What Newfoundland and Labrador asks of you
More than most provinces, and earlier. The employer is assessed in a separate process before the worker can enter the pool, and most candidates cannot even register an expression of interest without a code you issue. Two employer steps sit in front of the application rather than alongside it.
- Established in the province. Permanently based here and registered with Service NL through Companies and Deeds Online, and operating under current management for at least two years, or one in special cases.
- Local staff already on the payroll. At least two full time local employees in the St. John's area, or at least one outside it. The prospective worker cannot own more than ten per cent of the business.
- Good business practices. Financially stable, compliant with employment, labour and immigration law, and in good standing with the workers' compensation commission and Labour Standards.
- A job that qualifies. Full time, in the province, meeting wage and employment standards, not seasonal, part time or short term, and not conflicting with a collective agreement or labour dispute.
- Authorisation to hire. A labour market impact assessment, an exemption from one, or an approved job vacancy assessment, whose terms you must then follow.
One of these the province states two ways. Its employer criteria page requires an offer of at least two years. Its applicant criteria pages require at least one year with a reasonable expectation of extension. Both pages are current, so we report the conflict rather than pick one, and plan against the longer reading.
Employer criteria as published by the province and stamped updated 18 February 2026. Verified 21 August 2026 against gov.nl.ca.
Which routes need you, and how
All of them need a job offer. What differs is which employer instrument sits behind it, and who files what.
| Route | What you provide | Who files |
|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker | A job vacancy assessment, unless the worker already holds a work permit for that position | The worker files the application. You file the assessment |
| Express Entry Skilled Worker | The same, unless the worker already holds authorisation to work full time in that position | The worker, who must also hold a live federal profile |
| International Graduate | The job offer itself. Nothing separate is stated | The worker |
| Atlantic Immigration Program | Designation first, then an endorsement application | You file the endorsement. The worker files for permanent residence |
An expression of interest without a job offer identified in it will not be considered for an invitation. There is no route here where a candidate enters the pool on their profile and is discovered. Everything starts with an employer, which is why the worker side of this program reads the way it does.
The job vacancy assessment, which is the employer step
The province's own labour market test, and the distinctive thing about hiring here. It assesses two things at once, whether you are an eligible employer and whether the vacancy is an eligible position. There is no cost to apply.
- The employer test. Permanently established here as the federal Income Tax Act defines it, in active business under current ownership and management for two consecutive years, with two local permanent full time employees who are permanent residents or citizens. One year may be accepted in exceptional circumstances, which the province limits to a new business following the closure or sale of a successful one, a business engaged with innovation or export markets, or a rural business. Past users of the programs give an update on how well they retained those workers.
- The position test. At least one year with the possibility of extension, 1,560 paid hours over a minimum twelve months at thirty hours a week or more, and necessary to operations.
- The wage test, and how the province sets it. Above the low wage for that occupation in the sub provincial region where the position sits, taken from the federal Job Bank, with the provincial or national wage used where no sub provincial figure exists. It must also sit inside the range you pay current employees for the same job, location, skills and experience.
- Positions that will not be assessed. An ownership stake above ten per cent, a contractual or locum position, anything seasonal, cyclical or part time, anything outside the province or worked remotely from outside it, and anything paid on commission rather than salary.
- Ninety days to submit. An application not submitted within ninety days of being started expires. The source does not say calendar or business days, so plan against calendar days.
The documents are ordinary but slow, being proof of continuous active operation, a workers' compensation clearance, a Labour Standards clearance certificate and the advertisements. Two of those come from other agencies on their own timelines, which is why a first assessment takes longer than employers expect.
The employer invite code, and when it is not needed
Without the code the expression of interest is invalid and is not reviewed
Employers do not submit expressions of interest. Candidates do that themselves. What most of them need first is an employer invite code, which you issue, and which exists to validate the job offer and keep designation and assessment spaces properly used.
The line is about authorisation rather than geography. A nominee program applicant who already has authorisation to work for you does not need a code. One who needs a job vacancy assessment space does, and so does every Atlantic Immigration Program applicant. Where an Atlantic Immigration Program applicant, or a nominee program applicant applying from outside Canada, files without the required code, the province states the expression of interest is invalid and will not be reviewed during selection.
That is a silent failure. The candidate sits in the pool, the twelve month clock runs, and nothing comes of it. If you are recruiting from abroad, issue the code and confirm it in writing before anybody waits.
