Should Provinces Have Full Control Over Provincial Nominee Program Assessments?

Official title: Seeking feedback on regulatory amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR)

Closed Regulations & Permits Immigration
Right now, both provinces and the federal government assess Provincial Nominee Program applicants—creating duplicate work. This proposal would let provinces handle eligibility assessments alone, while Ottawa focuses only on security and admissibility checks. The goal? Faster processing for the 48,000 people who apply through PNP each year.

Why This Matters

Applied through a Provincial Nominee Program? This could speed up your wait. Right now, both your province and Ottawa review the same things—your ability to settle economically and your intent to stay in that province. Cutting that duplication means faster decisions for nearly 50,000 applicants annually.

What Could Change

Provinces would become solely responsible for assessing applicants' economic establishment ability and intent to reside. IRCC would no longer duplicate these assessments—focusing only on admissibility (security, health, criminality). The change could save the government about $337,000 over 10 years and reduce processing time for applicants who currently face procedural fairness letters.

Key Issues

  • Should provinces have sole responsibility for assessing applicants' ability to economically establish in Canada?
  • Should provinces have sole responsibility for assessing applicants' intent to reside in the nominating province?
  • Should IRCC lose the authority to substitute a province's assessment of economic establishment ability?

How to Participate

  1. The comment period for this consultation has closed. Comments were accepted until March 24, 2025.