Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities

Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities is one of the streams of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP), a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), operated by the province of Nova Scotia. This stream is designed to target workers with experience in extremely high-demand occupations or those with proficiency in the province’s language priorities.

Aligned with the federal Express Entry system, successful applicants to the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities stream receive a 600 point boost to their Express Entry profiles, virtually guaranteeing them an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence. This stream selects candidates with work experience in extremely high-demand occupations or those with proficiency in the province’s language priorities. The program sometimes announces occupations in advance of an intake, but sometimes occupations are not announced and candidates are invited directly from the Express Entry pool.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities stream, applicants must be registered in the federal Express Entry pool. To submit a profile to the pool, applicants must be eligible for at least one of three federal Economic programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker requires candidates to have, at minimum, a high school diploma, as well as at least one year of continuous full-time, skilled work experience
• Canadian Experience Class has no minimum education requirement. CEC candidates must have a minimum of one year of full-time Canadian skilled work experience. This work experience does not have to be continuous, but it must have been obtained within the three years prior to application.
• Federal Skilled Trades has no minimum education requirement. FST candidates must have at least 2 years of full-time work experience in a skilled trade occupation. Candidates must also have either an offer of employment to work in a skilled trade in Canada or a certificate of qualification in their skilled trade issued by a Canadian authority.

Sometimes the province specifically selects candidates with high French-language proficiency. However, this is not always the case. Candidates for this stream must meet the minimum language proficiency and education requirements of their Express Entry program.

The program often requires applicants to have work experience in a specific occupation. Eligible occupations change regularly and are announced by the province. Candidates for this stream must meet the minimum work experience requirements of their Express Entry program.

Application Procedure

The Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities stream operates on an invitation only basis. To apply to the stream, candidates who meet the minimum eligibility requirements must create an Express Entry profile. They must then wait to be issued a Letter of Interest (LOI) from Nova Scotia. If the candidate is selected, the LOI will be issued directly to their IRCC account, linked to their Express Entry profile. After receiving an LOI, the candidate must prepare and submit an application to Nova Scotia.

If the province approves the application, Nova Scotia will notify the applicant they have been selected for provincial nomination. This notification will be sent to the applicant’s IRCC online account. After accepting the provincial nomination, the applicant’s CRS score will increase by 600 points, virtually guaranteeing they will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in the next Express Entry draw.

After receiving an ITA, the applicant must prepare and submit an official application for Canadian permanent residence within the designated time frame. Applications for permanent residence submitted through Express Entry are generally processed within six months.