Since 25 March 2025, a valid job offer has been worth zero Comprehensive Ranking System points – IRCC removed the 50 and 200-point awards and they have not returned. That change stripped out what used to be the second-largest lever on a CRS score, and it left the provincial nomination standing alone. At 600 points, an enhanced nomination is now, by a wide margin, the largest single boost available to any Express Entry candidate.
Which makes the nomination certificate itself worth understanding properly. Most guides stop at “a nomination gives you 600 points”. That sentence is true for one of the two nomination types and false for the other, and the difference determines which application you file, how long you wait, and whether you need an Express Entry profile at all.
1. What a Provincial Nomination Certificate Actually Is
A provincial nomination certificate – sometimes issued as a “Confirmation of Nomination” – is a document from a Canadian province or territory confirming that it has selected you for permanent residence based on its own labour market needs. It typically states the nominee’s name, the nominating province, the stream, a certificate number, a validity date, and whether the nomination is linked to Express Entry.
It is not permanent residence, and it is not an approval. A nomination supports a PR application; IRCC still makes the final decision on admissibility, medicals, security and eligibility. Certificates carry an expiry date, and a province can withdraw a nomination if the conditions attached to it are not met.
Every province and territory operates a Provincial Nominee Program except Quebec, which runs its own separate economic immigration system, and Nunavut, which has no PNP. Our Provincial Nomination Program overview introduces the structure across the country.
2. Enhanced vs Base Nomination – the Fork That Decides Everything
This is the distinction the certificate turns on. Read your certificate to establish which one you hold before you do anything else.
| Enhanced (Express Entry-aligned) | Base (paper-based) | |
| Express Entry profile required | Yes – in most cases you must already be in the pool | No |
| CRS points awarded | 600 | None – you are not in the pool |
| How you apply for PR | Through Express Entry, after an ITA | Paper-based application direct to IRCC |
| IRCC service standard | Six months or less in 80% of cases | Substantially longer |
| Who it suits | Candidates eligible for FSW, CEC or FST | Candidates who do not qualify for any Express Entry program |
The strategic point is often missed: base streams are not a consolation prize. They are the only federal route for candidates whose language scores, work experience or occupation fall outside Express Entry eligibility entirely. A base nomination is a genuine pathway to permanent residence for people the federal pool cannot accommodate.
Candidates whose CRS scores sit below recent cut-offs should read this alongside our guide to Express Entry alternatives for low CRS scores, which sets out the wider set of options.
3. How to Get Nominated: the Route to a Certificate
There is no single national process. Each province designs its own streams and selection mechanism, and they differ more than most applicants expect.
- Match your profile to a stream. Map your NOC code and TEER category, education, work experience and language results against the province’s published criteria. Our PNP eligibility criteria guide explains the common requirements.
- Create an Express Entry profile if the stream is enhanced. Most enhanced streams require you to be in the pool before a province can nominate you.
- Submit an Expression of Interest or direct application. Mechanisms vary – some provinces run registration and ranking systems, some are notified through the federal pool, others require direct document submission.
- Respond to an invitation from the province. Provinces issue invitations, notifications of interest, or letters of advice to apply, depending on the jurisdiction. This is an invitation to apply for the nomination, not the nomination itself.
- File the provincial application and supporting documents. See our breakdown of the documents required and application process for PNP.
- Receive the nomination certificate. Only at this point does anything happen to your CRS score.
Provincial priorities shift frequently. Ontario’s programme has restructured its Express Entry-aligned streams during 2026 – track current activity through our OINP updates and latest draws hub and our Ontario immigrants 2026 guide. For Saskatchewan, see the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program and the 2026 SINP allocations.
4. The 600-Point Boost – and Exactly When It Applies
The two-step structure of enhanced PNP trips up a large number of candidates, so it is worth spelling out.
The 600 points are added when the nomination is confirmed and accepted in your Express Entry profile – not when a province invites you to apply for a nomination, and not when you submit your provincial application. Candidates regularly assume their score has jumped at the invitation stage and are then confused when general rounds pass them by.
