What this category is
The route for graduates holding a post graduation work permit. Its real content is not the permit requirement, which is straightforward, but the question of whether your job has to match what you studied. That is where this category is won or lost, and it is where the province has written the most exceptions.
You cannot apply to this category directly
Every economic route the province administers runs through one expression of interest pool. You register an expression of interest, and the province may then invite you to apply. An expression of interest without a job offer identified in it will not be considered for an invitation. An employer invite code is needed as well by anyone who requires a job vacancy assessment space, meaning anyone without existing authorisation to work for that employer in that position, and by every Atlantic Immigration Program applicant, without which the expression of interest is not reviewed at all. Being inside Canada does not by itself remove that requirement.
Selection from the pool is discretionary and unscored. The province publishes nine prioritization criteria and states that they guide decisions without guaranteeing an invitation.
- A live permit with four months on it. At least four months of validity remaining when you apply.
- The field of study rule has two doors out of it. A local graduate may take an unrelated position on five stated conditions. A home support worker under code 44101 is exempt from the field of study and in demand requirements altogether.
- Graduating elsewhere in Canada costs you both. The job must be directly related to your field, and you must already have worked here for a year before applying.
- Incomplete studies are a bar, not a delay. As is having studied under sponsorship that expects you to return home.
- The in demand list is not published as far as we can find. The province's own home support worker policy confirms such a list exists. We could not locate it, so we confirm the position with the province on any file that turns on a TEER 4 occupation rather than printing a list we cannot source.
Every worker category here also carries the conditions the three share. The job offer must be full time, guarantee a minimum of thirty hours a week, run at least one year with a reasonable expectation of extension as verified by the employer, come from an eligible provincial employer, and be paid as a salary or an hourly wage rather than commission, meeting provincial employment standards and regional prevailing wage rates. You must be aged 21 to 59, hold no more than a ten per cent stake in the employing business, satisfy a qualitative settlement funds test with no published dollar figure, and intend to settle in the province. If you previously resided in another province or territory you must show twelve consecutive months of full time employment here before nomination, subject to two exemptions. A criminal record, an unresolved custody or child support dispute, and misrepresentation by you or your employer are each a bar, and police certificates are required from everywhere you have lived for more than six months since the age of eighteen or over the last ten years, whichever is more recent. The shared conditions are set out on the province overview.
What the category requires
| Requirement | What the province asks for |
|---|---|
| Permit | A valid post graduation work permit with at least four months of validity remaining when you apply. |
| Studies | Completed. Studies still in progress make you ineligible. Sponsorship by an agency or government that expects your return after graduation is an express bar. |
| Job level | TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3, or a TEER 4 occupation the province treats as in demand. |
| Field of study, local graduates | Normally a full time position related to your field. A Memorial University or College of the North Atlantic graduate may hold an unrelated position where it requires a post secondary credential, sits at TEER 0 to 3 or a TEER 4 in demand occupation, can reasonably be expected to lead to career advancement, is in a field where you have skill, experience or training from the last five years, and is full time for at least a year with possible extension as verified by the employer. |
| Field of study, graduates from elsewhere in Canada | A recognised public institution outside the province, a job directly related to your field, and a minimum of one year of work in the province before the application is submitted. |
| Home support workers | A Memorial University or College of the North Atlantic graduate employed under occupation code 44101 is exempt from both the field of study requirement and the in demand occupation requirement, on a policy published 26 May 2025. |
| Language | Required only where the offer is at a TEER 4 in demand occupation, at CLB 4 in each of the four abilities. |
| Fee | No provincial application fee. |
The unrelated position allowance is a genuine concession rather than a technicality, and it is the reason a graduate whose first job is not in their field should not assume this category is closed to them.
Two rules about moving between provinces sit on top of each other here. A graduate of an institution outside the province must have worked here for a year before applying. Separately, anyone who previously resided in another province or territory must show twelve consecutive months of full time employment here before nomination. They are different tests measured at different moments, and a file can satisfy one and fail the other.
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
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