Provincial Nominee Program: Skilled Immigrants

Port Coquitlam Dept: The federal government announced on Monday an expansion of the Provincial Nominee Program, under which immigrants with skill sets the province deems desirable, or those most likely to invest and create jobs, are able to have their permanent-resident applications fast-tracked. The program is jointly run by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and B.C.'s Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, according to Vancouver Sun. B.C.'s share of the immigration pie for 2012 is still being negotiated by the two levels of government, but 4,900 provincial nominees became permanent residents in 2010, accounting for 11 per cent of total immigration to the province. The number for 2012 is likely to exceed 5,000, said federal Heritage Minister and MP for Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam James Moore, who made the announcement in Vancouver on behalf of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and b.C. is about to get a bigger say in what kinds of skilled immigrants the province will take in each year. Nationally, the number of provincial nominees will increase to between 42,000 and 45,000 next year from a projected 40,000 this year. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.