Canada PNP: New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot Launched

Canada’s New Brunswick launches a pilot program to end labor shortage.

“Participating employers will greatly benefit from filling critical vacancies and applicants will find meaningful work in a welcoming community” - Arlene Dunn, Minister responsible for Opportunities New Brunswick, and Minister responsible for Immigration. 

New Brunswick, an Atlantic province of Canada is opening doors to immigrants. This is to combat the critical skill labour shortage in the province. It is doing so with a pilot program called New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot (NBCWP).

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced the New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot on November 7, 2022.  The pilot will be offered for five years until it is either renewed or discontinued. In that time it will be monitored and evaluated regularly. 

Work permits granted under the NBCWP pilot are mainly aimed at international workers with clear intentions of becoming permanent residents of New Brunswick, Canada.

Instead of closing doors on international workers for lack of English language proficiency, New Brunswick through NBCWP offers training and settlement help unlike other immigration channels. Anyone within the critical skills list of New Brunswick can apply for a work permit through this program.

As of now, the federal Government of Canada has agreed to work with six employers in New Brunswick who hold impeccable immigration records in the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP).  

These companies already have good immigrant practices and necessary settlement programs in place, namely:

1. Cooke Aquaculture Inc.
2. Groupe Savoie Inc.
3. Groupe Westco
4. Imperial Manufacturing
5. D. Irving Ltd. 
6. McCain Foods

These employers must follow the terms and conditions in the NBCWP program. 

• They must have industrious settlement plans for housing and transportation to support successful establishment of chosen candidates. The company shall help them in their new jobs and communities, while harboring a strong commitment to long-term retention of the candidate.
• The company must have a robust human resources management place for recruiting and hiring skilled international workers, and for training on-the-job, skills enhancement. They must provide up to 200 hours of language training for those who need it.
• The company must offer genuine guidance and dedicated support to the employees under NBCWP, in case they wish to pursue their Canadian secondary education equivalency.
• NBCWP is a five year pilot program which will be evaluated and monitored regularly to ensure the province’s needs are met.

While NBCWP is opening doors to immigrants, a review of resident immigrants is also being called for to ensure that the critical skilled labour shortage is filled.

Hence, with the intake of new immigrants under this pilot, those who are not contributing meaningful jobs to New Brunswick economy are a matter of concern to the government. 

The implementation of NBCWP is the first step towards addressing both issues. Categories that will be considered favorably for the program are:  

• NOC 2147, 2172, 2173, 2174, 2175, 2281, 2282, 2283
• NOC 3012, 3233, 3413, 4412

Application processing priority is being given to the following categories of applications as of the moment.

Also read: Canada has Record High Vacancy Rate in Health Care