MPNP requirements

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) has general requirements for candidates applying under the skilled worker or business categories.

The Skilled Worker Stream

The Skilled Worker categories operate throughManitoba’s expression of interest (EOI) system, under which eligible candidates complete a series of online questions and receive points based on the answers they provide. The highest-scoring candidates may be invited to apply to the MPNP. There is no limit on the number of candidates who may submit an expression of interest and there is no deadline.

There are 2 pathways to Manitoba as a skilled worker, both of which operate within the MPNP Expression of Interest (EOI) System:

Skilled Worker in Manitoba

A detailed article onThe Skilled Worker in Manitoba Stream.

Under the Skilled Worker in Manitoba category, applications are accepted from eligible temporary foreign workers and international graduates who are working in Manitoba and have been offered permanent employment by a Manitoba employer.

Unlike the other connections to Manitoba within the MPNP, Skilled Worker in Manitoba does not undergo a points-based assessment to determine eligibility. Candidates must meet the minimum requirements listed below in order to be entered into the expression of interest pool, where they are ranked against a number of factors.

Requirements for the candidate

To be eligible under the MPNP Skilled Worker in Manitoba category, a candidate must:

• Be an eligible temporary foreign worker or international graduate.
  • International graduates must have taken a licensed education or training programme at a public post-secondary institution or a registered private institution in Manitoba (language programmes are expressly excluded).
  • The academic/vocational training programme must be full-time and last at least 1 academic year.
  • The candidate must have successfully completed the programme and been awarded a diploma, degree or certificate.
• Have a permanent, full-time job offer from their current employer in Manitoba.
• Have worked continuously for their current employer in Manitoba for at least 6 months.
  • Any period of self-employment, unauthorised work, or work carried out while studying full-time (for example, work experience gained on a co-op work permit) is not counted when calculating the period of eligible work experience in Manitoba.
• Hold a validWork PermitorPost-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP)fromImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
• Meet the training or education standard and any mandatory licensing or certification.
• Have work-ready English ability. Specifically, the candidate must demonstrate English or French ability sufficient to perform the duties in their job description.
• Have a connection to Manitoba through employment that is stronger than any connection they may have to another province.
• Demonstrate in a Settlement Plan the intention and ability to live, work and establish their working and family life in Manitoba as a permanent resident.
• Demonstrate sufficient settlement funds — usually CAD 10,000 for the principal candidate, plus a further CAD 2,000 for each dependant included in the application.

Note: candidates who graduated from a post-secondary programme in a Canadian province other than Manitoba and wish to apply under this category because they have been offered work in Manitoba must work for that Manitoba employer for at least 1 year in order to be eligible.

Requirements for the employer

Employers making a job offer must:

• Be incorporated or registered under the statute of a province or the Parliament of Canada.
• Be operating as a business with stable production capacity, a plant or business premises in Manitoba.
• Demonstrate to the MPNP’s satisfaction that they are an established business with the capacity to provide the candidate with full-time, long-term employment in Manitoba.
• Provide a job offer letter to the candidate that is:
  • Signed.
  • On company letterhead.
  • Clear as to the salary/remuneration and any other details of the position.

Skilled Worker Overseas

A detailed article onThe Skilled Worker Overseas Stream.

The Manitoba Skilled Worker Overseas category is for eligible skilled workers who may be outside Canada but can demonstrate a strong connection to the province. This programme uses a points-based system to assess candidates against factors such as age, language ability, work experience, education and adaptability.

Requirements for the candidate

To be eligible under this category, a candidate must:

• Score a minimum of 60/100 points on the points assessment grid.
• Demonstrate an established connection to Manitoba through the support of friends or family, previous work or study experience in the province, or a Letter of Advice to Apply issued by the MPNP.

Each form of connection to the province has its own specific requirements.

A supporter in Manitoba

To be a Manitoba supporter, an individual must:

• Be able to provide documentation showing that they have lived continuously in Manitoba for a minimum of 1 year.
• Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• Be able to demonstrate a sufficiently close relationship to the candidate and the province.
  • For close relatives, both the candidate and the supporter must provide documentation evidencing their family relationship.
  • Close relatives are taken to be those related to the candidate (or the candidate’s spouse) in one of the following ways:
    • Sibling
    • Niece or nephew
    • Aunt or uncle
    • First cousin
    • Mother or father
    • Grandmother or grandfather
• Be able to demonstrate that any application they supported previously led to successful long-term economic establishment in Manitoba.
• Be able to support the candidate’s Settlement Plan.

