If you're sitting in Manitoba on a TPP open work permit waiting for a provincial nomination, May 7 was your day. The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) issued 906 Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs) in a single round — its biggest draw of 2026 — and 429 of those went to candidates who got into Manitoba through the now-expired Temporary Public Policy work permit program.
That's nearly half the round in one slice. For comparison, the previous Manitoba draw with a Strategic Recruitment component issued just 12 LAAs to TPP candidates. The May 7 round was a 35× increase.
What happened
On May 7, 2026, MPNP held its 9th selection round of the year under the Skilled Worker Stream — covering both the Skilled Worker in Manitoba and Skilled Worker Overseas pathways.
The 906 LAAs broke down two ways:
- 475 LAAs (52.4%) — Strategic Recruitment. Candidates directly invited by Manitoba under one of five recruitment initiatives.
- 431 LAAs (47.6%) — Occupation-specific. Candidates currently working in Manitoba in education-sector roles.
Of the 906 total, 326 candidates (30%) had a valid Express Entry profile — meaning they'll get the 600-point provincial nomination boost the moment Manitoba issues their nomination, putting them well above any CRS cutoff in any future Express Entry draw.
The TPP wave that was promised
The big story is the Strategic Recruitment slice. Of the 475 LAAs in that bucket, 429 (90.3%) went to people holding a Manitoba-specific open work permit issued under the Temporary Public Policy to Facilitate Work Permits for Prospective Provincial Nominee Program Candidates (TPP).
This isn't an accident. On May 1, the MPNP posted a public notice saying every TPP Support Letter recipient would get an ITA in upcoming draws — starting with those approved between April 22 and June 30, 2025. Six days later, they delivered.
Here's how the Strategic Recruitment 475 split:
| Strategic Recruitment Initiative | LAAs |
|---|---|
| TPP work permit holders | 429 |
| Employer Services | 29 |
| Ethnocultural Communities | 7 |
| Francophone Community | 7 |
| Regional Communities | 3 |
If you got a Manitoba Support Letter approved between April 22 and June 30, 2025, you should be checking the email you used on your Support Letter application right now. ITAs land in the same inbox.
The teacher slice
The other 431 LAAs went to in-province workers in four education NOC codes:
- 42202 — Early childhood educators and assistants
- 43100 — Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants
- 41221 — Elementary school and kindergarten teachers
- 41220 — Secondary school teachers
To qualify, you had to have an active EOI under the Skilled Worker in Manitoba pathway and confirm ongoing Manitoba employment in education broad category 4. Candidates who originally submitted under the International Education Stream were excluded.
Manitoba is staring down the same teacher and ECE shortage every other province is, and the May 7 draw is the most explicit response yet: if you teach K-12 or run a daycare in Manitoba, you're being prioritized for PR over almost everyone else in the EOI pool.
What this signals about Manitoba's 2026 strategy
Manitoba has 6,239 nominations to issue in 2026 under its federal allocation. Through January–March, the province issued 1,298 nominations. April-March pace alone won't burn through 6,239 by year-end — and the May 7 draw of 906 LAAs is roughly 7× the size of the typical monthly LAA volume the province ran in Q1.
Two things are going on:
Manitoba is clearing its backlog. Of the 2,030 applications "in assessment or pending assessment" at the end of March, a sizable fraction belongs to TPP work permit holders who've been waiting since 2024–2025 for a path to PR. Issuing 429 ITAs in one shot is the start of clearing that queue.
Express Entry candidates are mixed in. With 326 of the 906 LAAs going to candidates with valid Express Entry profiles, Manitoba is using the PNP route to feed Express Entry — meaning more "PNP-only" Express Entry rounds with ultra-high cutoffs (the April 27 PNP round closed at CRS 795) are the path to PR for these candidates.
What to do if you got an LAA
You have 60 days from your LAA date — until July 6, 2026 — to submit a complete provincial nomination application. The MPNP application requires:
- Settlement plan — the most-overlooked document. You need to clearly outline your intent to live, work, and build ties in Manitoba as a PR. Generic plans get refused. Be specific: where you'll live, what employer, why Manitoba over other provinces.
- Proof of employment and tenure — pay stubs, a current employment letter on company letterhead, and confirmation you've been working full-time for at least 6 months (or 1 year if you graduated from a post-secondary program in another province).
- Language test results — IELTS, CELPIP, TEF, or TCF. Must show enough proficiency for your declared occupation. See IELTS vs CELPIP.
- Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) — if your education is from outside Canada. See our WES vs IQAS guide.
- Job qualifications — proof you meet the licensing or certification requirements for your declared occupation, where applicable.
Refusal rates in Q1 2026 ran at roughly 16–20% per month (95 refusals on 484 January nominations). The most common refusal reasons are weak settlement plans and insufficient proof of stable, long-term Manitoba employment.
What to do if you didn't get an LAA
If you have a TPP Support Letter approved after June 30, 2025: You're in line, but Manitoba is processing in date order. The MPNP isn't responding to inquiries from this group yet. Your job is to make sure your EOI is current — if anything has changed (job, address, education, language scores), update it now so the next ITA comes pre-cleaned.
If you're an in-Manitoba teacher, ECE, or teacher assistant who didn't qualify for May 7: Confirm you're under broad NOC category 4 (not 5 or another category), confirm continuous full-time employment, and check that your EOI lists "current employment in education occupations." If anything's off, fix it before the next education-targeted draw.
If you're working in Manitoba in a non-education NOC: The May 7 round didn't include you, but Manitoba still has 5,000+ nominations to allocate. Healthcare, trades, transport, and tech NOCs have all been targeted in past 2026 rounds. Keep your EOI active and your CRS-equivalent score sharpest where you can: language and Canadian work experience.
If you're outside Manitoba and don't have a Support Letter: The TPP program closed to new applications on December 15, 2025 and is not coming back. Your route into Manitoba is now the Skilled Worker Overseas pathway with a job offer or close family connection in the province.
The single biggest mistake we see TPP holders make on the nomination application is treating the settlement plan as a formality. It's not. MPNP officers refuse applications when the plan reads like a template — generic statements about "loving the prairies" or "wanting to raise a family in a safe community" don't move the needle. Name your employer, your job title, your actual neighborhood (not just "Winnipeg"), the school your kids will attend, your spouse's job-search plan, and any connections (family, faith community, ethnocultural network) you've built in the province since arriving. Officers want to see that you've put down real roots and that PR isn't just a finish line.
Where to look next
Run the numbers and check your status: PNP Guide | CRS Calculator | Express Entry Pool Update May 2026 | IRCC Processing Times | WES vs IQAS for Credential Assessment