The New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream is a provincial nominee program designed for Foreign Nationals who possess the skills, education and work experience needed to contribute to New Brunswick’s economy, and who are ready to live and work in New Brunswick permanently.
The New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream is open to foreign nationals, living in Canada or abroad, who have an offer of employment for a full-time, permanent position from an employer based in New Brunswick.
This program will also help New Brunswick employers, unable to fill job vacancies with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, recruit foreign nationals and international graduates whose skills are needed in the province.
What's Covered in This Article
Eligibility Requirements for the New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream
You intend to reside in New Brunswick
It is your responsibility to prove a genuine intention to reside in New Brunswick as described in Section 87(2) (b) of the Immigration Refugee Protection Act, S C 2001, c 27, Regulations which state that “a foreign national is a member of the nominee class if they intend to reside in the province that nominated them”.
To establish intent, you may be asked to demonstrate your attachment to New Brunswick, that may include, but are not limited to:
- a description of any actions you have taken to permanently settle in New Brunswick;
- current employment in New Brunswick;
- employment search details;
- the length of any previous and/or current period of residence in New Brunswick;
- community involvement;
- ability to support yourself in New Brunswick;
- your connections to New Brunswick through work, study or family;
- professional networks and affiliations;
- residency including household lease agreements and/or property ownership;
- family ties and other social relationships and connections;
- details of prior visits to Canada; and
- your connection to other jurisdictions in Canada.
You received a genuine offer of employment
A New Brunswick employer has offered, and you have accepted, permanent, full time, year-round (non-seasonal) employment in an eligible occupation. Permanent means the job has no pre-determined end date; it is a long-term job offer. Full-time means that you are expected to work a minimum of 30 hours per week, or 1,560 hours per year.
You are qualified for the job offered
It is your responsibility to demonstrate that you are qualified for the position. The Department of Post Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL) may refer to the National Occupation Code (NOC) and industry standards, etc., to determine the minimum qualifications for an occupation.
You are offered a competitive wage
The wage you have been offered must be competitive with New Brunswick wage rates for the occupation. The wage stated on your offer of employment must:
- meet or exceed the median wage level for the occupation in the region of New Brunswick where you will be
working. For examples of market wage rates by occupation, visit www.jobbank.gc.ca; - be comparable to the rate paid to workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs
in New Brunswick; and - be consistent with the wage compensation structure of your employer
Your employer is willing to sponsor the application
All applications submitted through the NB Skilled Worker stream must be supported by an Employer Information Form (NBPNP-004) completed by the employer and signed by both the employer and the applicant.
Applications submitted without the express support of the New Brunswick employer, as indicated by this form, are not eligible for nomination under this stream.
Regulated occupations in New Brunswick
There are a variety of regulated occupations in New Brunswick.
If your intended job offer is in a regulated occupation, you are required to be certified or licensed by the regulatory authority for that occupation.
NB Skilled Worker stream selection factors
The New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream is open to foreign nationals, living in Canada or abroad, who have an offer of employment for a full-time, permanent position from an employer based in New Brunswick.
To apply to the stream, you must make sure that you meet all eligibility requirements.
If all eligibility requirements have been met, you will be assessed according to the following selection: age, language, education, previous work experience, priority sectors, and adaptability.
A minimum of 60 of 100 points is required to be successful.
Once you complete the screening questions, you are provided with a Self-Assessment Score.
This score is not an official evaluation of your candidacy.
It is a preliminary snapshot of your potential eligibility
1. Age (maximum 10 points)
You must be between 19-55 years of age.
Your age is assessed as of the day that a complete application is submitted to PETL in response to an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
Calculate your score:
22-55 years: 10 points
19-21 years: 8 points
2. Official languages (maximum 28 points)
To meet the language requirement, you must submit valid test results from a designated testing organization to show you have obtained a minimum score equal to or greater than a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4 for English or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 4 for French in all four language abilities: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
A benchmark of 4 is considered a basic language ability. It means you can communicate in common and predictable contexts about basic needs, everyday activities and familiar topics of immediate personal relevance.