Paid immigration representatives and elected Canadian officials and their staff cannot be a Manitoba Supporter. Children living in Manitoba cannot support their parents. Instead, reference may be made toThe Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Programme.

Experience in Manitoba

To apply under Manitoba Experience, the candidate must have lived in the province in the past as a temporary foreign worker or international student.

To be eligible, those with previous work experience in Manitoba must:

• Have worked full-time for a Manitoba employer for a minimum of 6 continuous months.
• Submit a reference letter from the employer, signed and on company letterhead.
• Submit a copy of the work permit evidencing that they worked in the province.

Those with previous study experience in Manitoba must:

• Have taken and completed a licensed education or training programme at a public post-secondary institution or a registered private institution in Manitoba.
• Submit the study permit, academic transcripts and the certificate, diploma or degree they received on completing the programme.

A Manitoba Letter of Advice to Apply

A Letter of Advice to Apply for permanent residence is issued regularly by the MPNP to eligible candidates identified as part of strategic recruitment initiatives. A Letter of Advice to Apply is issued at the MPNP’s discretion, so candidates cannot choose to use this connection to Manitoba themselves.

The candidate must submit the Letter of Advice to Apply they received from the MPNP following an interview during a recruitment mission or an exploratory visit. The MPNP regularly carries out overseas recruitment missions, often in partnership with Manitoba employers, in which it seeks prospective immigrants.

During certain periods, the MPNP accepts requests to make an exploratory visit to Manitoba. This visit allows prospective MPNP candidates to research communities and job opportunities in order to decide whether they have a genuine intention and ability to settle in Manitoba as permanent residents.

Exploratory visits must be approved by the MPNP and arranged by invitation only. The MPNP provides guidance on what to do during the visit and the documents the candidate must bring.

To be eligible for an exploratory visit, a candidate must:

• Be aged between 21 and 45.
• Be able to demonstrate the employability and adaptability required of all MPNP candidates.
• Have completed at least a 1-year post-secondary education or training programme, through which they received a diploma, degree or certificate.
• Have at least two years of full-time work experience in the past five years.
• Demonstrate the ability to find employment in Manitoba in the same occupation in which they have two years of experience. This includes a plan for obtaining the appropriate licence or certification where the occupation is regulated.
• Submit a Settlement Plan demonstrating the intention and ability to become economically established and settle in Manitoba as a permanent resident.
• Submit the official results of an approved language test taken within the past two years, showing that they achieved a score equivalent to at leastCanadian Language Benchmark (CLB)6 in each component as well as overall.

The self-assessment points system

In addition to the requirement to demonstrate a connection to Manitoba, applicants must score at least 60/100 points on the self-assessment grid. Points are awarded based on five factors: language proficiency, age, work experience, education, and adaptability.

Factor 1: Language proficiency

Language proficiency	Points
First language (English or French)
CLB 8 or higher / native speaker	20
CLB 7	18
CLB 6	16
CLB 5	14
CLB 4 *	12
CLB 3 or lower	0
Second language (English or French)
CLB 5 or higher	5

Factor 2: Age

Age	Points
18	4
19	6
20	8
21 to 45	10
46	8
47	6
48	4
49	2
50 or older	0

Factor 3: Work experience (in the last 5 years)

Experience	Points
Less than 1 year	0
1 year	8
2 years	10
3 years	12
4 years or more	15

Factor 4: Education

Education	Points
Master's or Doctorate	25
Two post-secondary programmes, each at least 2 years	23
A post-secondary programme of 2 years or longer	20
One 1-year post-secondary programme	14
Trade certificate	14
No post-secondary education	0

Factor 5: Adaptability

Adaptability	Points
Close relative in Manitoba	20
Invitation to Apply received from MPNP as part of a recruitment mission or exploratory visit	20
Previous work experience in Manitoba (at least 6 months)	12
Completed a post-secondary programme of 2 years or more in Manitoba	12
Completed a post-secondary programme of at least 1 year in Manitoba	10
Friend or distant relative living in Manitoba	10
Residing outside Winnipeg	5
Total	100

Download the original to submit to MPNP at here.