Once the 600 points are applied, the arithmetic changes decisively. A candidate at CRS 430 moves to 1,030. Because general-round cut-offs have not approached that level, a confirmed enhanced nomination effectively guarantees an Invitation to Apply at a subsequent PNP-specific round.
- 600 is the maximum additional award available, and you can earn it only once.
- The points come from the nomination, not from the province’s prestige – every province’s enhanced nomination is worth the same 600.
- It remains subject to the province’s nomination allocation and to IRCC’s ministerial instructions for each round. Our rounds of invitation tracker shows how PNP-specific rounds have run through 2026.
For the full picture of how those points sit within your total score, see our Comprehensive Ranking System breakdown.
5. What to Do the Week Your Certificate Arrives
The window between receiving a certificate and acting on it is short, and the steps differ by nomination type.
If your nomination is enhanced
- Accept the nomination in your IRCC secure account.
- Update your Express Entry profile to show that you hold a nomination, and select the nominating province from the drop-down.
- Contact the province directly, outside your account, and provide your Express Entry profile number and job seeker validation code so it can confirm the nomination electronically.
- Confirm that your CRS score has increased by 600 before the next round.
- Prepare your PR document package now, not after the ITA arrives. You will have 60 days. Our guide to what follows an ITA – approval or refusal explains why that window closes faster than people expect.
If your nomination is base
- Confirm the validity period on the certificate and diarise the deadline.
- Assemble the paper-based permanent residence application for direct submission to IRCC.
- Ensure language results, police certificates and medicals will still be valid at submission, not merely today.
6. Validity, Conditions, and Withdrawal
A nomination certificate is a time-limited instrument attached to conditions. Provinces set their own validity periods, and the certificate states the expiry date on its face. Miss it and the nomination lapses; you do not automatically get another.
Conditions vary by stream and commonly relate to the intention to reside and work in the nominating province, continued employment where the stream was employer-driven, or the accuracy of the information you provided. A province can withdraw a nomination if it concludes those conditions are not met, and a withdrawn nomination removes the 600 points.
Intention to reside is assessed at the time of application. Nomination programmes are built on the premise that you intend to settle in the nominating province. Once you become a permanent resident, mobility rights apply – but misrepresenting your intention at the application stage is a serious matter with lasting consequences. If your circumstances change materially after nomination, disclose it rather than leaving it.
7. Why a Nomination Is Not the Finish Line
Even with 600 points and a near-certain ITA, IRCC assesses the permanent residence application independently. Files are refused after nomination for reasons that have nothing to do with the province’s decision:
- Expired language test results at the point of PR submission
- Medical or criminal inadmissibility affecting the applicant or a family member
- Work experience that does not meet IRCC’s counting rules, even where the province accepted it
- Incomplete documentation or missed deadlines within the 60-day window
- Discrepancies between the provincial application and the federal one
That fourth point deserves emphasis: a province and IRCC can assess the same employment history differently. Our analysis of how IRCC counts work experience for Express Entry sets out the rules that govern the federal side.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a provincial nomination certificate?
You apply to a specific stream of a province or territory’s PNP, meet its criteria, and are selected. There is no central application. Most enhanced streams require you to hold an Express Entry profile first; base streams do not.
How many CRS points is a provincial nomination worth?
600, but only for enhanced (Express Entry-aligned) nominations, and only once the nomination is confirmed in your Express Entry profile. Base nominations carry no CRS points because base candidates are not in the pool.
Can I apply to more than one province?
Programme rules differ by province and by stream, and some streams restrict concurrent applications. Check each stream’s conditions before applying in parallel, and be consistent about your stated intention to reside.
Does a nomination guarantee permanent residence?
No. It effectively guarantees an invitation for enhanced candidates, but IRCC decides the PR application separately on admissibility, documents and eligibility.
What if my nomination expires before I apply?
The nomination lapses. Contact the nominating province immediately if you are approaching the expiry date – options depend entirely on the province and the stream.
Is a job offer still worth CRS points?
No. IRCC removed all CRS points for arranged employment effective 25 March 2025, and the removal remains in force. A job offer may still be required for eligibility under certain PNP streams, but it adds nothing to your CRS score.
