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Nova Scotia Immigration Update 2026 – New EOI Pool, Priority Jobs & PR Rules

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Nova Scotia Immigration Update 2026 – New EOI Pool, Priority Jobs & PR Rules

Nova Scotia has introduced major changes to how it selects permanent residents. On November 28, 2025, the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program (NSPNP) announced the adoption of a new Expression of Interest (EOI) model for all immigration submissions — a shift aligning it with most other Canadian provinces’ nominee programs.

What’s Changing

  • Going forward, every submission — old or new — to Nova Scotia’s immigration streams (NSPNP and the Atlantic Immigration Program, AIP) will be treated as an EOI.
  • Having a case ID or meeting eligibility criteria no longer guarantees processing. Only when a candidate is selected in a draw from the EOI pool will their application move forward for assessment.
  • This replaces the older method where full applications were either “refused or nominated” soon after submission. Under the new system, all complete applications go into a central pool, and candidates are drawn when the province needs them.

Nova Scotia’s Selection Priorities

Nova Scotia will now use periodic “draws” to choose who gets processed next — depending on its changing labour-market and economic needs. Current priority sectors are:

  • Healthcare
  • Construction
  • Skilled trades
  • STEM fields
  • Natural resources
  • Manufacturing

These priorities may evolve over time as the province’s needs change.

Why the Change

The overhaul is driven by a growing imbalance: the number of people seeking to immigrate to Nova Scotia has vastly outpaced the number of provincial nomination spots allocated by the federal government.

Under the federal Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) plan for 2025-2026, allocations to provincial nominee programs (PNPs) were halved — forcing provinces like Nova Scotia to be more selective.

For 2025, Nova Scotia’s combined allocation for NSNP and AIP was reduced to 3,150 spots, down from 6,300 in 2024.

As of August 2025:

  • The province had already used 1,838 of its spots.
  • There remained 1,312 spots available.
  • Meanwhile, about 9,774 EOIs were waiting in the pool — nearly 3 times the remaining spots.

Because of this oversubscription, the shift to an EOI model allows the province to prioritize candidates whose skills match labour needs, instead of first-come, first-served.

What This Means for Applicants & Employers

  • Submitting a full application no longer means you’ll get processed — you now enter a waiting pool.
  • Only applications drawn in periodic selection rounds will move forward. If your EOI isn’t selected, you stay in the pool until maybe future draws.
  • For employers under AIP: endorsements now also go through the same draw-based system. Full endorsement packages are submitted but treated as EOIs. Only after selection will the employer’s submission be processed.
  • Because deliverable slots are limited, being ready with an accurate application aligned to priority sectors — especially in healthcare, trades, or STEM — may improve chances.

Key Reminder

Even if you already submitted under the old system and have a case ID, your file is now in the candidate pool, with no guarantee of being processed. Only draws decide which EOIs get advanced.

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