The least restricted route into New Brunswick
The exploratory visit connection is not currently available
It was paused in November 2024 and did not return for 2025. The province's pathway guides dated June 2026 do not mention it reopening, and we could not confirm any reinstatement.
This matters more than most paused provisions, because an exploratory visit means booking travel and spending at least five business days in the province. A great deal of material still online presents it as a live route into this stream. Do not spend money on a visit for this purpose without confirming the current position directly.
Every other New Brunswick worker route carries sector bars, occupation bars, or both. We found no sector or occupation restriction on this one in the province's notices. For a French-speaking candidate that makes it the first place to look rather than the last.
It has two further features that no other New Brunswick stream offers. It does not always require a job offer, and where a job offer is the connection it can be at any skill level from TEER 0 to TEER 5. The province's other worker routes are confined to TEER 0 to 3, which means that for French-speaking candidates in lower-skilled occupations this is not merely the best New Brunswick route, it is the only one.
- No sector or occupation bar found. The February 2026 restrictions that barred accommodation and food services and blocked a list of occupations were directed at the Skilled Worker Stream, the Express Entry Stream and Atlantic Immigration Program endorsement. We found none applied to this stream in the province's notices.
- A job offer at TEER 0 to 5. Full time, year round, permanent and at a market wage, in any occupation from the most to the least formally skilled. That breadth is unique among New Brunswick's routes and it is now the stream's most useful feature, given the visit is paused.
- A job offer is still not always necessary. The strategic priorities route reaches recent graduates of two named institutions, remote workers, and anyone the province sends a letter of interest to. None of those requires an employer.
- Seven hundred and sixteen invitations in six months. Across the first half of 2026, against 336 under the Express Entry Stream and 1,300 under the Skilled Worker Stream. Roughly thirty percent of the province's worker invitations, which is not a marginal programme.
- French is the operative language, and more of it scores. NCLC 5 in all four abilities is the floor. NCLC 7 or higher is worth eight more points than NCLC 5, which on a 65 point threshold is a large margin.
The connections, and which are actually open
The province recognises three kinds of connection and one of them is currently paused. That leaves two, and they are very different in how reachable they are.
| Connection | Status | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| A genuine job offer | Open | Full time, year round and permanent, at a market wage, in any occupation from TEER 0 to TEER 5. The broadest job offer provision in the New Brunswick programme, and the only route in the province reaching TEER 4 and 5 work. |
| New Brunswick strategic priorities | Open | Any one of three. Graduation from the Université de Moncton or the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick within the previous six months. Or twelve months of remote work performed in New Brunswick for a Canadian company based outside Quebec. Or a letter of interest from the province, which you cannot apply for. |
| Exploratory visit | Paused since November 2024 | Formerly at least five full business days in the province within the twelve months before applying, exploring job opportunities, housing, schools, communities and professional networks. It did not return for 2025 and the June 2026 pathway guides do not mention it reopening. It also carried an exclusion for anyone who had been a temporary resident in another Canadian province within the previous five years. |
The remote work provision is the one most often missed. A French-speaking person living in New Brunswick and working remotely for a Canadian employer based outside Quebec may already hold a qualifying connection. If that describes you, it is worth establishing properly rather than assuming it does not count.
What the stream requires
| Requirement | What New Brunswick asks for |
|---|---|
| Language | At least NCLC 5 in all four French abilities. Below that you are ineligible rather than low scoring. This is a French-language stream and English does not substitute. |
| Connection to New Brunswick | A genuine job offer, or a connection to the province's strategic priorities. The exploratory visit connection is paused. |
| Score | At least 65 of 100 on the published selection grid, set out below. |
| Education | A Canadian high school diploma or a foreign equivalent with an educational credential assessment. High school alone still scores 15 of the 25 available on this stream, which is unusually generous. |
| Settlement funds | You must meet the federal proof of funds requirement, or be exempt from it. Exemption generally follows from holding authorisation to work in Canada together with a valid job offer. |
| Age | At least 19. Age scores 12 between 25 and 44, drops to 4 at 19 to 24 and again at 45 to 50, and reaches zero at 51. |
| Intention | The skills, experience and intention to live and work permanently in New Brunswick. |
| Fee | $250, non-refundable, payable on invitation. It covers a spouse or common-law partner and dependent children at no additional charge. The expression of interest is free. |
The fee is set by New Brunswick Regulation 2012-36 under the Financial Administration Act rather than by policy, which is why it has been stable while other provinces have introduced and raised fees.
Strategic Initiative points calculator
New Brunswick publishes this grid in its own pathway guides. The threshold is 65 of 100. Note that high school alone scores 15 of the 25 education points, which is considerably more generous than the province's Express Entry Stream allows, so a candidate with modest formal education is not necessarily out of range here.
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Who this stream reaches that no other New Brunswick route does
Three groups
The requirements are modest and the connection decides everything. It is worth naming who benefits most, because they are people the rest of the province's programme currently turns away.
- French-speaking workers in lower-skilled occupations. The job offer connection reaches TEER 4 and 5 work. Every other New Brunswick worker route is confined to TEER 0 to 3. For a French speaker in a TEER 4 or 5 job with a permanent full time offer at a market wage, this is the only New Brunswick route, and it is genuinely open.
- French-speaking workers in barred sectors. The February 2026 restrictions barred accommodation and food services from the Skilled Worker Stream, the Express Entry Stream and Atlantic Immigration Program endorsement. We found no such bar on this stream. That is not a guarantee of an outcome and it does mean the door has not been shut.
- French-speaking remote workers already living in New Brunswick. Twelve months of remote work performed in the province for a Canadian company based outside Quebec is a published strategic priorities connection. People in this position frequently assume they have no provincial connection at all.
- Candidates with modest formal education. High school alone scores 15 of the 25 education points on this stream. On the province's Express Entry Stream high school scores 5 of 25. That is a ten point difference on thresholds only two points apart, and it changes which stream a candidate should be aiming at.
And a caution, so this does not read as a promise. The absence of a sector restriction in the province's notices is not an assurance that none will be added. New Brunswick introduced its existing restrictions in February and tightened again in May of the same year, citing limited allocation, and it paused the exploratory visit connection to this very stream without fanfare in November 2024. A stream that is open in August 2026 is worth acting on rather than deferring.
Strategic Initiative 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.
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