Under the Critical Worker Program, up to 10% of PNP applicants will be permitted in New Brunswick.
The New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot program (NBCWP), launched in November 2022, has generated a lot of attention from skilled immigrants looking for a route to enter Canada.
The program is an initiative of the federal government and the New Brunswick provincial government to bring in immigrants who can fill labor shortages in the region. The New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NB PNP) has an employer-driven stream. It has six active companies that have offices around the province and represent a broad spectrum of industries and sectors, which are:
- McCain Foods
- Cooke Aquaculture Inc
- Imperial Manufacturing Inc
- Groupe Westco
- J.D. Irving Ltd
- Groupe Savoie Inc
The New Brunswick government stated when the program first went live that these firms have been selected. The reason is they have a record of outstanding immigrant hiring practices and already have the essential settlement schemes in action. With frequent assessments, the pilot will operate for five years.
What makes it special from other programs?
Although the program relies on the NB PNP to seek out financial immigrants, approved NBCWP applicants will also obtain extra settlement assistance. Contributing companies have to show their capacity to deliver the following in order to guarantee candidates receive this aid:
- solid settlement strategies for accommodation and transportation, with a particular emphasis on long-term retention, to best assist the sustainable setup of candidates in their fresh careers and localities;
- thorough HR plan for hiring and managing eligible foreign employees in addition to cultivating abilities while working;
- candidates shall get no less than 200 hours of language learning as needed;
- give applicants suggestions and assistance if they decide to seek their Canadian secondary education equivalency.
Who is qualified to apply?
In order to be eligible for this program, the applicants must follow these rules.
- applicants must be able to prove their intention to live in a particular region.
- they have a legitimate work offer from an appropriate employer in order to be nominated.
- the compensation must be comparable with New Brunswick salary levels for the position in the job offer. According to the government, the salary listed on the job offer must:
- be equivalent to the pay received by employees performing comparable duties in New Brunswick who have the same degree of education and experience.
- fulfill your employer’s salary compensation policy properly.
Instead of going through the provincial government, program participants enroll directly with one of the program employers.
How significant is the program?
A total of 10% of New Brunswick’s overall Provincial Nominee Program will go towards the trial program. The preliminary achievement of the program, according to a spokeswoman for Opportunities New Brunswick (ONB), might translate into numbers hitting over 300 applicants and their households receiving aid through this trial in 2023.
The government is currently closely monitoring results because the program is still relatively new, according to ONB. It continues to be too early to provide any indicative figures at this time.
It is not anticipated that the program will grow to involve other employers for the time being. According to ONB, the pilot’s scope is still constrained, and as a result, it is not now accessible to a larger audience.
While there is a learning curve for everyone, participant employers have shown great enthusiasm for the Critical Worker Pilot, said ONB.
New Brunswick Immigration
ONB is confident that the pilot will keep operating to draw in highly qualified immigrants to the province.
The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) and the NB Strategic Initiative stream are just two of the immigration streams that New Brunswick has successfully piloted in the past, according to ONB.
“Like those earlier pilots, we see the Critical Worker Pilot as an opportunity to implement novel approaches to immigration for economic reasons, monitor the results in a controlled manner, allowing us to make adjustments along the way, learn from these attempts, and build on the successes we encounter,” said ONB.
Immigration has contributed to the population increase in New Brunswick in the past few years. According to statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association, New Brunswick’s population grew by 4,219 as an outcome of immigration in the final quarter of 2022. In comparison to the same timeframe in 2021, there was an upsurge of 116.8%.
Additionally, the province declared in April that it was granted a 67% boost in federal funding for immigration. According to the NB PNP and the Atlantic Immigration Program, the province will have 5,500 slots open for provincial economic immigration programs in 2023.