Effective November 28, 2025, Nova Scotia is formalizing an expression of interest (EOI) process for all streams of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP).
Nova Scotia will conduct periodic draws to select EOIs for processing. Factors that may guide selection include provincial priorities, remaining allocation, EOI pool volume, and program integrity considerations.
All submissions to Nova Scotia’s immigration programs — regardless of when they were submitted — are considered EOIs. Meeting eligibility criteria or having a case ID does not guarantee that a submission will be processed.
The guide below takes a deep look into one of the streams of Nova Scotia’s Provincial Nominee Program (NSNP), the Physician stream. The guide will go through an overview of the stream, its eligibility requirements, how it works, the documentation needed, its cost and processing times.
NS Physician – Overview
The Physician stream is one of Nova Scotia’s PNP streams that targets candidates that have a job offer for a physician position.
When receiving a nomination under the Physician stream, candidates can then apply for Permanent Residence to the federal government of Canada.
This stream is not aligned with Express Entry, which means that candidates cannot take advantage of the 6-month average processing times of Express Entry. Processing times of Provincial Nominee Programs (not aligned with Express Entry) are usually longer and take at least 1 year.
The Physician stream does require the candidate to hold a valid job offer as its main eligibility requirement, and candidates do not need to provide proof of settlement funds. There are other requirements that must be fulfilled regarding the candidate and the job offer.
NS Physician – Eligibility
There are 3 main categories of eligibility requirements that we will summarize below. You can apply to the Physician 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).
Job offer
To be eligible to apply to the Physician stream, 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.
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.
Immigration status
In order to apply to the Physician stream, 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.
NS Physician – Application Process
For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the Physician stream. Candidates must:
- Apply to the Physician stream when the stream is open, by submitting their application through the Nova Scotia’s online service (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Apply for permanent residence to the federal government (IRCC) within 6 months of receiving the nomination (after the NSNP processes their application). Candidates need to apply online to IRCC, and include the Nomination Letter received from the NSNP.
Optional: after receiving your provincial nomination, you can request a letter of support from the NSNP 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.
NS Physician – Application Fees
NS Physician – Processing Times
NS Physician – Latest News & Data
NS Physician – In-Demand Occupations?
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 Physician 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.
