Nova Scotia Express Entry | Letter of Interest

There are 5 main categories of eligibility requirements that we will summarize below. You can apply to the Letter of Interest stream category if you 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 Letter of Interest stream category, you must have received a Letter of Interest in your Express Entry account indicating that Nova Scotia is inviting you to apply.
You will have 30 days from receiving the Letter of Interest to apply.

Draw-specific requirements

Each draw will have its own specific criteria that will be identified by the NSNP and that depend on the province’s labour market needs (More details on this in the Draw History section below).

You will only receive a Letter of Interest if you satisfy the draw’s criteria based on your Express Entry profile. You will need to provide proof that you satisfy these specific criteria.

Work experience

To be eligible to this stream, 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),
• Federal Skilled Trades (FST), 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. The amount needed and types of funds accepted can be found in the settlement funds guide.

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) in Express Entry.

Immigration status

In order to apply to the Letter of Interest 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 Letter of Interest stream category. Candidates must:

1. Meet the eligibility requirements of the federal FSW, FST, 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 Letter of Interest stream category eligibility requirements.
4. Obtain a Letter of Interest directly in their Express Entry profile.
5. 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
6. Accept the Nova Scotia provincial nomination (after the NSNP processes their application) within 30 days of receiving it on their Express Entry profile.
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.

The Letter of Interest stream category draws are very diverse and each draw has its own eligibility criteria (that never included having a job offer) that can range from having work experience in a set NOC code to having minimum language scores.

You can check out our awesome Live PNP Monitor to see the latest news and draw details and history on the stream, as well as for all the other PNP streams.

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 Letter of Interest stream category, there is no official in-demand list. However, candidates with work experience (between 2 to 5 years) in NOC codes 11100 (Financial auditors and accountants) and 42202 (Early Childhood Educators and Assistants) have been previously invited. More details on this in the Draw History section above.

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?