The restriction to read before the requirements
Invitations go only to health care, education and construction
From 4 May 2026 all new invitations under this category are limited to candidates working in those three sectors. The province's stated reason is limited remaining allocation under the stream.
This restricts invitations, not eligibility, and the difference is the whole point. Nothing below stops applying to you. You can meet every requirement on this page and not be invited, because the province is choosing which eligible candidates to call forward.
On its published criteria this is the most reachable of New Brunswick's worker categories. Six consecutive months with the supporting employer, six months of residence, a high school diploma and CLB 4. Very few provinces ask for as little.
Which is why the restriction matters so much. The gap between what this category asks for and who it will currently invite is wider than anywhere else in the province's programme, and a reader who works through the requirements without seeing the notice will reasonably conclude they are in a strong position when they are not.
- Two separate restrictions can each catch you. Accommodation and food services has been barred from the whole stream since 3 February 2026. A named list of occupations is blocked regardless of sector from the same date, and the province says that list is not exhaustive. And from 4 May 2026 invitations are confined to three sectors. Passing the first two does not get you past the third.
- Until further notice is not the same as permanently. The province has framed the May restriction as temporary and tied it to allocation. It has not said when or whether it will lift. Treat it as the position for now and not as a closure, and do not build a timetable on its removal.
- An expression of interest is free. So preserving your place costs nothing if you are outside the three sectors. Just do not mistake that for a strategy.
- Other New Brunswick streams are less restricted. The Strategic Initiative carries no sector restriction that we found in the province's notices, and the Business Immigration Stream carries none either. Checking those is usually more productive than waiting.
What the category requires
| Requirement | What New Brunswick asks for |
|---|---|
| Job offer | Full time, meaning 30 hours a week or more, non seasonal and year round, from an eligible New Brunswick employer willing to support the application. |
| Wage | A competitive base wage judged against regional labour market information from Job Bank and consistent with the employer's pay structure. Bonuses, tips, overtime and housing allowances are excluded. Where you were hired through a labour market impact assessment, the wage must equal or exceed the wage on that assessment. |
| Work experience | Six consecutive months of full time employment with the same supporting New Brunswick employer. |
| Education | At least a Canadian high school diploma or a foreign equivalent with an educational credential assessment valid within the last five years. The education must also meet the requirements of the occupation. |
| Language | At least CLB or NCLC 4 in all four abilities. Results must be less than two years old. Accepted tests are IELTS, CELPIP, PTE Core, TEF Canada and TCF Canada. |
| Residence in New Brunswick | You must have lived in the province for the past six months with valid temporary resident status, proved by documents from at least three separate categories. |
| Age | At least 19. No upper limit applies to this category. |
| Fees | The expression of interest is free. A processing fee of $250, non-refundable, falls due on invitation. It covers a spouse or common-law partner and dependent children at no additional charge, and the amount is fixed by New Brunswick Regulation 2012-36 rather than by policy. |
| Employer compliance fee | Your employer pays a federal compliance fee through the employer portal when submitting the offer of employment. It cannot be recovered from you. |
This category is assessed against its criteria rather than scored on a points grid, and it does not require a federal Express Entry profile. That is a real difference from the province's Express Entry Stream, which requires a profile, CLB 7 and a points score.
The three categories of proof for residence are where files stall. The province wants evidence from at least three separate categories that you have actually been living in New Brunswick, not merely employed by someone there. Tenancy documents, utilities, banking, a provincial licence, health registration and children's school enrolment are the usual kinds. They are far easier to assemble as you go than to reconstruct.
New Brunswick Experience requirements checker
A structured way to see where you stand against the published criteria. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction that you will be invited.
Your situation
Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
If the sector restriction blocks you
Four things to check
Being outside health care, education and construction closes this category for now. It does not close the province, and the alternatives are restricted differently rather than identically.
- The Strategic Initiative, if French is available to you. New Brunswick's French-language stream requires NCLC 5 across all four abilities and one of three connections to the province. We found no sector restriction on it in the province's notices, and it issued 716 invitations in the first half of 2026. For a French-speaking candidate it is very often the most accessible route into New Brunswick. What it requires.
- The Express Entry Stream, if your language and record are stronger. It requires CLB 7 rather than CLB 4, a federal Express Entry profile and twelve consecutive months with the same employer in a TEER 0 to 3 occupation. Harder on every measure, and it is not caught by the May restriction. The requirements.
- The Graduates category, if you studied in New Brunswick. A different route with its own terms, including a language exemption for some candidates whose New Brunswick programme was taught in English or French. The requirements.
- Federal Express Entry, which no provincial restriction touches. It has no New Brunswick sector list, no provincial occupation bar and no residence requirement, and it is drawing. For a candidate with skilled experience and good language it is often the stronger track regardless. How the federal pool works.
What we would not do is wait quietly. The May restriction is tied to allocation and the province has given no indication of when it might lift. Meanwhile a temporary resident's status runs on its own clock. If your permit expiry is within eighteen months, the realistic question is which route can actually conclude in that time, and for a worker outside the three sectors that is rarely this one.