Several Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams across Canada have been paused or closed in 2025. But that doesn’t necessarily mean bad news for skilled foreign workers in Canada seeking permanent residence (PR).

That’s because these changes reflect a strategic shift in Canada’s overall immigration plan that places more weight on federal programs like Express Entry.

Get a Free Express Entry Assessment

For skilled workers already living in Canada, this shift can be advantageous.

Here’s how:

More Express Entry slots are available

With PNP admission targets reduced, Express Entry now accounts for a larger share of economic immigration.

In 2025, planned admission targets through Express Entry increased to 124,590 – 53.67% of the total planned economic immigration targets.

This is an increase from the planned admission targets through Express Entry in 2024 which was 110,770 – only 39% of the total planned economic immigration.

Skilled workers affected by a closed PNP stream may have better chances of qualifying through Express Entry.

The Canadian government has also announced an intention to focus on candidates with experience working in Canada through the Canadian Experience Class.

So, skilled workers with Canadian work experience have a better shot at receiving an invitation to apply for permanent residence through Express Entry, as compared to those with no Canadian experience.

Note: Canada has not held any general Express Entry draws since April 23, 2024. Instead, draws have alternated between French language, Canadian Experience Class, PNP draws and category-based selection draws.

Advantages of Express Entry vs the Provincial Nominee Program

Express Entry provides foreign nationals with a number of advantages over the PNP.

More options on where to settle

As a foreign national, you can be eligible for Express Entry with an intent to reside in any province or territory other than Quebec.

With the PNP, on the other hand, you must have an intent to reside in the province or territory nominating you.

Consequently, many PNP candidates may need to put their life on hold while working toward PR—for example, by turning down a job opportunity in another province.

If you’re pursuing PR through Express Entry, you have greater freedom to relocate throughout Canada, even before getting PR.

Simpler eligibility criteria

Canada has over 80 PNP streams in total, with each stream having its own eligibility criteria.

Those interested in provincial immigration not only have to understand the immigration process, but also have to research the best stream for them.

In contrast, the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program has a small number of straightforward eligibility criteria, making it easier for you to know whether you qualify or not

• Having 1 year (or 1,560 hours) of paid full-time skilled work experience* in Canada within the last 3 years.
• Meeting the minimum language proficiency requirement (CLB 7 or CLB 5, depending on your occupation.

*Work experience must have been gained as an employee, not while employed, and cannot have been gained while enrolled as a full-time student (including co-op terms).

You can apply for PR faster

For PNP streams, you must apply to two levels of government in order to get PR.

First, you must apply to the province and receive a provincial nomination. For many PNP streams, the provincial nomination is itself a two-step process, in which candidates must create an expression of interest in the provincial pool and receive an invitation from the province before applying for provincial nomination.

After receiving a provincial nomination, you would then apply to the federal government for PR.

In contrast, with Express Entry you need only create an EOI in the Express Entry system and receive an ITA in order to apply to the federal government.

Faster processing times

After you apply for PR, you can expect a faster processing time if you applied through Express Entry rather than through a base PNP.

The current processing time for Express Entry applications is five months; and for base PNP applications 20 months, as of the time of writing.

The service standard for processing Express Entry applications is six months.

While provincial streams remain an important part of Canada’s immigration system, the country’s focus on Express Entry in 2025 could help skilled foreign workers, especially if they have experience working in Canada.

Who can benefit?

To demonstrate how Express Entry can help a skilled worker’s chances at receiving an ITA, here are two fictional examples:

Example 1:

Clara is a 27-year-old who has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from an Ontario university. After graduating, she struggles to find a job in Ontario, so she moves to Manitoba and works there for two years under her Post-Graduation Work Permit.

Based on this profile, Clara would have a harder time receiving an ITA through Manitoba’s PNP. That’s because Manitoba’s EOI system for its Skilled Worker Stream deducts points for applicants who have studied in another province. She also would not qualify for Ontario’s PNP without a qualifying job offer.

However, thanks to her years of Canadian work experience, Clara is eligible for Canadian Experience Class. Since she also has English language proficiency of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 9, and two years of prior foreign work experience, her CRS score is 537.

In 2025, the CEC CRS cut-off scores have been 527, 521 and 547. That means if Clara had had an eligible Express Entry profile in the pool at the beginning of 2025, she would likely have received an invitation to apply for permanent residence.

Example 2:

Mathias is a 28-year-old who has graduated from a British Columbia university with a bachelor’s degree, followed by an 18-month teacher education program.

Following that, Mathias works in a school for a year as an elementary school teacher.

With the British Columbia PNP prioritizing healthcare workers, entrepreneurs and skilled workers creating high economic impact, Mathias’ chances of getting nominated by the province are slim.

However, based on his experience and CLB 8 language proficiency level, Mathias has a CRS score of 532. To put that into context, the most recent category-based draw for education professionals was 479.

If a similar draw is held in the near future, Mathias would be likely to get an invitation to apply for Permanent Residence through the Education category-based draw.

PNP closures and pauses in 2025

This year has seen significant changes to PNPs across the country.

British Columbia closed its International Graduate streams and planned to introduce three new pathways. However, in April 2025, the province announced that the launch of those new streams had been suspended.

Another example would be New Brunswick pausing its Strategic Initiative stream, citing a sufficient inventory of applications for the year.

These developments follow the federal government’s latest Immigration Levels Plan, which reduced targets for PNP admissions, from 110,000 in 2024 to 55,000 in 2025 — a 50% cut.

As a result, most provinces have seen their nomination allocations halved in 2025.

Get a Free Express Entry Assessment

​CIC News | Express Entry