All candidates who are applying as MPNP – Skilled Workers Overseas stream must demonstrate an established connection to Manitoba either through the support of family members or friends / through previous education or work experience in the province / through an Invitation to Apply received directly from the MPNP as part of a Strategic Recruitment Initiative. Please find more information about the different types of eligible connections below.

Manitoba Support

A Manitoba Supporter is an established resident of the province who is a friend or relative of the applicant and is willing and able to review and endorse the applicant’s plan for settling and finding employment in their destination community. A Manitoba Supporter must be the applicant’s close relative or friend/distant relative, and must be:

• Able to provide documents proving they reside and are established in Manitoba and have been living in the province continuously for at least one year (ex: copy of Manitoba Health Card)
• A Canadian citizen or permanent resident (ex: copy of Permanent Resident Card)
• Able to demonstrate sufficiently close ties to the applicant and to Manitoba
• Able to demonstrate that any applications they previously supported resulted in successful, permanent economic establishment in Manitoba
• Able to support the applicant’s Settlement Plan

For close relatives, both the applicant and the supporter must provide documents proving their familial relationship.

Close relatives may support the application of more than one skilled worker at a time provided they satisfactorily demonstrate their ability to do so.

For friends and distant relatives, their household must not be currently supporting the settlement of another MPNP applicant, nominee or person under another Canadian immigration program.

Finally, your supporter cannot be and the MPNP will not accept a Settlement Plan Part 2 signed by:

• A paid immigration representative
• Anyone who is not a demonstrated relative or friend of the applicant or the applicant’s spouse
• A Canadian elected official or their staff

Your Manitoba supporter is your connection to the province; to be eligible for the MPNP you must also demonstrate you can be assessed sufficient points for language, employability, education, age and adaptability according to the MPNP Self-assessment Worksheet.

Note: Applicants with Manitoba Supporters should declare that person and their address as local contact for correspondence with the MPNP so that your supporter is authorized to discuss your application.

Important: The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program is not a sponsorship program. Because the MPNP is a labour market-driven, economic immigration program, all applicants must be employable and adaptable skilled workers with job-ready English, sufficient settlement funds and the genuine intention and ability to economically establish in Manitoba as permanent residents.

Family relationships

To be considered a close relative, a Manitoba Supporter must be related to the applicant (or the applicant’s spouse) in one of the following ways:

• Sister or brother
• niece or nephew (ex: child of your sister or brother)
• Aunt or uncle (ex: brother or sister of your mother or father)
• First cousin (ex: child of your aunt or uncle)
• Mother or father
• Grandmother or grandfather

Note:

1. Children living in Manitoba cannot serve as Manitoba Supporter for their parents’ MPNP application.
   
2. If the applicant is married to a Canadian Citizen or permanent resident, he/she is not eligible to apply to the MPNP.

Manitoba Experience

Manitoba Experience means that in the past you lived in the province as a temporary foreign worker or as an international student.

Manitoba Experience is your connection; to be eligible for the MPNP you must also demonstrate you can be assessed sufficient points for language, employability, education, age and adaptability according to the MPNP Self-assessment Worksheet.

Skilled workers considering applying with connection of Manitoba Experience may refer to the points worksheet to see how many points you may be assessed for your past employment, or for your past education (dependent on your level and duration of studies).

Past employment in Manitoba:

• In the past, you worked full-time for a Manitoba employer at least six consecutive months.
• Submit signed employer letter of reference on company letterhead AND copy of work permit proving you worked in Manitoba.

Past education in Manitoba:

• As an international student you attended and completed an authorized education or training program at a public, or registered private vocational, post-secondary institution in Manitoba. (Language studies are not authorized.)
• To prove you studied in Manitoba, you must submit your study permit(s), your academic transcripts and the certificate, diploma or degree you received for completing the program.

Manitoba Invitation

The MPNP for Skilled Workers regularly issues Invitations to Apply to qualified candidates who are identified as part of one of our Strategic Recruitment initiatives in Manitoba and overseas. Issuance of an Invitation to Apply is at the sole discretion of the MPNP and applicants cannot self-select for eligibility with this connection to our province.

Required documents

To apply to the MPNP with the connection of Manitoba Invitation, you must upload in MPNP Online the Letter of Invitation you received directly from the MPNP after being interviewed by a program officer during a recruitment mission or exploratory visit.

Recruitment missions

The MPNP regularly travels overseas on recruitment missions, often in partnership with Manitoba employers. Watch this page for news of the next MPNP initiative.

Exploratory Visits

The MPNP accepts – only during set periods – expressions of interest to make an exploratory visit to Manitoba. Watch this page for news of 2015 intake dates.

Eligibility criteria to participate in visits and missions are subject to change but generally include that you:

• Are between the ages of 21 to 45
• Can satisfy the MPNP that you do not have a stronger connection to another province
• Can demonstrate the employability and adaptability required of all MPNP applicants
• Have completed at least a one-year, post-secondary education or training program for which you received a diploma, degree or certificate
• Have worked at least two years full-time in the past five years and can demonstrate your ability to find a job in Manitoba in that occupation (including plans to achieve licence/certification in the case of regulated occupations)
• Have the genuine intention and ability to economically establish and settle in the Canadian province of Manitoba as a permanent resident demonstrated, in part, with a Settlement Plan
• Provide to the MPNP, at the time you apply to participate in the initiative, official results of an approved language test taken within the past two years showing you achieved scores equivalent to at least CLB 5 in each test category and overall.

What is an MPNP exploratory visit?

An exploratory visit is a pre-arranged trip that potential MPNP applicants may make to the Province of Manitoba, Canada to research communities and employment opportunities to help them make an informed decision on whether they have the intention and ability to find employment and settle with their family in Manitoba as permanent residents.

After the MPNP interview included in a pre-approved exploratory visit, we may invite you to submit an MPNP Online application. Note that it is the Letter of Invitation, NOT the exploratory visit, that establishes a candidate’s requisite Manitoba connection.

The MPNP conducts exploratory visits at our discretion as resources allow in order to provide opportunity for qualified skilled workers, otherwise ineligible for our program, to establish the Connection to Manitoba that is required of all provincial nominee program applicants.

Exploratory visits must be approved by, then arranged through, the MPNP only by invitation following our acceptance of your request.

Exploratory visit itinerary:

Only to candidates whose request is accepted does the MPNP provide instructions on what to do during an exploratory visit and what documents to bring with you (ex: education certificates and employer letters of reference). Activities to undertake during an exploratory visit include: meeting with prospective employers; consulting with occupational regulatory bodies, and exploring housing, school and lifestyle opportunities in your chosen Manitoba community.

Points Assessment

Every candidate who wants to be considered under the Skilled Worker Overseas stream must score at least 60 points out of 100 based on five factors in order to be eligible in addition to demonstrating a strong connection to Manitoba. If you do not have a connection to Manitoba, you are not eligible under this stream, regardless of your points total. If you are eligible under one of the application streams, you will be able to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). Once you successfully create the EOI, you will be entered into a pool of all eligible candidates and you will be given EOI ranking points.

Factor 1: Language Proficiency

Applicants whose occupation is classified at National Occupational Classification C or D must, in order to be eligible to apply, have at least CLB 4 in English (or NCLC 4 in French).

Factor 2: Age

Factor 3: Work Experience

Factor 4: Education

Factor 5: Adaptability