.
The program nominates individuals it deems likely to make a positive contribution to the province. Applicants are assessed on criteria set by Immigration Services within the Labour Impact and Business Impact Categories. The PEI PNP establishes nomination targets for each category under the program based on the province’s priorities.
Review all the streams under the two categories of the PEI PNP to determine which stream works for your situation.
Business Impact Category
The Province of Prince Edward Island is interested in building a better, brighter future for all; including both Islanders currently residing within the province and newcomers alike. Newcomers comprise a significant portion of both our current and proposed future growth. Our recently released Island Prosperity Strategy sets out the course of action that we plan to pursue to grow the economy of this great province. In the strategy it states “Our province’s destiny will be determined by the choices we make today. We simply must take advantage of our place in the world in a way that will propel us forward to a new position on the national and global stage.”
The Business Impact Category provides the opportunity for foreign nationals to be nominated by Prince Edward Island to become permanent residents of Canada providing they invest in and actively manage a business in Prince Edward Island. The Business Impact Category is looking for interested businesspersons who can demonstrate vision, leadership and determination. Together with a growing population and economy, we are confident that a choice to invest in and operate a business in Prince Edward Island will serve not only the interests of the business person themselves but the entire province at large.
Learn more: Business Impact Category
Labour Impact Category
The Labour Impact Category focuses on the ever changing labour market needs of Prince Edward Island’s innovative and primary industries. While Prince Edward Island’s labour force is quite small and many industries are seasonal, labour market gaps are a reality and finding new employees, within Canada, who have the right skill sets, can be a challenge for many Prince Edward Island businesses.
The Labour Impact Category facilitates and provides opportunity for Prince Edward Island businesses and potential new employees from outside of Canada, who have the right skill set to immigrate, work and settle in Prince Edward Island.
Learn more: Labour Impact Category