3. Education (maximum 20 points)
You must, at a minimum, have a Canadian secondary (high school) diploma or a foreign high school diploma equal to a Canadian credential.
If you have a foreign education you will need an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report from a recognized organization to show that your credential is valid and equal to a Canadian credential.
If you already have an ECA report, it must be less than five years old when IRCC receives your PR application, should you receive a nomination certificate.
You don’t need an assessment for a Canadian degree, diploma or certificate.
Calculate your score:
| Education – Canadian, or equivalent | Points |
| Doctoral level university degree (Ph.D.) | 20 |
| Master’s degree, OR professional degree needed to practice in a licensed profession. (For 20 “professional degree,” the degree program must have been in: medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, law, chiropractic medicine, or pharmacy.) | |
| Two or more certificates, degrees, diplomas or certificates from a university, college, trade or technical school, or other accredited institute. One must be for a program of at least three years | 19 |
| Bachelor’s degree, or a three, or more year program at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other accredited institute | |
| Two-year degree, diploma or certificate from a university, college, trade or technical school, or other accredited institute | 18 |
| One-year degree, diploma or certificate from a university, college, trade or technical school, or other accredited institute | 17 |
| Secondary diploma (high school graduation) from a high school (after junior/middle school and before college, university or other formal training | 15 |
4. Work experience (maximum 20 points)
You must have at least one year of work experience, in the last five, related to the job offer.
Note: Work experience is not required for international graduates, with a minimum one-year degree, diploma or certificate from a New Brunswick university, college, trade or technical school, or other accredited institute, hired through the New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream.
Your work experience shall:
- be based on full-time work, which means at least 1,560 hours of work over a period of one year. [This is how many hours you would have worked in a year if you were working 30 hours per week.];
- be with one or more employers;
- be in a NOC related to your job offer from a New Brunswick employer;
- be paid. [Employment that is part of unpaid internships, volunteer experiences and programs of study (such as a co-op) do not qualify towards your work experience];
- be obtained within Canada and/or abroad;
- if based on self-employment, be validated with official documents through independent third parties; and
- not be based on self-employment in the retail, food and accommodation sectors
Calculate your score:
| Years of Experience | Points |
| Five | 20 |
| Four | 16 |
| Three | 12 |
| Two | 8 |
| One | 6 |
5. Priority sectors (maximum 10 points)
You may be awarded 10 points if your intended occupation is in the education, health care, manufacturing, transportation or the business service centres sector, and your employer can demonstrate that they have been unable to identify qualified candidates in the local labour market.
6. Adaptability (maximum 12 points)
The NB Connection is the first measure of eligibility for the provinces’ various Economic Immigration Programs.
For the NB Skilled Worker stream, only individuals with a valid job offer (or who are already working) in the Province of New Brunswick are eligible.
You may be awarded up to a maximum of 12 points in the event you have an additional connection to New Brunswick demonstrated through education, employment in New Brunswick, additional skills and language.
Calculate your score
| Principal Applicant | Points | |
| Employment | You have worked in New Brunswick for at least two of the last five years, with a valid work permit or authorization to work in Canada |
10 |
| Your employer has a positive LMIA on which your job offer is based, or your occupation is exempt from needing an LMIA, or |
8 |
|
| your employer interviewed, and hired you, through a national or international recruitment mission organized by PETL in the 12 months immediately prior to submitting an application | ||
| You have worked in New Brunswick for at least one of the last five years, with a valid work permit or authorization to work in Canada, or |
7 |
|
| You are an international student graduate from a post 7 -secondary institution in New Brunswick with at least six months work experience in the province, including work experience obtained while a student | ||
| Education | You have successfully completed at least two years of post-secondary education from an accredited institution in New Brunswick | 10 |
| You have successfully completed at least one year of post-secondary education from an accredited institution in New Brunswick | 7 | |
| Family | You or your spouse/common-law partner, has a son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, father, child, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew living in New Brunswick as a Canadian Citizen or PR for the 12 months prior to you submitting an application. | 5 |
| Spouse or Common-Law Partner | Your spouse or common-law partner worked for at least one of the last five years in New Brunswick, with a valid work permit or authorization to work in Canada, or | 5 |
| Your spouse or common-law partner has a minimum language level proficiency of CLB4 4 in English or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) 4 in French in all four language abilities | ||
New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream Application process
Step #1 Offer of employment
You must accept a genuine offer of full-time (non-seasonal), permanent (indeterminate) employment from a New Brunswick employer who is willing to support you through the NBPNP process.
