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Nova Scotia Skilled Worker Immigration

The Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) is a faster way to get permanent residency for skilled workers and professional entrepreneurs.

There were 3 categories under which candidates could apply. With effect from January 1, 2016, the province introduced two more streams under which candidates could apply for the program. Thus, the 5 streams are given as under:

Category 1: The Nova Scotia demand: express entry category

Category 2: Skilled Worker Immigration Stream,

Category 3: Family Business Worker Immigration Stream,

Category 4: Nova Scotia Entrepreneur Stream

Category 5: Nova Scotia International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream.

Under this program, Nova Scotia makes a distinction between the skilled, semi-skilled and low-skilled workers. According to Nova Scotia,

Skilled workers: the individuals working within NOC skill level O, A or B are the skilled workers. As these workers possess higher skilled occupation, they will be given higher priorities.

Semi-skilled workers: these workers are categorized under the NOC skill level C occupations. They are examined on the basis of local labor requirement in the market conditions. They can apply if they have work for 6 months with a Nova Scotia employer. Along with the application, it is mandatory that the workers submit an official language test result.

Low skilled workers: these workers have employment falling under the NOC level D. They are taken into consideration only if they qualify eligibility criteria. It is vital that the individual under this category has worked under Nova Scotia employer for at least 6 months. This employer should be a strong support for the worker for a successful application. Along with the application, it is mandatory that the workers submit an official language test result.

The Nova Scotia demand: express entry category

The Nova Scotia Office of Immigration advances its intrinsic Express Entry stream. This program does the selection of potential immigrants from federal express entry pool. It authorizes the province to select the applications without a sponsoring employer. Only those applicants are selected who have a good stand over education, required language, experience, and adaptability potential to settle in the province. They shall be able to contribute to the development of the economy. This nomination process takes places on a point basis. These points are given on the basis of following factors:

  • Education
  • Training
  • Required language skills
  • Work experience
  • Age
  • Sponsors or any connection in the province. (This includes family, employer, job offer, work experience, and education)
  • Only those applicants are taken into consideration that scores more than 67 points out of 100 according to the above-mentioned criteria.

Along with the point’s allocation criteria, the following requirements should also be fulfilled by the candidate:

  • The candidate must have at least 1-year work experience in the past 5 years from applying for immigration. This work experience should be present in the Nova Scotia opportunity occupation list.
  • The occupation that they expect to take up should be restricted as NOC Skill level O, A or B
  • The candidate should have the knowledge of Canadian language at least for carrying out the occupation smoothly. He should possess the minimum language proficiency of Canadian language benchmark (CLB) which is 7 or more depending on the requirement of the employers.
  • The applicant must be able to exhibit enough funds and resources if applied without a sanctioned job offer.
  • A maximum of 350 applications is accepted for the candidates who apply without employer sponsorship.
Nova Scotia Skilled Worker Immigration

This is an employer directed stream that helps the employers recruit immigrant workers with the necessary skills on a full-time basis. Thus, only those candidates can apply who possess the required skills demanded by the employers.

To apply under this stream, the candidates should meet the following conditions:

  • He should have an assured job offer from a Nova Scotia employer. This employer should have been disabled when looking for workers in the economy for this occupational field.
  • The applying candidates should satisfy the required minimum age, education and education ability.
Nova Scotia Family Business Worker Immigration

This stream focuses on family-owned businesses who give work to close relatives with required skills that could not be seen in any Canadian citizens or the permanent residents.

The applicant must meet the following requirements to apply for this program:

  • He should possess a full-time constant job offer by the Nova Scotia employer. This employer should necessarily be a close relative of the applicant who has an established business in the province.
  • The worker of the spouse should be connecting in a relation with the family business owner to the spouse of the owner. The family relations considered valid are as follows:
  1. Daughter or son
  2. Sister or brother
  3. Nephew or niece (kids of brother or sister)
  4. Uncle or aunt i.e., brother or sister of the parents
  5. Grandchild
  6. Step relative or half relative with the same degree

Nova Scotia PNP Processing times:

It takes approximately 2 months to process the completed applications. Nova Scotia has also introduced E-processing which means the applicants can apply for immigration through an online system.

Nova Scotia Entrepreneur Stream

This program is designed for candidates who wish to initiate or buy a business and permanently settle in Nova Scotia.

The experienced business owners, as well as the senior managers, are covered in this category. These applicants must attempt to live in the province and participate in the day to day management of the business. These applicants can work in the province only if they possess a valid work permit for at least one year prior to being nominated for permanent residency. The section works on the expression of interest strategy.

Nova Scotia International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream

This stream is open for all the graduates who have finished at least 2 years of their graduation. The minimum of 2 years of education should be a full-time study from any recognized Nova Scotia university or a Nova Scotia community college. They graduate should have conducted his own business in the province for at least one year. He should have the potential and is required to show his interest in settling permanently in Nova Scotia.

The Nova Scotia Entrepreneur program and the Nova Scotia International Graduate Entrepreneur program have come into existence from 1 January 2016 in the Nova Scotia immigration program.