British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)
The most western province of Canada, British Columbia, is a center of cultural diversity and economic expansion.
Vancouver, the third-largest city in the nation, is located in British Columbia, one of the nations most diversified provinces. The economy of British Columbia is centered on a robust natural resources sector, with a focus on forestry and mining. With its vast forests and distinctive coastal climate, its natural setting is regarded as among the most magnificent in all of Canada, if not the entire world.
B.C. Immigration Streams
If you wish to immigrate to British Columbia, then you have three options to choose from:
- Skills Immigration Stream
- Express Entry British Columbia Stream
- Entrepreneur Immigration.
The Skills Immigration Stream is for skilled workers, healthcare professionals, international graduates and post-graduates as well as entry-level and semi-skilled workers. All candidates need to have a job offer or a current job, except for international post-graduates.
The Express Entry British Columbia Stream is for skilled workers, healthcare professionals, international graduates, and post-graduates only.
BC PNP Skills Immigration is divided into the following categories:
Skilled Worker Category
This category is for individuals who have received an eligible job offer in a skilled occupation. Workers are expected to have several years of experience in their skilled occupation.
Healthcare Professional Category
Under this category individuals with experience and eligible job offers, as physicians, nurses, psychiatric nurses or allied health professionals may apply. An eligible job offer must be acquired for one of 11 qualifying health occupations.
International Graduate Category
This category is for individuals who have graduated from an eligible Canadian university or college in the last three years. A job offer must be obtained from a BC employer to be eligible under this sub-category.
International Post-Graduate Category
This category is for graduates with Masters or Doctoral degrees from an eligible educational institution in British Columbia in the natural, applied, or health sciences programs of study. No job offer is required to apply under this sub-category.
Entry Level and Semi-Skilled Worker Category
Workers in certain entry-level or semi-skilled positions in tourism/hospitality, food processing, or long-haul trucking, or those in entry-level or semi-skilled positions living and working in the Northeast Development Region of British Columbia, may be eligible for immigration through this program.
Express Entry BC aligns with the federal government’s Express Entry immigration selection system, allowing eligible applicants to receive priority processing of both their BC PNP application and if nominated, their permanent residence application.
The following Skills Immigration categories may be processed through Express Entry British Columbia:
- Skilled Worker Category
- Health Care Professional Category
- International Graduate Category
- International Post-Graduate Category
Express Entry is an application management system that the Canadian federal government uses for the country’s three main economic class immigration programs: theFederal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
In addition, many PNP streams also use the Express Entry system. These are called “enhanced” streams. Streams that do not use the Express Entry system are called “base” streams.
Candidates in the Express Entry system are assessed based on multiple factors such as their age, education, work experience and language ability. They are given a score based on these factors according to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Candidates with the highest CRS score are invited to apply for permanent residence by Canada in an Express Entry draw.
Enhanced PNP streams, such as the Express Entry B.C. stream, are aligned with Express Entry. B.C. searches the Express Entry pool to find qualified candidates based on their available profile information.
Express Entry candidates who receive a provincial nomination from B.C. are awarded an additional 600 CRS points. This practically guarantees receiving an invitation to apply for permanent residence in the next Express Entry draw.
There are three routes you can take if you want to immigrate to British Columbia as an entrepreneur:
Entrepreneur Immigration – Base Category:
Senior managers or company owners who want to invest money in a potential business in British Columbia fall under this group.
NOTE: The Entrepreneur Immigration – Base Category has temporarily suspended new registrations. Early in 2022, the province is anticipated to announce the date of this stream’s reopening.
Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot:
This new pilot program is for foreign businesspeople who want to start a new company in a small community in British Columbia.
Strategic Projects Category:
This category allows businesses with foreign ownership to establish operations in British Columbia. It is possible to propose up to five essential foreign managerial, professional, or technical staff members.
Tech draws are routinely held in British Columbia, and they invite qualified professionals to seek for a provincial nomination.
To alleviate the province’s labor deficit in the digital industry, the initiative was launched as a trial program in 2017. The province declared it a permanent program in June 2021.
This program is for qualified candidates who have a job offer in one of the 29 approved occupations in British Columbia. Additionally, the job offer must be for at least a year and still have 120 days left when the applicant applies.