Nova Scotia Express Entry | Physician

There are 5 main categories of eligibility requirements that we will summarize below. You can apply to the Physicians category of the Nova Scotia Express Entry stream if you and your job offer satisfy to all the requirements below (remember that for each requirement, you will have to provide supporting documents).

Letter of Interest from the NSNP

To be eligible to apply to the stream category, you must have an approved job offer from the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) or the IWK Health Centre (IWK) in one of the three following occupations:

• NOC 31102 – General practitioners and family physicians
• NOC 31100 – Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
• NOC 31101 – Specialists in surgery

The approved job offer must be on official NSHA or IWK letterhead and must:

• be signed and dated by you and by a person authorized to hire physicians at the NSHA or IWK,
• indicate eligibility for licensure with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of NS, and
• indicate that you are eligible to apply for privileges and credentials with NSHA and the IWK.

You must also provide a copy of a signed Return for Service Agreement with the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness indicating commitment to live and work in Nova Scotia for a minimum period of two years.

Education

You must demonstrate that you have the education and medical training required for licensure in Nova Scotia.

You must submit a completed Canadian educational credential, or if the educational credential is from a foreign (non-Canadian) institution or authority, you must also submit an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) issued by the Medical Council of Canada.

Language

You must demonstrate you have a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) test score of 7 for each language skill, either in French or in English.

Work experience

To be eligible to this stream category, you must demonstrate that you meet the minimum work experience requirements of the Express Entry federal program for which you have qualified. For information on each program’s minimum work experience criteria, click on your program below:

• Federal Skilled Workers (FSW), or
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Settlement funds

You must show that you have sufficient funds to successfully establish yourself and your family in Nova Scotia.

Federal guidelines generally recommend that immigrants arrive with a minimum of $11,000, plus $2,000 for each dependent. This recommended amount is reduced in the case of a principal applicant who is already living in Nova Scotia or has arranged employment. In all cases, proof of some financial resources in your own name is required.

When applying at to IRCC (after receiving your nomination), you do not have to show that you have these funds (i) if you have a valid job offer and are authorized to work in Canada, OR (ii) if you are applying under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). If you need to show proof of settlement funds, the amount needed and types of funds accepted can be found in the settlement funds guide.

Immigration status

In order to apply to the stream category, you must have legal status in your current country of residence.

If you are in Canada on a Work Permit, it must be valid at the time of application.

For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the Physicians category of the Nova Scotia Express Entry stream. Candidates must: 

1. Meet the eligibility requirements of the federal FSW, or CEC programs.
2. Generate their Express Entry profile, and specify their interest in the province by selecting “Nova Scotia” or “All Provinces and Territories”.
3. Qualify for the stream category eligibility requirements.
4. Submit an expression of interest to the stream category through the Nova Scotia’s online service (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
   • Nova Scotia will conduct periodic draws to select expression of interest for processing. Factors that may guide selection include provincial priorities, remaining allocation, expression of interest pool volume, and program integrity considerations
5. Accept the Nova Scotia provincial nomination (after the NSNP processes their application) within 30 days of receiving it on their Express Entry profile.
6. Optional: you can request a letter of support to apply for a temporary work permit or the renewal of an existing work permit (within 3 months of expiry). This letter of support replaces the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Service Canada in applying for the new work permit.
7. Obtain an additional 600 CRS points in the Express Entry profile, and receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
8. Apply for permanent residence through your Express Entry profile.

You can check out our 10-step guide for Express Entry for more detailed information and advice.

Some streams target specific NOC codes, meaning that if you have experience in those in-demand jobs, you either (i) have more chances to be invited or (ii) that you can be eligible to the stream.

In the case of the Physicians category of the Nova Scotia Express Entry stream, there are three NOC occupations codes that are targeted by the stream, but a job offer is needed:

• NOC 31102 – General practitioners and family physicians
• NOC 31100 – Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
• NOC 31101 – Specialists in surgery

You can find out about the other provinces’ in-demand jobs in our in-demand NOC codes article.

Do I have to stay in the Province?