Between July 16 and July 22, 2026, New Brunswick ran five separate provincial nomination draws and issued 750 invitations to apply (ITAs) — the smallest combined total of any selection round the province has run this year, according to CIC News.
What happened
New Brunswick invited candidates across five different streams under the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NBPNP) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP):
| Stream | Invitations |
|---|---|
| NB Express Entry — Employment in New Brunswick | 115 |
| NB Skilled Worker — NB Priorities Stream & NB Experience Pathway | 58 |
| New Brunswick Graduates Stream | 209 |
| NB Strategic Initiative — Francophone Workers & Francophone Priorities | 254 |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | 114 |
| Total | 750 |
Healthcare workers received ITAs in every one of the five draws — the only occupation group the province prioritized across the board. Beyond healthcare, invitations also went to candidates in construction, manufacturing, education, transportation, professional and IT roles, and sales and services.
Why this round is smaller than usual
New Brunswick doesn't publish a fixed cutoff score or a draw calendar the way Express Entry does — it invites directly from its Expression of Interest pool based on labour-market need. A 750-invitation week is on the low end for the province in 2026, which suggests New Brunswick is being more selective right now rather than clearing its pool broadly. That tracks with a pattern seen across several provinces this summer: with the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan capping how many PR spaces each province gets, provinces are pacing invitations to avoid running out of nomination room before year-end rather than front-loading large draws early.
The heavy weighting toward the Francophone Priorities stream (254 invitations, the largest single group) also lines up with Canada's broader 2026 push on francophone immigration — the federal government has set a target of 9% of permanent resident admissions outside Quebec going to francophone candidates this year, rising to 12% by 2029. New Brunswick, Canada's only officially bilingual province, is one of the programs doing the most to hit that number.