Nova Scotia Denies Processing Selected Applications for Provincial Nomination
The Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program (NS PNP) has announced updated priorities for 2025 and 2026, focusing on skilled workers in the healthcare, social assistance, and construction sectors. This shift comes amidst reduced allocations for the PNP and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) due to a 50% reduction in federal funding.
In light of the reduced allocations, the NS PNP has received more applications than it can process in 2025. As a result, the program will prioritize applications from people who are already living and working in the province, with work visas expiring in 2025.
For applicants outside Canada in 2025, skilled workers in the priority sectors will be given top priority. This includes healthcare, social assistance, and construction. Most other international applications from non-priority sectors will not be processed this year.
The federal government notified PNPs, including the NS PNP, of the allocation cuts in January 2025. Nova Scotia's allocation for its PNP and the AIP was reduced from 6,300 in 2024 to 3,150 in 2025.
The update also provides guidance on priority applications for 2026. For the upcoming year, the province plans to prioritize those working in Canada in healthcare, social assistance, and construction, whose permits are expiring in the same year.
The NS PNP will make exceptions for employers in the Atlantic Immigration Program hiring in the sectors of trucking, science and technology, clean energy, and resource development. However, specific details regarding which kinds of applications or proposals the province will prefer in the future remain unclear.
Similarly, other provinces such as British Columbia and Ontario have paused certain streams and made changes to program eligibility and application processes in the first half of 2025. Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have been able to increase their 2025 nomination allocations in exchange for agreeing to accept asylum claimants, humanitarian migrants, and refugees.
The NS PNP's update on priorities was published on its website on July 16, 2025, aligning with the federal government's halving of the PNP landings target from 110,000 in 2024 to 55,000 in both 2025 and 2026 under the Immigration Levels Plan 2025-27. The program will continue to consider regional needs and applicants likely to stay long term in Nova Scotia.
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