A larger round after a two-week gap

Newfoundland and Labrador's Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism (OIM) held its 17th selection round of 2026 on October 9, inviting 131 candidates from its single EOI pool. The previous round, on September 25, produced just 41 invitations. This was also the province's first round of October.

Key figures for the round:

• Date issued: October 9, 2026
• Total ITAs: 131
• Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP): 130
• Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP): 1
• Selection method: Expression of Interest (EOI) pool

At 131 invitations, the round was the largest since August 26, when 140 were issued, and more than three times the size of the September 25 round. It also topped every one of the province's four September rounds, which ranged from 36 to 97 invitations. Newfoundland and Labrador had been selecting candidates roughly weekly through September before pausing for two weeks, and the longer gap may partly explain the higher count.

The province also happened to hold a round on the same date last year: on October 9, 2025, it issued 125 invitations, 73 under the NLPNP and 52 through the AIP. This year's total is slightly higher, but the mix is very different, with almost every invitation going to the NLPNP.

AIP selections stay near zero

The single AIP invitation matches the one issued on September 18. Of the five rounds held since the start of September, three included no AIP selections at all.

The AIP is employer-driven: candidates need a job offer from a designated Atlantic Canadian employer before they can be considered, so AIP volumes tend to follow designated-employer demand rather than the size of the EOI pool. Once a candidate is invited, it is the employer that submits the endorsement application.

Against an AIP allocation of 475 spaces for 2026, the province has now issued 396 AIP invitations, or about 83.4% of its allocation.

2,826 invitations across 17 rounds

As of October 9, the OIM has held 17 selection rounds in 2026 and issued 2,826 ITAs in total:

• NLPNP: 2,430 (about 86.0%)
• AIP: 396 (about 14.0%)
• Largest round: 445 (March 6 and July 28)
• Smallest round: 36 (September 10)
• Rounds with no AIP selections: August 18, September 4, September 10 and September 25

The federal government added 1,000 spaces to the province's NLPNP allocation this year, lifting it to 2,379. The AIP allocation was not increased and remains at 475, for a combined 2,854 spaces — 329 more than the 2,525 the province received in 2025. Over the whole of 2025, Newfoundland and Labrador held 13 rounds and issued 3,376 invitations.

NLPNP invitations issued so far this year (2,430) already exceed the program's nomination allocation (2,379). An invitation is not a nomination, however: invited candidates must submit a complete application within the deadline and pass assessment before being nominated, so invitation counts typically run higher than final nominations.

How selection works

Since February 19, 2025, the NLPNP and the province's share of the AIP have operated through a single EOI pool. Candidates submit an EOI profile rather than a full application, and the OIM reviews the pool and issues invitations in batches throughout the year.

What candidates should know:

• Only candidates who receive an ITA may submit a complete application, and they have 60 days to do so; NLPNP applications are submitted by the candidate, AIP applications by the employer
• Both programs require a job offer, except for the NLPNP entrepreneur streams
• EOIs that are not selected stay in the pool until they expire or are withdrawn
• The province does not announce round dates in advance, and it does not publish minimum scores or a stream-by-stream breakdown of NLPNP invitations
• Candidates working in healthcare, working outside major urban centres, with French-language ability, or who graduated from a Newfoundland and Labrador post-secondary institution may be prioritized

Results of each round are posted on the province's Invitations to Apply (ITA) Updates page, and a full history of this year's rounds is available on draw-tracking pages.

The Express Entry connection

Candidates nominated through the NLPNP Express Entry Skilled Worker category receive an additional 600 points toward their CRS score, which in practice guarantees an invitation in a subsequent federal Express Entry round. A CRS score calculator can help candidates estimate where a provincial nomination would place them in the Express Entry pool.