Moving to Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia, one of Canada’s Maritime Provinces, is known for water sports, such as kayaking, and is home to magical wildlife such as puffins and seals. It has a peninsula and many offshore islands and has the stunningly unique Bay of Fundy, one of its most popular tourist destinations, famous for its high tides and whale watching. Halifax, its capital, is known for its lively waterfront and the star-shaped Citadel.
Nova Scotia’s low cost of living and high quality of life made it a desirable place to live. Its government introduced organizations with a mandate to help new immigrants find jobs, improve their language skills and enroll in university, making their integration easier.
Immigration through Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP)
Ready to move to beautiful Nova Scotia? You need to apply to a Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) stream then. Prospective immigrants who have the skills and experience targeted by Nova Scotia may be nominated to immigrate through the NSNP.
Upon receiving your nominee certificate, you should start your immigration application process within the given six months allowance. You and your spouse, including your dependents, must meet all requirements; medical, security, and criminal admissibility. The specific process would depend on the NSNP stream that you would qualify for.
You may submit your application through any of the following NSNP streams:
Nova Scotia Experience Via Express Entry
Those highly skilled individuals who wish to live in Nova Scotia permanently are the target in this stream. Applicants should have a minimum of one year of experience in a high skilled occupation working in Nova Scotia. Find out here if you are eligible.
Nova Scotia Labor Market Priorities
In this stream, those selected candidates in the federal Express Entry system who meet the province labor market need to apply for nomination. Only those candidates who receive a Letter of Interest from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration may apply. Find out if you are eligible.
Labor Market Priorities for Physicians
The selection of physicians to apply for nomination under this stream is through the federal Express Entry system. Only those candidates with an approved offer from the Nova Scotia Health Authority or the IWK Health Centre and who received a Letter of Interest from the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration may apply under this stream.
The NSOI must have received the notification of the candidate’s Express Entry profile number and a signed approved opportunity with the Nova Scotia Health Authority or the IWK Health Centre first before sending a Letter of Interest to General practitioners and family physicians (NOC 3112) and Specialists physicians (NOC 3111). Check for specific guidelines and if you are eligible under this stream.
Physician
The Nova Scotia Physician Stream assists its provincial public health authorities through this stream. These Nova Scotia public health authorities, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), and the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre (IWK), get help hiring general practitioners, family physicians, and specialist physicians to work in Nova Scotia. These hires with the required skills fill positions NSHA and IWK couldn’t fill with a Canadian citizen. You may check the Nova Scotia Physician Stream complete details here.
Skilled Worker
The Skilled Worker stream is employer-driven. It helps Nova Scotia employers recruit foreign workers with the needed skills and international students who are fresh graduates. However, an employer can only hire foreign workers for positions they have been unable to fill with permanent residents or Canadian citizens. You may check the complete guidelines of the Skilled Worker stream to find out if you are eligible under this stream.
Entrepreneur
This stream targets experienced business owners or senior business managers desiring to live in Nova Scotia. They must live and start a new business in Nova Scotia or buy an existing business and actively participate in the day-to-day management of the said business. The entrepreneur may receive a nomination for permanent resident status after a year of business operation. Application to the stream is by invitation only, and you may check here if you can be eligible under this stream.
International Graduate Entrepreneur
This stream is similar to the Entrepreneur stream. The difference is that this stream only aims at fresh graduates from a Nova Scotia university or the Nova Scotia Community College. The requirement includes that these graduates have already started or bought a business in the province and operated it for at least one year.
The graduate may get a nomination for permanent residency in Nova Scotia if they intend to settle in this province. As with other streams, application to this stream is by invitation only.
International Graduates in Demand
This stream is for fresh international graduates with skills and education matching any specific job categories by the National Occupational Classification (NOC). It is open to the following occupations: nurse aides, orderlies, patient service associates, and early childhood educators and assistants. More details for this stream are here.
Occupations In Demand
This stream aims to attract specific occupations in high labor market demand in Nova Scotia. The Office of Immigration identifies in-demand job positions based on labor market information. These in-demand job positions requirement is subject to change from time to time. You may check here for more details about this stream.
Work in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia has a growing need for skilled and educated workers beyond those skills available in this province. Halifax, the largest population center in Nova Scotia, houses half of the province’s labor force and employment. Despite Halifax’s stricter health measures implemented during the last two months of 2020, it withstood the impact of COVID well compared to other economic regions.
Halifax’s high concentration is on two industries in the region:
- real estate – rental, and leasing, finance, and insurance industry
- professional, scientific, and technical services industry.
These two industries dominate the labor force and employment in Nova Scotia and continuously expanding.
Study in Nova Scotia
Studying in Nova Scotia would mean experiencing the culture and history of one of Canada’s most beautiful regions while attending a top-quality university or college. The province has captured the people’s hearts since it was first settled, and it has a long and proud history in higher education and research. Despite its less than one million population, Nova Scotia boasts ten degree-granting universities. It is the highest university concentration per capita in Canada.
Nova Scotia institutions also offer graduate degrees in medicine, business, engineering, education, and fine arts, to name a few. And this is on top of its wide range of undergraduate degrees. The province also has some of the top-ranking educational institutions in Canada, particularly when it comes to universities offering primarily undergraduate programs. Nova Scotia houses three of the top seven universities in Canada offering undergraduate programs, according to the prestigious Maclean’s university rankings for 2016.
Nova Scotia is a beautiful province with charming waterfront cities, ideal for those who seek pastoral beauty and quiet and quality life. However, regardless of how beautiful and desirable your targeted location is, the idea of moving to a new place is always met with a fair bit of dread. Enough consideration, research, and preparation are good to have before deciding whether to move or not and where to. Seek professional advice to make a better decision.
