Provinces Now Have More Control Over PNPs: What That Means for You

Provinces and territories have long argued that they are best positioned to assess whether a nominee fits their local labour market and will settle there long-term. With these changes, IRCC is shifting more authority to them.

Now provinces and territories will be solely responsible for determining whether a nominee can become economically established in Canada and intends to settle there. This means IRCC’s role in reviewing your Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) application is now smaller.

Key Takeaways 

• As of March 30, 2026, provinces and territories are solely responsible for assessing whether a PNP nominee can become economically established in Canada and intends to settle there.
• IRCC officers can no longer override or re-examine those two factors. A valid nomination certificate is now treated as conclusive proof that both have been assessed.
• IRCC will still verify identity and admissibility (security, criminality, health).
• These changes apply to both new applications and existing ones that haven’t yet passed the eligibility stage.

Changes to The PNP Assessment Process

When a province or territory nominates someone for permanent residence through the PNP, that nomination has always carried significant weight. But until recently, the federal government retained its own assessment authority.

Previously, IRCC was responsible for ensuring that PNP applicants met the requirements of “membership in the class”. Membership in the provincial nominee class requires an applicant to fulfill three elements:

• Have an ability to be economically established in Canada,
• Be named on a nomination certificate issued by a province or territory, and
• Have an intention to reside in the province that issued the nomination.

This meant that IRCC officers could (and usually did) conduct their own separate review of whether a nominee was likely to become economically established in Canada and intended to reside in that province.

IRCC officers also had the authority to substitute their own evaluation if they weren’t satisfied that a nominee met these conditions. This meant that IRCC’s negative evaluation could override the provincial nomination.

This authority is now gone.

Under the updated program delivery instructions, a valid provincial or territorial nomination certificate is treated as definitive evidence on two specific criteria: the nominee’s ability to become economically established in Canada, and their intent to reside in the nominating province or territory. IRCC officers are explicitly instructed not to conduct their own assessment of these factors.

The change applies to all PNP streams. It covers applications already in the queue that haven’t yet cleared eligibility, and all new applications submitted after March 30, 2026.

IRCC Still Determines Admissibility for PNP Nominees

Despite the added authority given to provinces, the federal government will remain involved in the process. IRCC officers will continue to assess:

• Identity verification
• Whether a valid nomination certificate was on file when IRCC received the permanent residence application
• Admissibility, including security, criminality, and health concerns
• For PNP applications processed through Express Entry: whether the candidate meets the minimum entry criteria for the applicable federal program (the Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class, or Federal Skilled Trades Program)

While officers are no longer looking at economic establishment or intent to reside, they still have the authority to act if adverse information comes to light during processing.

If an officer comes across something that may affect a nominee’s eligibility, they are required to consult the nominating province or territory before issuing a decision. The province or territory then has 60 to 90 days to respond, depending on their agreement with Canada. They can choose to revoke the nomination or continue to support it. If the nomination is revoked, IRCC will refuse the application. If the province maintains its support and there is no inadmissibility finding, processing continues.

In other words: IRCC still controls the gate on admissibility. But eligibility decisions tied to your economic prospects and intention to live in the province are now entirely the province’s domain.

Who Is Excluded from the PNP Class

IRCC retains the authority to assess whether an applicant falls into an excluded category, regardless of whether a province has issued a nomination. This has not changed.

Two groups are excluded from membership in the provincial nominee class:

• Individuals nominated through a passive investment arrangement. Exceptions exist, including where the nominee holds a significant ownership stake, is actively involved in managing the business, or has made a minimum $1 million equity investment.
• Anyone who has participated, or intends to participate, in an immigration-linked investment scheme. This is broadly defined as any arrangement entered into primarily to obtain immigration status in Canada.

If IRCC determines that either exclusion applies, the application can be refused regardless of the province’s nomination.

Potential Impact of These Changes to PNP Applications

With provinces and territories now having the sole authority to assess economic potential and intention to live in the province, IRCC’s scope for review is now narrower. This means there’s potential for approval rates of PNP applications to improve.

Realistically, there’s not much room for PNP approval rates to improve as they are already high. Between January and April 2025, approval rates for PNP applications processed through Express Entry sat at around 97%. For base PNP applications (those not linked to Express Entry), the rate was approximately 95%.

Those numbers were high because provinces and territories were already doing the substantive work of assessing nominees before IRCC ever reviewed the file. Being nominated itself was the hard part. Although IRCC could reassess membership in the provincial nominee class, the numbers show that federal review rarely reversed provincial nominations. Also, presumably, some of the rejections were based on inadmissibility.

There is also potential for faster processing and backlog reduction. As of March 9, 2026, the processing time for Express Entry PNP applications was six months and approximately 13,000 applicants were awaiting a decision. For base PNP applications, around 108,000 people were in the queue and processing time was 12 months. A narrower federal review could help IRCC work through that inventory more efficiently.

What This Means for Your PNP Application

If You Already Have a Provincial Nomination

If you have a valid provincial or territorial nomination and your PR application is in processing, but hasn’t yet cleared the eligibility review stage, these changes apply to your file.

IRCC will no longer revisit whether you can become economically established in Canada or whether you intend to settle in the nominating province. It is now assumed that these factors were assessed by the province before your nomination was issued. IRCC will focus on verifying your identity, admissibility, and the validity of your certificate.

If concerns surface during processing, IRCC will consult your nominating province or territory before making a decision. The province then must confirm or revoke their nomination. If the province confirms the nomination, IRCC can only reject the application if there are admissibility grounds to do so.

If You’re Still Working Toward a Provincial Nomination

If you’re still trying to get a provincial nomination, the path to getting nominated hasn’t changed. Provinces and territories set their own selection criteria, and those remain the same.

Once you secure a provincial nomination, it will now serve as conclusive proof that you can become economically established in Canada and that you intend to reside in the nominating province or territory. IRCC will not reassess these factors. Instead, IRCC will only verify your identity and nomination certificate and assess your admissibility into Canada.

That makes receiving a provincial nomination an even bigger milestone in your PNP journey.