Cases of ineligibility

A candidate is not considered under the Skilled Worker Stream if they:

• Are self-employed, a business owner, an owner-operator, or an individual providing services as an independent contractor to the business supporting their application.
• Are exempt from the work permit requirement to work in Manitoba (for example, a minister of religion).
• Apply on the basis of a job offer under a study-work programme.
• Are an asylum seeker, or an individual engaged in a federal appeal or removal process.
• Are a Live-in Caregiver currently living in Canada.
• Are a Temporary Foreign Worker currently working and residing in a province other than Manitoba.
• Are the spouse of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.
• Are an individual who has been refused by the MPNP within the past 6 months and is unable to address the reasons for refusal.
• Are an individual with an active immigration application under any other provincial immigration programme in Canada.

The Business Investor Stream

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program for Business (MPNP-B) is a stream allowing Manitoba to recruit and nominate eligible entrepreneurs who have the intention and ability to reside in the province, make a substantial investment in a new or existing business, and take an active management role.

This stream operates under theexpression of interest (EOI) system, under which prospective candidates submit their intention to apply to the programme. The most eligible are invited to apply by receiving a Letter of Advice to Apply (LAA) from the MPNP-B. After receiving an LAA, the candidate has 60 days to submit an application to the programme.

Requirements for the candidate

To be eligible for the MPNP-B, a candidate must:

• Have a minimum verifiable personal net worth of CAD 350,000.
• Have a minimum of three years of successful business ownership and management experience, or executive-level experience as a senior manager of a business, within the past 5 years:
• Business ownership experience: the candidate has been actively involved in providing goods or services to customers and has borne the profit risk on the capital invested in the business.
  • Senior management experience: the candidate has held a position at the highest management level of a large business, responsible for developing strategic policy.
    • The candidate’s position must carry significant decision-making responsibility for at least 2 of the following aspects of the business:
      • Distribution
      • Production/operations/project management
      • Procurement
      • Sales
      • Marketing
      • Finance
      • Accounting
      • Human resources/personnel
      • Research and development
      • Information technology management
      • Quality control
    • The candidate must demonstrate that their level of income is comparable to the prevailing income of senior managers of other large businesses in the same country.
• Make a valid Business Investment in Manitoba.
• Attend an interview with MPNP-B staff.
• Demonstrate sufficient language ability by providing the results of a language proficiency test taken within the past two years at an approved testing body:
  • English:
    • IELTS
    • CELPIP
  • French:
    • TEF
    • TCF
• Have the intention and ability to reside in Manitoba together with all dependent family members.
• Score a minimum of 60 points on the Adaptability Assessment Matrix

Candidates may also be required to make an Exploratory Visit to Manitoba. The candidate will need to provide evidence of the research carried out during the visit in the form of a visit report and other documents.

The Adaptability Assessment Matrix

The adaptability assessment matrix is used to evaluate a candidate's potential for successful settlement in Manitoba. Candidates must score 60 points or more to be nominated.

Age (Maximum 15 points)

Age	Points
Under 21	0
21 to 24	5
25 to 29	10
30 to 44	15
45 to 49	5
50 to 54	5
Over 54	0

Business Knowledge (Maximum 15 points)

Business Knowledge	Points
Business owner and manager (over 50% ownership)	15
Business owner and manager (20% to 50% ownership)	12
Senior Manager	10

• If a candidate owns multiple businesses, only the ownership percentage of the primary/main business will be considered for this criterion.
• If the candidate's spouse owns shares in the same business, the combined ownership will be calculated together for this criterion.
• If a candidate owns less than 20% of shares in a business, they must be a senior manager to be eligible for the MPNP-B.

Business Experience (Maximum 15 points)

Duration of Experience	Points
10 years or more	15
Over 6 to 10 years	10
Over 3 to 6 years	5

• The duration of experience is only counted for senior management experience or business ownership as defined by the MPNP-B. No points are awarded for other types of experience.

Net Worth (Maximum 15 points)

Total Net Worth	Points
Over CAD$2,500,000	15
Over CAD$2,000,000 to CAD$2,500,000	14
Over CAD$1,500,000 to CAD$2,000,000	13
Over CAD$1,000,000 to CAD$1,500,000	12
Over CAD$500,000 to CAD$1,000,000	10
CAD$350,000 to CAD$500,000	8

English or French Proficiency (Maximum 20 points)

Description	CLB/NCLC score or equivalent	Points
High language proficiency — candidates can communicate very well or are fluent in English/French	Over 6	20
Intermediate language proficiency — candidates have some English/French skills and can communicate well in most daily situations	4 to 6	15
No/low English/French skills — candidates have minimal or no English/French skills	Under 4	0

• To be scored for this criterion, candidates must submit test results from an approved language testing organization (IELTS, CELPIP, or TEF) as proof of language ability.
• The test must have been taken no more than 2 years before the date of submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the MPNP-B, and official results must be submitted as a mandatory document with the MPNP-B application.

