The Manitoba Provincial Nomination Program (MPNP) has temporarily stopped accepting applications for the Manitoba Skilled Worker Overseas stream in order to begin to manage a growing backlog.
As of August 1st, applicants interested in the Manitoba Skilled Worker Overseas stream are no longer able to submit their application, as the stream has stopped receiving applications until 2015. Manitoba has not yet announced the stream’s re-opening date, which will be announced in early December 2014 after Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has determined the caps on each Provincial Nomination Program (PNP).
At this time, the application moratorium only affects applicants to the Manitoba Support and Manitoba Experience branches of the Skilled Worker Overseas stream. Applicants to the Manitoba Invitation and Manitoba Employment skilled worker streams who are currently landed in Manitoba will not be affected and the streams continue to accept applications.
The goal of the Manitoba government in imposing this moratorium on the Skilled Worker Overseas stream is to allow for a new application management strategy to be implemented. The application management strategy currently being implemented is expected to reduce overall processing times for the MPNP to under 6 months by 2015. The temporary moratorium on applications to these particular stream is expected to manage the program’s excess inventory and reduce the current backlog.
The MPNP program is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, after 15% growth in the last year alone. CIC has allocated an additional 500 nominations to the Manitoba program, allowing the program to expand in 2015.
The MPNP, which accepted individuals from 129 different countries in 2013, also boasts impressive settlement credentials. An impressive 85% of Manitoba’s provincial nominees are employed within three months of landing in the province, of which 89% are in permanent jobs.
For more information about Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program or Canada’s other PNPs, consult this link.
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