New Brunswick Skilled Worker Stream (NBPNP): Pathways and Requirements

The Skilled Worker stream is New Brunswick's main employer-supported route to permanent residence. Immigration New Brunswick (INB), the provincial immigration office, nominates you. Then you apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which makes the final decision on permanent residence.

This is a base stream. You do not need a profile in the federal Express Entry system. Your nomination certificate will say which federal process you use to apply for permanent residence.

New Brunswick rebuilt the stream in 2025. It now has three separate pathways. Pathways that existed before 2025, such as Skilled Worker with Family Support, are no longer offered. If you read an older guide that mentions them, the information is out of date.

The stream is one of several New Brunswick options. See the New Brunswick immigration overview for the full list, and how provincial nominee programs work for the federal side.

Every candidate must meet these general requirements:

• Be at least 19 years old.
• Have Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) level 4 or higher in all four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. See approved language tests.
• Have the support of an eligible employer that has been actively operating in New Brunswick for the past 24 months, providing goods or services.
• Meet the requirements of your New Brunswick job under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) and any other laws that apply, such as licensing rules.

You must also meet the rules of at least one pathway. When you submit your expression of interest (EOI), you only choose the stream. Your answers to the questionnaire decide which pathways you fit.

PGWP means post-graduation work permit. See the PGWP page if you are a graduate.

New Brunswick Experience

This pathway is for people already living and working in the province. You need at least six months of full-time work with the employer supporting you, and you must have lived in New Brunswick for the past six months.

New Brunswick Graduates

This pathway is for international students who finished an eligible program at a school in New Brunswick and now have a full-time job with a New Brunswick employer.

New Brunswick Priority Occupations

This pathway is for people recruited through missions led by the Government of New Brunswick. You cannot use it with a job offer you found on your own.

New Brunswick has more interest than nomination spaces. It has added limits, which were in place as of September 2026:

• Since May 4, 2026: new invitations under the New Brunswick Experience pathway only go to jobs in health care, education and construction. The province says this is because little of the stream's allocation is left.
• Since February 3, 2026: INB is not issuing invitations to candidates working in the accommodation and food services sector (NAICS 72) under the Skilled Worker or Express Entry streams. This covers jobs such as cooks, chefs, food service supervisors, servers, bartenders and hotel front desk clerks. Candidates in these jobs can still apply if their employer is not in the accommodation or food services sector.
• Also since February 3, 2026: some jobs are excluded in every sector. Examples include cashiers, retail salespersons, retail sales supervisors, store shelf stockers, shippers and receivers, and fish and seafood plant workers.

These lists change. Check the official important notices page before you submit an EOI.

Your EOI goes into the NBPNP candidate pool and stays valid for 365 days. It is not first come, first served. INB holds scheduled draws and invites people based on labor market needs, the remaining allocation and provincial priorities.

In 2026, INB held draws in most months. For example, on July 18, 2026 it invited 209 candidates under the New Brunswick Graduates pathway, and in a draw on July 16 to 18, 2026 it invited 58 candidates under New Brunswick Experience (source: INB invitation rounds page).

Some rules on multiple submissions:

• One INB profile can have only one active EOI or application.
• To be in both the NBPNP pool and the Atlantic Immigration Program pool, you need a separate profile with a different email for each.
• If you get an invitation, you must withdraw your other submissions. If you keep more than one active application, all of them could be refused.
• To change your EOI, withdraw it and submit a new one. This does not move you to the back of a line.

Submitting an EOI is free. If you are invited, you pay a non-refundable provincial application fee of $250 before you submit your complete application (as of September 2026).

You also pay federal fees when you apply to IRCC for permanent residence, plus costs for language tests, police certificates and a medical exam. If you need a work permit while you wait, your employer pays the federal employer compliance fee. The employer cannot take that fee from you.

INB first checks that your application is complete. Then an officer assesses it, which can take several months. You may be asked for more documents, get a phone call from an officer, or receive a procedural fairness letter that explains a concern.

If you are approved, you get a nomination certificate through the INB portal. You must apply to IRCC for permanent residence before it expires, and include all family members, whether they come with you or not. After nomination you cannot withdraw to reapply under another New Brunswick stream.

While you wait, you may qualify for a bridging open work permit or a closed work permit with a support letter from INB and an offer of employment number from your employer.

If your job is outside the current priority sectors, look at other routes:

• New Brunswick Express Entry stream if you have a federal Express Entry profile and a skilled job (TEER 0 to 3).
• New Brunswick Strategic Initiative if you speak French.
• The Atlantic Immigration Program, if your employer is designated.
• Federal Express Entry on your own points.

If your work permit is expiring, INB suggests talking with your employer about federal options such as a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) work permit.