Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities Stream

What is the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities Stream?

The Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities stream is the program that gives a chance to all candidates who meet the provincial labor market requirement from Nova Scotia region to apply for the program. The candidates for this program will be selected from the federal Express Entry system after that the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration sent a Letter of Interest to the potential applicants. 

Eligibility Requirement

Applicants who apply for the nomination under Nova Scotia’s Labour Market Priorities program need to meet the minimum criteria of the five areas of the Eligibility criteria below:

1. Get a Letter of Inquiry from NSOI

Letter of Interest from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration (NSOI) will be sent to invite applicants to apply under the NSNP.

Note: Letters of Interest will only be offered to candidates:

• A valid Express Entry profile,
• Who meets the requirement of the labor market priority identified by Nova Scotia.
• Applicants who have their interest in moving to the Nova Scotia region.

Note: 30 days are the remaining days for the Letters of Interest. If the applicants are failed to submit a complete application with all required supporting documentation within 30 calendar days the application will be refused.

2. Additional Draw-Specific Eligibility Criteria: 

Candidates will be offered Letters of Interest-based on specific requirements identified by NSOI. It will be different for each draw and also based on the needs of the current labor market.
Supporting Documentation:  Will be displayed on NSOI’s website during each round of invitations. 

3. Work experience

• Criteria for Canadian Experience Class
  • Obtained at least one year of skilled in professional work or technical work experience within 36 months in Canada of the application date.
  • Depending on the level of the job applicants are encouraged to meet a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 5 (“initial intermediate”) or 7 (“adequate intermediate proficiency”).
  • Intend to live and work outside the province of Quebec.
• Current criteria for the Federal Skilled Worker Program
  • Applicants have the same type of the previous job (NOC) as the job applicants want to use for immigration application.
  • Work experience within the last 10 years.
  • It has to be paid work ( volunteer or unpaid internship don’t count for this program).
  • One year of working at least or 1560 hours of work in total
    • full-time at 1 job: 30 hours/week for 12 months = 1-year full time  (1,560 hours)
    • equal amount in part-time: 15 hours/week for 24 months = 1 year full time (1,560 hours)
    • full-time at more than 1 job: 30 hours/week for 12 months at more than 1 job = 1-year full time (1,560 hours)

• Criteria for the Federal Skilled Trades Program
  – Major Group 72, industrial, electrical and construction trades.
  – Major Group 73, maintenance and equipment operation trades.
  – Major Group 82, supervisors and technical jobs in natural resources, agriculture, and related production.
  – Major Group 92, processing, manufacturing and utility supervisors and central control operators.
  – Minor Group 632, chefs and cooks.
  – Minor Group 633, butchers and bakers.

4. Settlement funds

The applicant who applies for the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities stream in Canada is required to display proof of funds to indicate that they can financially support themselves during the time in Canada. Settlement funds from the applicants are encouraged to be at least equal or greater than the funds required below:

1 member  – $12,669 (Fund required)

2 members –  $15,772 (Fund required)

3 members –  $19,390 (Fund required)

4 members – $23,542 (Fund required)

5 members –  $26,701 (Fund required)

6 members –  $30,114 (Fund required)

7 members –  $33,528 (Fund required)

For each additional family member – $3,414

Note: Those numbers will be updated by IRCC for every year

5. Language Proficiency

To apply for this stream, candidates are required to meet the minimum language proficiency and education requirements of their Express Entry program.

• English
• • CELPIP: Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program
  • IELTS: International English Language Testing System
  • TEF Canada: Test d’évaluation de français, including:
    • compréhension de l’écrit
    • compréhension de l’oral
    • expression écrite
    • expression orale
• French
• • TCF Canada: Test de Connaissance du français, including:
    • compréhension de l’écrit
    • compréhension de l’oral
    • expression écrite
    • expression orale

The result from the language test will be used as proof of the candidates’ language skills.

Note: The valid time for the Express Entry profile is 12 months. Applicants need to make sure that their language test results also valid for the same period time.

Detailed information about language testing and grade can be found here.

However, to apply for the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities Stream, candidates must register for the federal Express Entry pool. It means that applicants should submit a profile to the pool at least one of three federal Economic programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker: this program requires applicants with a minimum of a high school diploma, or at least one year of full-time work experience, skilled work experience.
• Canadian Experience Class: for this program, there is no requirement for education. At least candidates are required to have a minimum of one year of full-time Canadian skilled of non-continuous work experience and it should be obtained within the three years before the application.
• Federal Skilled Trades: this program also has no education requirement. However, at least 2 years of full-time work experience in a skilled trade occupation are required. Candidates should provide their certificate of qualification in the skilled trade issued by a Canadian authority.
  

Application Process

To apply for the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities the applicants must:

• Submit their application through Nova Scotia’s online service, find here and include all the required supporting documents.
• Supporting documents required for the application process can be found here

Note: supporting documents must be submitted as portable document format (PDF) files and it should be clear enough to read.

• Scanned documents in colors if there are images. 
• Minimum of 300 dots per inch for the scanner resolution.
• The size of all documents should be no more than 50 megabytes (MB).
• Name the attachments should be no more than 50 characters. 
• Attach the original documents and a copy of the certified translators if the documents are not in English or French. 

Note: Issuing of the translators must be by a regulatory body and cannot be a family member of the applicant or spouse, or common-law partner, or work for a paid consultant or representative who is preparing the application.

Documents Checklist

• Letter of Interest (copy only)
• Draw -Specific Eligibility Criteria
• Work experience
• Settlement funds
• Immigration Status

Note: for more information about the checklist of documents, the applicant can find here.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much is the fee for the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities?

No fee under the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities Stream. However, applicants should have to pay all the required Government of Canada immigration fees when they submit the application to IRCC or some costs of services could be involved in from third parties.

2. What happens if I no longer meet any of the minimum eligibility requirements of the Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities Stream?

If you don’t meet any eligibility requirements then NSOI may withdraw your nomination at any time.

3. What happens if I received an Invitation to Apply (ITA) from IRCC while my application is being processed by the NSNP?

In that case, you must advise the NSOI to reject the ITA and request that the NSNP continue to process your application. The second option you may have is to withdraw your application to the NSNP.

4. If my family does not have enough income then my application will be rejected?

Yes, financial support is crucial for the time you work in the country, the NSOI will not approve an application if it seems likely that the family income (based on your job offer and any spousal income) will be below Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut-Off (LICO).

5. Do I need work experience for the Stream?
Yes, for this program it often requires applicants to have work experience in specific occupation applicants are encouraged to meet the minimum work-experience requirements of their Express Entry program.