PEI Targets Skilled Worker And Entrepreneur In New Expression Of Interest Draw

Prince Edward Island immigration will carry out a new draw through PEI’s Expression of Interest system on Thursday, September 19. The draw essentially targets skilled worker and entrepreneur immigration applicants via the Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program’s Labour Impact, Business Impact, and Express Entry categories.

PEI launched its Expression of Interest system at the beginning of 2018 and has made monthly rounds of draws ever since.

In the eight draws held thus far in 2019, Prince Edward Island has invited 1,065 candidates, including 922 through the Express Entry/Labour Impact streams and 143 through the Business Impact category.

PEI PNP Immigration Draws targets skilled worker and entrepreneur 2019

Date	Category	Number of Invitations Issued	Minimum Score
15-08-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	133	N/A
	Business Impact	10	112
18-07-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	118	N/A
	Business Impact	17	112
20-06-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	106	N/A
	Business Impact	7	112
16-05-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	90	N/A
	Business Impact	14	107
18-04-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	113	N/A
	Business Impact	17	107
21-03-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	131	N/A
	Business Impact	19	110
21-02-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	170	N/A
	Business Impact	29	117
17-01-2019	Labour Impact/Express Entry	61	N/A
	Business Impact	30	120

PEI sent out a sum of 1,446 invites during 2018, the first year it launched an Expression of Interest system.

Of these, 1,240 was allotted to Labour Impact and Express Entry applicants, with the remaining 206 going to Business Impact applicants.

The largest draw occurred on October 18, 2018, when 297 applicants were invited.

Prince Edward Island Express Entry Stream

PEI’s Express Entry system operates by considering people already in the federal Express Entry Pool for a provincial nomination.

Such a nomination adds an extra 600 points to an applicant’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score and practically guarantees an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence.

The PEI Express Entry Category operates two pathways to Canadian immigration, one for candidates with a valid job offer and one for those without.

Prince Edward Island Labour Impact Category

1) Skilled Worker Stream

This employer-driven stream enables skilled workers with a job offer in Prince Edward Island to be nominated for Canadian Permanent residence if they fulfill the following conditions:

• A full-time job offer from a PEI business in an occupation listed as skill level “0”, “A” or “B” of the National Occupational Classification (NOC);
• Completion of a post-secondary education (colleges or universites), with at least fourteen (14) years of formal education;
• Between twenty-one (21) and fifty-five (55) years of age;
• At least two (2) years of full-time work experience in the past five (5) years;
• Good proficiency in English or French to occupy the positioned offered;
• Sufficient settlement funds;
• Demonstrated intention to live in Prince Edward Island.

2) Critical Worker Stream

This stream is created to tackle labour shortages and is open to foreign workers already in PEI with employment in a particular critical demand occupations. The main criteria for nomination are:

• A full time job offer from a PEI business in one of the following occupations:
  Customer service representative; Food & beverage server; Truck driver; Labourer; Housekeeping attendant.
• Six (6) months of relevant work experience with the PEI business offering employment;
• An approved Canadian work permit;
• High school diploma and minimum of twelve (12) years of formal education;
• Between twenty-one (21) and fifty-five (55) years of age;
• At least two (2) years of full-time relevant work experience in the last 5 years;
• Demonstrate basic proficiency in French or English language;
• Enough settlement funds;
• Demonstrated intention to live in PEI province.

P.E.I Business Impact Category

Work Permit Stream

Applicants filing under the P.E.I. Work Permit Stream must get a Canadian work permit and work for a Prince Edward Island business for a certain amount of time as required in a Performance Agreement.

After the Performance Agreement is met, the applicant must make a minimum $150,000 investment in the business and commit to running the business on a day-to-day basis from within P.E.I.

Initially, Prince Edward Island managed direct permanent residence business streams, but these were stopped in September 2018 over immigration fraud concerns.