Enhanced Settlement Factors (Maximum 20 points)

Settlement Factor	Points
Candidate has visited Manitoba for at least 5 business days and conducted research related to business and lifestyle	15
The applicant's spouse has a high level of language proficiency (CLB score of 5 or higher).	10
The applicant has a close relative currently residing in Manitoba for over one year.	5
The applicant's child has been attending an accredited educational institution in Manitoba for at least six months prior to the date of the nomination application and is actively pursuing full-time academic, professional, or vocational training.	5
The applicant or their accompanying spouse or common-law partner has completed a full-time study programme of at least one year at a post-secondary educational institution in Manitoba. This must have been completed after the age of 17 and with a valid study permit. OR The applicant or their accompanying spouse or common-law partner has completed at least six months of continuous full-time employment in Manitoba. The applicant must provide a reference letter from the employer and a copy of their work permit.	5

• The exploratory visit must have taken place no more than one year prior to the submission of the EOI.
• The applicant must provide documentation proving their child's enrolment at an accredited educational institution in Manitoba.
• The close relative must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and have resided in Manitoba for over one year. A close relative is defined as a sibling, aunt/uncle, niece/nephew, grandparent, or first cousin. Proof of relationship must be provided. Evidence that they are well-established in Manitoba (proof of employment, proof of residence, Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment, etc.) is also required.

Refund of the deposit

After a candidate receives a nomination from the MPNP-B, they must pay a good-faith deposit of CAD 100,000. Once the candidate meets the terms and conditions of the Deposit Agreement, this sum is refunded in full, without interest. Where a candidate chooses to withdraw their application before arriving in Canada as a permanent resident, the deposit is refunded to them.

Cases of ineligibility

Candidates should not apply if they:

• Have an unresolved asylum claim in Canada.
• Are in Canada unlawfully.
• Are subject to a removal order in Canada.
• Are inadmissible to Canada.
• Have a pending application with another Provincial Nominee Program in Canada.
• Intend to establish a primary production agricultural operation.
• Have had a previous MPNP-B application refused within the past 12 months.
• Have had a previous MPNP-B application refused for misrepresentation or fraudulent documents within the past 24 months.

The Morden Community Driven Initiative

The Morden Community Driven Initiative takes an active role in identifying new permanent residents for the community under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP).

Successful candidates and their dependent family members become permanent residents of Canada. Morden, Manitoba is a city located 112 km south-west of Winnipeg with a population of around 9,000. The local unemployment rate is around 3%.

Requirements for the candidate

To be eligible to apply to the Morden immigration initiative, a candidate must:

• Be aged between 21 and 45.
• Have no other connection to other parts of Canada (for example, through friends, relatives, or previous employment or study).
• Have completed a post-secondary education or training programme lasting at least 1 year, through which they received a diploma, certificate or degree.
• Have at least two years of full-time work experience in the past 5 years.
• Have passed the IELTS General Training test with a minimum score of 5 in each skill;
• Have the intention and ability to become economically established and settle in Morden.
• Have the settlement funds required by the MPNP (CAD 10,000 for the principal candidate and CAD 2,000 for each dependant). This amount is in addition to any costs needed for the exploratory visit.

The Morden immigration initiative works with local employers to identify these target occupations and to meet local labour market needs. Candidates must be in one of the following target occupations:

• Cabinetmaker.
• Manufacturing (specifically at entry level).
• Industrial sewing machine operator.
• Heavy vehicle mechanic.

The initiative gives priority to candidates with experience of living in a rural area, with the ability to adapt to the culture and climate. Candidates who meet the criteria and are selected as prospective immigrants to Morden under the initiative must make an exploratory visit to the area. The main purpose of the visit is to pass the MPNP interview, although establishing local connections and seeking job opportunities are also recommended.

Read the detailed requirements for the sub-categories of the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) on the Manitoba provincial government website athere.