According to a TD Economics forecast, the tiny province of Prince Edward Island in Canada’s maritime region is poised to grow its real GDP by 3% in the coming year after achieving roughly 4% growth this year.
Due to the sheer low number of cases of COVID19 in the province, public health restrictions were more relaxed than in many other parts of Canada.
In late September, economists Beata Caranci, Derek Burleton, Rishi Sondhi, and Omar Abdelrahman stated in their TD Economics Provincial Economic Forecast, “Businesses on the island have certainly benefited from the province’s loose stance, as retail and wholesale sales are up about 20% and 30%, respectively, year-to-date.”
Every year, economic immigration programs account for up to 90% of all new permanent residents to Prince Edward Island.
In 2019, economic programs accounted for 91.2 percent of new permanent residents to Prince Edward Island, and that share has only grown this year, with these programs accounting for nearly 93 percent of new permanent residents to the province in the first nine months of 2021.
Prior to the pandemic, immigration on Prince Edward Island was steadily increasing, more than doubling from 1,190 new permanent residents in 2015 to 2,445 in 2019, the last full year before the current health crisis, according to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data.
Public health restrictions, including border closures, reduced immigration to the province to 1,290 new permanent residents in 2020.
Based on the rate of immigration in the first nine months of this year, it is on track to come within three percentage points of the province’s total number of new permanent residents welcomed in 2019.
The Provincial Nominee Program of Prince Edward Island offers numerous opportunities for foreign nationals to immigrate to the province.
The province considers candidates already in the federal Express Entry Pool for provincial nomination under its Express Entry category of immigration programs.
Such a nomination adds 600 points to a candidate’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, effectively ensuring an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian immigration.
Applicants for immigration through the Express Entry system in Prince Edward Island must, however, meet the requirements of one of the federal economic immigration programs
The profiles created by applicants are evaluated on a grid with points given for:
ITAs are issued to the best-scoring candidates through draws that take place monthly.
Under its Labour Impact category, the province operates two streams:
The Skilled Worker stream is driven by employers, and it allows skilled workers with job offers in the province to be nominated for Canadian permanent residency if they meet the following criteria:
The Critical Worker category is intended to address labour shortages and is open to foreign workers who are already in the province and working in specific, in-demand occupations. The nomination criteria are as follows:
The province offers permanent residency under its Business Impact category to those who have obtained a Canadian work permit and worked for a Prince Edward Island business for the required amount of time as specified in a Performance Agreement.
The Primary criteria for nomination are:
Then, there’s the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, an employer-driven group of three programs: