PNP Limitations

[rsirish]

Hi All,

Quick query on PNP nominations. Are we obliged to live in the province which helped you get a PR through the PNP channel? If we receive our PR through the PNP route from Nova Scotia, can i start working and living in another province? If no, how long am i supposed to stick to the province that nominated me for PNP before migrating to another province? Is there a legal obligation? Let's consider Nova Scotia to be the approver of PNP and the goal is to live in Toronto, Ontario.

 

[Bs65]

There are so many posts with answers on this subject. Anyway once you have landed you can move to, live in and work in any province you want. There is no legal restriction on you saying you have to stay in the province you gained PR from , the only provision is that it is advisable to either do your initial landing in that province or at a minimum show intent that is your destination if you land in a different province . Once you have landed you can do what you want.

 

[CanXu]

Thx Guys, This is exactly my question and it helps..I am going through process for SINP to add 600 points ..

So bit worried only to work\live 2 years in the province or i can move any province as long as good opportunities...

Looks there is legal restriction and can work anywhere in Canada and should not be a problem..

 

[mf4361]

I seriously have no idea where this baseless "2 year obligation" rumour comes from. Full of baloney

On where you should do the landing, it is very common that one lands at a border outside of province. You just need to show intention of residence in the province of nomination (or prove that you already are). Doesn't even need something very solid, just a connecting flight, or hotel reservation, friends phone number, etc.

 

[Leon]

When you apply through a PNP, you sign a document stating that you intend to settle in your PNP province. You do not have any legal obligation to reside in the PNP province for any certain length of time. However, immigration officers are advised to ask PNP applicants who are landing outside their PNP province if they are going there and they may refuse your landing if you admit that you are not planning on going to your PNP province or if they don't believe that you are.

Sometimes immigration officers go above and beyond and tell PNP applicants that they must spend x amount of time in their PNP province. I have heard 2 years, 3 years, until you get citizenship or even forever but there is no legal basis for that.

The charter of rights and freedoms allows a PR the right to live and work in any province so legally, you are safe to go as soon as you have successfully landed. However, keep in mind that there is something called misrepresentation and if immigration decides at some point that they want to go after PNP applicants who did not stay in their PNP provinces, they would start with those who didn't spend any time at all. The misrepresentation in that case would be having signed a document stating that your intention was to settle in your PNP province and then landing without disclosing that this intention, the basis for your PR, had changed. However, if you'd stayed in your PNP province for at least a couple of months or if you did a soft landing and only returned to settle a couple of months later, they would have a hard time proving misrepresentation because you could say that you spent the couple of months trying to find a job and couldn't.

 

[Rob_TO]

Hi All,

Quick query on PNP nominations. Are we obliged to live in the province which helped you get a PR through the PNP channel? If we receive our PR through the PNP route from Nova Scotia, can i start working and living in another province? If no, how long am i supposed to stick to the province that nominated me for PNP before migrating to another province? Is there a legal obligation? Let's consider Nova Scotia to be the approver of PNP and the goal is to live in Toronto, Ontario.

The only legal obligation is during the application process. You must have a genuine intent to settle in the province you're applying to. However once you land, situations can change and you are allowed to leave the province if you wish.

However if you really have no intent to live in the province you're applying to, and fully intend to move immediately after landing, that is a form of immigration fraud and clearly taking advantage of the province and PNP program in general. If you don't intend to settle in a province, don't waste their time by applying for PNP there.

 

[rsirish]

Thank you everyone for sharing your insights. We applied for Nova Scotia and have received our COPR. We will be doing a soft landing in the coming months to complete the formalities and then return to our current residing country. Our plan is to migrate mid next year. We would be happy to live/settle in Halifax but i am considering a scenario where we are unable to find a Job in NS. We do not want to be jobless for months. And assuming better job prospects for IT skill sets we were considering relocating to Toronto or Vancouver or any province we could get a Job.

 

[bellaluna]

^ That's perfectly reasonable.

 

[Gag_nm]

Dears,
I have been nominated by Nova scotia, currently working as IT Middleware manager on Technologies (IIB,IBM MQ), but i don't see any job opportunities for this profile at Nova scotia.but, similar profile jobs are available at Toronto,Ottawa,Vancouver ...

i should plan for first landing, do i need land at Nova scotia or Toronto ?,

please advice ...

 

[Rob_TO]

Dears,
I have been nominated by Nova scotia, currently working as IT Middleware manager on Technologies (IIB,IBM MQ), but i don't see any job opportunities for this profile at Nova scotia.but, similar profile jobs are available at Toronto,Ottawa,Vancouver ...

i should plan for first landing, do i need land at Nova scotia or Toronto ?,

please advice ...

If you've already decided you don't want to reside in Novia Scotia, then you shouldn't waste their time and just cancel your PNP application. If you have no intention at all to live in NS, then you're committing misrepresentation/fraud by stating in your PNP app that you do intend to live there.

PNP app is for someone who genuinely will make an effort to actually live in the province that nominated them. At least if you make an effort but find there are no jobs, and later move to another province, that would be a better situation.

 

[mf4361]

Dears,
I have been nominated by Nova scotia, currently working as IT Middleware manager on Technologies (IIB,IBM MQ), but i don't see any job opportunities for this profile at Nova scotia.but, similar profile jobs are available at Toronto,Ottawa,Vancouver ...

i should plan for first landing, do i need land at Nova scotia or Toronto ?,

please advice ...

You can land at any borders into Canada. If you do not show intention of living in NS, you could be refused entry and nullify PR visa.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Although the legal/charter rights of PR argument holds true, you will have to live with fear for jumping provinces till you get the citizenship application applied. CIC does track the pattern of settlement of immigrants although I am not sure if it's ever used to hold against an applicant. What is being done might be legally right, but it would constitute abuse of the system. It is up to you guys.

 

[Well Wisher]

Hi All,

Quick query on PNP nominations. Are we obliged to live in the province which helped you get a PR through the PNP channel? If we receive our PR through the PNP route from Nova Scotia, can i start working and living in another province? If no, how long am i supposed to stick to the province that nominated me for PNP before migrating to another province? Is there a legal obligation? Let's consider Nova Scotia to be the approver of PNP and the goal is to live in Toronto, Ontario.

Anyone gained PR by Provincial Nomination Program (PNP) may reside anywhere they want in Canada, not only the nominated province. Any restriction to residency is unconstitutional. Charter of Rights and Freedoms Sec. 6 (2)

 

[Rob_TO]

Anyone gained PR by Provincial Nomination Program (PNP) may reside anywhere they want in Canada, not only the nominated province. Any restriction to residency is unconstitutional. Charter of Rights and Freedoms Sec. 6 (2)

That is not the issue. The issue is having no genuine intention to settle in the province you're applying to, during the application process. So essentially committing misrepresentation/fraud in order to gain PR status in the first place.

 

[Well Wisher]

That is not the issue. The issue is having no genuine intention to settle in the province you're applying to, during the application process. So essentially committing misrepresentation/fraud in order to gain PR status in the first place.

I understand the intentions here. Based on this I would suggest the applicant to stay in the Province of nomination during the complete application process. I quoted the reference as an answer to whether there is any legal residency obligation to stay in the province after getting PR.