Eligibility - Skilled Worker Overseas

Overview

To apply to the Skilled Worker Overseas (SWO) Pathway, you must demonstrate an established connection to Manitoba through either

You can find more information about the different types of eligible connections below.

In addition to your connection to Manitoba, you must score at least 60 points based on five factors: language proficiency, age, work experience, education, and adaptability. If you do not have a connection to Manitoba, you are not eligible to apply under SWO, regardless of your points total.

Connection to Manitoba

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 (e.g., copy of Manitoba Health Card)
  • a Canadian citizen or permanent resident
  • 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.

To be considered a close relative, a Manitoba Supporter must be related to the applicant (or the applicant's spouse) as their

  • sister or brother
  • niece or nephew (i.e., child of your sister or brother)
  • aunt or uncle (i.e., brother or sister of your mother or father)
  • first cousin (i.e., child of your aunt or uncle)
  • mother or father
  • grandmother or grandfather

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

Finally, your Manitoba 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

Applicants with a Manitoba Supporter should declare that person and their contact information for correspondence with the MPNP so that your Supporter is authorized to discuss your application. The MPNP requires up-to-date contact information for your Manitoba Supporter. Your Supporter must inform the MPNP if they move to a new address or if there are any other changes to their contact information. If the MPNP is unable to contact your Supporter using the information on file, your application may be refused.

Note: The MPNP is not a sponsorship program. Because the MPNP is an 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.

Frequently asked questions

Can children support parents?

No. Children living in Manitoba cannot serve as a Manitoba Supporter for their parents' MPNP application. Instead, you may be able to sponsor your parent or grandparent to become a permanent resident under the federal Family Class. Visit IRCC's web page on sponsoring your parents and grandparents to learn more.

Can Canadians or permanent residents support an application for their spouse?

No. If you are married to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you are not eligible to apply to the MPNP, but you may qualify under IRCC's Spousal Sponsorship category. Please visit IRCC's web page on sponsoring your spouse, partner or child to learn more.

Manitoba Experience

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

If you were a temporary foreign worker, you must have worked full-time for a Manitoba employer at least six consecutive months. You will be asked to submit a signed letter of reference on company letterhead and a copy of your Manitoba work permit.

If you were an international student, you must have 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. You will be asked to submit your study permit(s), your academic transcripts and the certificate, diploma or degree you received for completing the program.

Manitoba Invitation

The MPNP regularly issues Invitations to Apply to qualified candidates who are identified through 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.

To apply to the MPNP with the Manitoba Invitation connection, in your MPNP Online application, you must upload 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

An exploratory visit is a pre-arranged trip that potential MPNP applicants may make to the province of Manitoba 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 Invitation to Apply, 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 required of all MPNP applicants. Exploratory visits must be approved by, then arranged through, the MPNP only by invitation following our acceptance of your request.

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 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

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 (e.g., 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.

Note: Neither an accepted request, an actual visit and interview, nor an Invitation to Apply to the MPNP suggest guarantee of approval of your eventual MPNP Online application, nor approval of a nominee's subsequent, separate permanent resident visa application to the Government of Canada.

Points assessment

The MPNP will complete a full assessment of any application it receives and score each applicant based on the information supporting documentation you provide at that time, and according to the current criteria and information on eligibility, policy and procedure published on this website.

Click here for a PDF version of the self-assessment worksheet.

Factor 1: Language Proficiency

Language points are calculated according to documented proof of training and ability in one or both of Canada's official languages, English and French. If you are proficient in both, choose as your first language the one you are most comfortable using.

You must submit valid official results of a recent MPNP-approved language test as proof of your language proficiency. To be considered valid, your test must have been taken no more than two years prior to the date you submit your MPNP Online application.

CLB refers to the Canadian Language Benchmarks (or Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens [NCLC] in French). For information on approved tests and how test scores relate to CLB levels, please see the Language Proficiency section of this website.

Applicants whose occupation is classified at TEER 4 or 5 (previously NOC C or D) must, in order to be eligible to apply, have at least CLB/NCLC 4.

Language proficiencyPoints awarded
First language
CLB 8 or higher20
CLB 718
CLB 616
CLB 514
CLB 412
CLB 3 or lower0
Second language
CLB 5 or higher5
Maximum points25 (25% of total)

Factor 2: Age

Age points are calculated according to the date your full application is received by the MPNP.

AgePoints awarded
184
196
208
21 to 4510
468
476
484
492
50 or older0
Maximum points10 (10% of total)

Factor 3: Work Experience

Work experience points are based on documented proof of full-time employment in the past five years. Only full-time jobs of six months (continuous) or longer are considered.

Years of work experiencePoints awarded
Less than one year0
One year8
Two years10
Three years12
Four years or more15
Maximum points15 (15% of total)

Factor 4: Education

Education points are based on documented proof of completed education and/or training programs at recognized educational institutions. A completed program is one for which you have met all requirements and received a certificate, diploma or degree. The MPNP reserves the right to require a third-party assessment to demonstrate trades education and training are comparable to Canadian standards.

Highest level of educationPoints awarded
Master's degree or doctorate25
Two post-secondary programs of at least two years each23
One post-secondary program of two years or longer20
One one-year post-secondary program14
Trade certificate14
No formal post-secondary education0
Maximum points25 (25% of total)

Factor 5: Adaptability

Adaptability points are calculated according to documented proof of an established connection to Manitoba and employability in your assessed occupation, demonstrating that you have the genuine intention and ability to successfully settle and economically establish in Manitoba as a permanent resident.

A connection to Manitoba is required of all applicants. You can only receive points for one type of connection, even if multiple apply to you.

In addition to adaptability points, you may also score points for regional immigration for having a connection to, and planning to settle in, a region of Manitoba outside the city of Winnipeg. Regional points are supplemental only and cannot be a substitute for another connection to the province.

Adaptability factorPoints awarded
Connection to Manitoba
Close relative in Manitoba20
Invitation to Apply received from the MPNP as part of a Strategic Recruitment Initiative20
Previous work experience in Manitoba (at least six months)12
Completed post-secondary program of two years or more in Manitoba12
Completed post-secondary program of at least one academic year in Manitoba10
Friend or distant relative living in Manitoba10
Supplemental factors
Regional immigration*5
Maximum points25 (25% of total)
*All candidates indicating that they plan to settle outside of Winnipeg must, at the time of application, satisfactorily demonstrate that they have a convincing connection to a region outside of the capital city indicating a strong likelihood that they will make a long-term economic contribution to that region.

Who cannot apply to the MPNP?

The following are not eligible to submit an application to the MPNP:

  • Refugee claimants, or individuals involved in a federal appeal or removal process
  • Live-in Caregivers currently living in Canada
  • Temporary foreign workers currently working and residing in a province other than Manitoba
  • Spouses of Canadian citizens or permanent residents
  • Individuals who have been refused by the MPNP within the last six months and who are not able to address the reason(s) for refusal
  • Individuals who have an active immigration application with any other provincial immigration program or federal immigration program in Canada. Note: an Express Entry profile is not considered an immigration application.

If you or your spouse already have an active MPNP application, you are not eligible to submit an additional application to any other stream/pathway of the MPNP.