seanyg

As you know, we're hoping to emigrate to Manitoba (Winnipeg) and have recently received our PNP nomination. We will be submitting our application early next year (trying to drag it out due to UK housing market!).

We've looked everywhere for the answer to this question and nobody seems to have a straight answer:- how long must we stay in Manitoba for?

This may sound like a silly question and it's not that we have any intention of moving elsewhere, but if we find we've given it our best and (for work or maybe financial or other reasons) we find Manitoba isn't the best place for us to raise our family, how long do we have to 'give it a go' there before we can try living in another province?

We don't want to ask the immigration officer in Winnipeg because it may sound like we're not serious about settling there (which we are, we just want to keep our options open if things don't work out the way we planned), as she can withdraw the pnp at any time if she thinks we're reneging on our agreement to settle there. But endless searches on t'internet have proved fruitless!!

Maybe someone who lives there (has emigrated there) can help us...?!

Thanks and Merry Xmas

Anita & Sean

seanyg

P.S. On our pnp paperwork the only wording even slightly relevant is: "... the applicant has the documented training and experience... on this basis, the applicant is considered to have satisfactorily demonstrated the intention and ability to establish successfully in Manitoba and contribute to the economy of this province."

Doesn't say anything about a specific timescale to try and establish oneself - not sure if this is good or bad?!

lof

well, it has been discussed so many times here...
and as always, as harsh as it sounds... if somebody wants to keep her/his options open where to settle in canada, why going the pnp-route in the first place?

anita, i think you just worry too much right now. as you say, you intend to settle in winnipeg. why don't you come over (when the paperwork and house sale are through, of course...), give it a real try - and if it really doesn't work out at all in a reasonable amount of time, say a year, you can always check back with mbpnp, right? please, try and get your priorities back to the well being of your growing family and selling your house.
imo it is waste of energy to worry about something that far down the road which might not even become an issue at all.



the question in general:
there just isn't a fast and hard rule. and, unless you've signed something like a contract were it is exactly stated that you consent to stay in that province for at least x years after getting pr through pnp, they will hardly be in the situation of forcing you to stay if you tried your very best for a year or so and then move on when it doesn't work out.

otoh, the chances might be small, but if you use a pnp only as a stepping stone into canada and move on without even trying to settle in the according province, that might be considered as fraud and a hint to the authorities could lead to an investigation and possibly being stripped of your pr status and getting a ban to enter canada.

i've even read the statement on here, that the province might wish you to settle there, but that they would not have the legal rights to enforce that, since as a pr - through whichever route you got the status - you have the federal right of free movement in canada. (sorry don't even know to efficently search for exactly this statement, and no idea who wrote it, so it is only hearsay...)
i personally wouldn't play too hard with that though - it might come back somehow and bite me in the rearside. but i'm probably just too honest to even try to sneak my way through the system. (but then there is the fact too that i love my life here in the comox valley, no intentions to move anywhere for the foreseeable future... )

deanjp32

think it may depend on the province. NS for instance does say that you have to let them know for 3 years after getting to NS where you live and that moving to another province may result in revoking of PR. I guess if you could prove you tried then you would be ok if you moved because they cant keep you if you cant make ends meat so to speak and another employer offered you a better chance in another province. Think quebec makes you sign something also.

seanyg

Thanks guys - it does seem impossible to find a straight answer to this question anywhere, but I appreciate your efforts

I think my husband's just concerned about work - when he looks on the internet for jobs there are always much more in other provinces and only a few in Winnipeg (though obviously he only needs one!), he just didn't want us to be tied down to a province if we can't get work - particularly given the economy at the moment (although I believe Manitoba's economy is much stronger to weather the storm...? I read that somewhere ).

We're planning to give it a good year or so - probably up to two years - to settle in as we know (from reading on here) that a lot of 'teething problems' occur in the first year so you have to ride them out, and this is regardless of the province in which you are living.

I should be ok finding work anywhere (I'm a bilingual secretary) but Sean doesn't fancy the idea of being a stay-at-home-daddy so if he can't get work in the first year or so, I don't think it's unreasonable that he would want us to try elsewhere.

Paul Wildy

There was a similar discussion here http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=570108 though in this case it was in reference to Quebec

My own view on it is that provided you cannot reasonably be accused of misrepresentation (i.e. if you got PR visas based on a promise to settle in a particular province but then made no genuine attemt to settle there you could be guilty of misrepresentation and have your PR status revoked) then it would be unconstitutional for any government agency to try to compel you to remain in a province or prosecute you for moving outside it. Mobility rights are spelled out here in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/#circulation

As you can see there are some limitations on the right of mobility but generally I think if you have made a genuine effot to settle but ended up having to move in order to find a job and support your family I think you would be fairly safe.

So there is not a time limit as such, it has more to do with intentions and circumstances.

seanyg

Thanks Paul, that's clarified it pretty well for us. I'm sure we'll be fine and will end up staying there for good, but when people start talking about "x yrs' compulsory residence" it makes you wonder what will happen if for some reason it doesn't all go to plan, and no-one wants to feel backed into a corner in such circumstances.

So thanks again

PMM

Hi

If you make no attempt to reside in the Province of nomination, they do have the right to rescind the nomination certificate.

gloveman

I'm glad you raised this question - I came on here looking for an answer to a similar query.

We came to BC through PNP in May 2007 and have PR. Like many others, my husband's job is currenty under threat. We love where we live and have no intentions of moving, but should the job that got him PNP go, does PR go too. Also if my husband had to look further afield for employment in the future could we move to a different Province and still keep PR?

Thanks for any info.

Tangram

PR stays. You have PR visa therefore you are a PR.

Grah

The PNP is a 2 way street by nominating you they hope you'll come to their Province and settle but the PR is a national PR and enables you to Live anywhere in Canada.


If you land in Toronto - no direct flight to Winnipeg - and from there on you're a Permanent Resident in Canada. Lots of people don't make it to Manitoba.

Paul Wildy

Like I said above you have to be careful here. If you obtain PR through provincial nomination but dont really plan to live in that province then thats misrepresentation. And if you are found guilty of misrepresentation in your application it is possible for your PR visa to be revoked. PR status is not absolutely permanent - it can be taken away under certain circumstances.

gloveman

I hope you are right but not so sure. PR can be taken away in certain circumstances and if the job that got us here no longer exists then I am wondering if PR goes too!

chumley

once you have pr and have "landed" there are few circs where you could lose it and certainly if you lose your job you need not worry about losing PR thankfully

you could lose it for

misrepresentation in your immigration application and serious crime and I really cant think of any other ways to lse PR so dont worry

lof

if memory serves me right, i read something about 2 years minimum residence in bc when i read through the bcpnp website the very very first time. this was around summer 2006 and they made a lot of changes in their concept in october 2006. i didn't find that 2-years-rule in the new version, when i prepared my actual application (submitted february 2007).
assuming that your decision was made under the old rules, and you would have a clearly stated obligation to stay in bc for two years, that should have been mentioned somewhere in your paperwork, right? and hey, you would have only another half a year to go .

on the other hand, if i really needed to consider a permanent move to another province (well, someone would need to drag me there ), i'd give bcpnp a call to make sure that i comply with the rules.


i hope you're able to enjoy the snow and the lovely weather, even if the mountain isn't open yet (seems that they are set to open this friday ).