Express Entry: Not Eligible for Category Based Draws? Your Job May Still Be in Demand.

Canadian Express Entry picks permanent residents based on professional experience instead of Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores. It’s a big deal for lots of people. What about people without jobs targeted by Express Entry? Do they have any other options?

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) might answer your question. It is a popular economic immigration program in Canada. Except for Nunavut and Quebec, PNP is available in all provinces. The program used to be less popular than Express Entry, but now it focuses on candidates whose demographics and economics fit each province. Most provinces need workers.

The Provincial Nominee Program lists jobs in high demand in each province. These jobs are considered targeted or in-demand professions and must be held full-time for qualification.

If your job title does not match one of these in-demand professions, you can search for its National Occupation Code (NOC). NOC codes are codes the Canadian government uses to categorize jobs.

Alberta

The Alberta Provincial Nominee Program (AAIP) needs a job list they’re looking for. However, Canada Occupation In-Demand List is in high demand in the province. In the list, you can see how many people are working in each position.

• Managing retail sales;
• Psychiatric nurses and registered nurses;
• Transportation truck drivers;
• Trade managers (retail and wholesale);
• Clerks in accounting and related fields.

PNP immigration in Alberta isn’t available to people working in certain occupations. Healthcare and agriculture workers can participate in a targeted draw through the Dedicated Healthcare pathway and Priority Sectors and Farm streams.

British Columbia

• The British Columbia PNP (BCPNP) targets four categories of jobs:
• The tech industry (including data scientists, web designers, physicists, and astronomers);
• The healthcare sector (including dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, etc.);
• The childcare occupations (which target Early childhood educators and assistants) and
• Another priority occupation is veterinarian, animal health tech, and veterinary technician.

Manitoba

The Manitoba Police National Guard (MPNP) focuses on ten occupations:

1. A job in business, finance, or administration, like a finance manager;
2. Natural sciences and related occupations, like architects, data scientists, land surveyors, and engineers;
3. Those in health professions, like pharmacists, psychologists, and physical therapists.
4. People in education, law, social services, and government – including lawyers, social workers, therapists, and early childhood educators;
5. Jobs in the arts, recreation, and sports include graphic designers, illustrators, and fitness managers.
6. Jobs in sales and service, like corporate sales manager, retail sales supervisor, cook, baker;
7. Construction managers, tool and die makers, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters;
8. Specifically agricultural managers in natural resource management and agriculture.
9. Jobs in manufacturing and utilities, like manufacturing managers, utilities managers, and power engineers;
10. Many rural jobs include nurse’s aides, orderlies, disease control agents, meat cutters, and poultry preppers.

New Brunswick

NBPNP doesn’t list specific occupations, but they do tell you which sectors have the most openings. These were the most popular in July 2023:

• Jobs in sales and service include retail salespeople, cashiers, and retail sales supervisors.
• Other services – which include hairstylists, barbers, estheticians, and bus mechanics;
• Business, administration, and finance-including air traffic controllers, police officers, and administrative assistants.
• Trade operators, such as store shelf stockers, clerks, truck drivers, postal workers, and processors (among others);
• Community and social administration – including elementary and kindergarten teachers, professors, lecturers, and noncommissioned officers in the Canadian military;
• Educators, nurses, home support workers, nursing assistants, orderlies, and patient service associates work in health care;

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador PNP (NLPNP) has four broad categories of in-demand occupations:

• Medical professionals: physicians, nurse practitioners, practical nurses, clinical psychologists, etc.
• Job opportunities in ICT, such as software developers, biomedical engineers, and user experience designers;
• Technical specialties include cybersecurity, cloud services, bioinformatics, and data analysis.
• Jobs in aquaculture include captains (needed a class-4 fishing certificate), farm and feeding managers, technicians, and assistant managers.

Northwest Territories

The NTPNP does not have a list of targeted occupations but provides a forecast of the top in-demand jobs for the next 15 years, grouping them by required education or experience. The five jobs forecast to have the most openings by 2034 are among them.

• High job vacancies are predicted for low-skilled jobs, including janitors, caretakers, building superintendents, light-duty cleaners, and cashiers, in the next 15 years.
• High school grad jobs include heavy equipment operators (excluding cranes), retail salespeople, and truck drivers.
• Carpenters, electricians (except industrial and power systems), automotive service technicians, truck mechanics, and mechanical repairers will have the most job openings.
• Three of the most predicted vacancies required a college diploma – administrative officers, administrative assistants, and social workers;
• These jobs require a university degree. Regarding job openings, elementary and kindergarten teachers, registered nurses, and secondary school teachers, including psychiatric nurses, are the top three.
• This city has many openings for retail and wholesale trade managers, construction managers, and financial managers.

Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) only accepts applications for certain occupations classified as levels 3, 4, or 5 under the TEER framework. TEER codes range from 0 to 5; jobs at level 0 require the highest education and experience, while those at level 5 require the least.

Nova Scotia targeted these occupations:

• Assistant nurses;
• Food and drink servers;
• Workers at food counters, kitchen helpers, and related support jobs;
• Light duty cleaners;
• Drivers;
• Equipment operators;
• Laborer or helper in construction.

Ontario

The Employer Job Offer stream of Ontario’s PNP (OINP) invites individuals with a job offer and in-demand skills, meeting requirements such as median wage, work experience, and language proficiency.

Also, in-demand jobs can be found anywhere in Ontario or outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Here are the most in-demand jobs in Ontario:

• Home care workers, caregivers, and related jobs;
• Fishmongers (retail and wholesale);
• Workers in construction trades.

Here’s what’s in demand outside the GTA:

• Machine operators, mineral and metal processors;
• Metalworkers and forge operators
• Mechanical part inspectors and assemblers.

Prince Edward Island

PEIPNP (Prince Edward Island’s PNP) targets in-demand occupations such as:

• Assistants, nurses, and orderlies;
• Transport truck drivers;
• Construction helpers and laborers;
• Light-duty cleaners;
• Processors, manufacturers, and utility workers;
• Material handlers;
• Food and beverage processing operators
• Industrial butchers, meat cutters, and poultry preparers.