After an invitation the clock is sixty days to file a complete application and the province does not extend it. On the Atlantic Immigration Program the invitation notice goes to you as the designated employer rather than to the candidate, so those sixty days can start running in your inbox. More at becoming a designated employer.
The recruitment you have to be able to show
Set out in the province's required recruitment activities document, last updated June 2026. An agency may run the recruitment for you, and the minimum still has to be met.
- Two different recruitment activities, one of them the federal Job Bank. The Job Bank posting is required, must target underrepresented groups, being Indigenous persons, youth, new immigrants, veterans and persons with disabilities, and must use the Job Match service. The second is yours to choose from a published list, provided it reaches an audience with the right education, experience or skill level.
- Three consecutive weeks, ending immediately before you apply. The advertisement must be active and publicly accessible for a minimum of three consecutive weeks and must have been active immediately prior to the assessment application.
- What the advertisement must contain. Operating name, business address, title and five digit NOC code, duties, skills requirements, terms of employment, language of work, the hourly wage including incremental raises and bonuses, benefits, locations and contact details. A range is allowed provided its bottom meets the prevailing wage.
- A recruitment summary, in numbers. Applications received, applicants interviewed and applicants offered the position.
- Some positions are exempt. The province keeps a list of positions exempt from labour market testing, and an employer filling one provides neither advertisements nor a summary. Check it first.
Where these files actually fail
On sequence more than on substance. Several steps here have to happen in order, and out of order is not recoverable.
- An expression of interest filed without the code. Invalid, unreviewed, and nobody is told. The most expensive mistake available here, and it costs nothing to avoid.
- Advertising that stopped too early. Three consecutive weeks, still active immediately before the assessment application.
- A wage set against the provincial average. The test is the sub provincial region, and what you pay existing staff.
- The ninety day assessment clock. A part finished assessment expires ninety days after it was started.
- Sixty days after an invitation, arriving in your inbox. On the Atlantic Immigration Program you receive the notice, not the candidate. If it sits unread, their window closes.
The province also reviews frequent users of the programs on retention and workplace practices, and an officer may ask for financial statements, workers' compensation letters or tax assessments. See employer compliance.
Fees, and who pays each
| Fee | Amount | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Job vacancy assessment | No cost | Not applicable |
| Expression of interest | No fee | Not applicable |
| Provincial application fee, worker categories | None, on the province's own policy manual pages | Not applicable |
| Federal employer compliance fee | $230 CAD, through the federal Employer Portal, before the worker can apply for a work permit | You, and it cannot be recovered from the worker |
| Language tests, credential assessments, translations, federal fees | Varies | The applicant |
The province abolished its own application fees in April 2022. One older guide hosted on the site still describes a provincial fee and another hosted version of the same guide says there is none, so we read that as a document left behind rather than a live position. The fee that is real is federal, fixed at $230 by section 303.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, and sections 209.2 and 209.11 bar you from charging or recovering it, or any recruitment fees, from the worker. It is not money gone either. Subsection 303.1(6) remits it and requires repayment to whoever paid it if the permit is refused, or if you withdraw the offer and request a remission before the permit issues.
Status and currency
The province has been working within a reduced allocation and a restricted intake since early 2025. Rather than call these routes open, here is what each source page says about itself and the date the province stamps on it.
| Source page | Date it carries | What it currently says |
|---|---|---|
| Employer Criteria | Updated 18 February 2026 | The employer requirements and the ineligible employer policy. Requires an offer of at least two years, where the applicant pages require one |
| Job Vacancy Assessment | Last updated 1 June 2026 | A free provincial labour market test assessing both the employer and the position, with a ninety day expiry on an unsubmitted application |
| Required Recruitment Activities | Last updated June 2026 | Two activities, the Job Bank required, three consecutive weeks ending immediately before the assessment application |
| Expression of Interest Model FAQs | Updated 27 July 2026 | When an invite code is required, and that one filed without it where required is invalid and not reviewed |
| Atlantic Immigration Program, Employers | Last updated 5 June 2026 | Designation, then endorsement, then the worker's permanent residence application |
| Invitations to Apply Updates | Updated 18 August 2026 | The published round record. No round was issued between 12 November 2025 and 6 March 2026 |
- Invitations are not nomination spaces. The province issued more nominee program invitations in 2025 than it had spaces. An invitation is permission to apply, not an outcome. We could not source a 2026 allocation, and do not print an estimate as though it were one.
What follows the provincial step is federal, and that is where most of the obligations you can actually breach live.