Step #2 PR Readiness
When applying to any of New Brunswick’s immigration streams, you must be PR Ready.
In the New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream, it means that you meet all minimum eligibility requirements and selection factors and have all the required documents on hand to prepare and submit a complete and correct application to the
Government of New Brunswick and to the Government of Canada.
Being PR Ready means more efficient processing, fewer delays and a better experience navigating the New Brunswick and Canadian immigration programs. In most cases, this means your application will be processed faster.
Step #3 : Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) under the NB Skilled Worker stream
You must create a candidate profile on INB portal.
Registration in INB involves providing your full name (as it appears on your passport), the email address that will be used for all correspondence related to your account and your application, and the creation of your account password.
Candidate Profile Information includes your full name (as it appears on your passport); your date of birth; your gender; your marital status; your language preferences; your country of residence and your status in that country; your country of
citizenship; your passport information; details about your family members, and your full contact information (country, civic address, telephone number, etc.)
You can check the most up-to-date information regarding the status of your application at any time by logging in to view My Dashboard.
- You will receive a notice in your Notification Centre acknowledging receipt of your EOI.
- If your EOI is selected, you will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in your Notification Centre.
- Only once you receive an ITA can you then proceed to the NB Skilled Worker Application process.
Step #4 Invitation to apply
Because you have an offer of employment from a New Brunswick company, you will receive an invitation to apply (ITA) to the NBPNP.
You have up to 45 calendar days from the date of the ITA to submit a complete application via the New Brunswick online system.
If you fail to submit a complete application by the deadline, your ITA will be automatically removed and you will have to start the process again.
An ITA does not guarantee that your application will be approved for nomination.
If you receive an ITA, and you submit your application, your application may be refused if you do not meet eligibility requirements and/or selection factors as outlined above.
Step #5 Submission of provincial application to the Department of Post Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL)
Once you have submitted your complete application online and paid the processing fee, PETL will conduct a full review of your application and it will be assessed according to eligibility requirements and selection factors outlined above.
The stream under which you apply cannot be changed once you submit your application.
If you do not meet the requirements of the category under which you registered, your application will be refused.
Afterward, you may apply under another stream providing you meet the eligibility requirements.
Step #6 Provincial application decision from PETL
PETL will advise you and your representative, if applicable, of the final decision in writing and upload that decision to your online profile’s dashboard.
If you are nominated you can apply to IRCC for PR.
At the time of nomination, PETL may include a work permit support letter in your nomination package if you do not have a valid work permit or your current work permit will expire within 180 days (approximately six months).
This letter permits you to apply for a work permit from the federal government without the need for an LMIA.
If you require a work permit, you must apply to IRCC for your own work permit. PETL cannot apply for a work permit on your behalf.
Step #7 Submission of federal application to IRCC
If you are granted a nomination by PETL, you are required to submit your application for a PR visa directly to IRCC prior to the expiry date indicated on your Certificate of Nomination.
IRCC will assess the application based on Canadian immigration law and make the final decision for granting a PR visa.
Step #8 Federal application decision from IRCC
If IRCC approves your PR application, you will be issued a PR visa which will enable you to become a PR of Canada.
If you receive a PR visa from Canada, you must report your landing to PETL within 30 days of landing in Canada.
