British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)

The British Columbia PNP is an immigration program that enables graduates, foreign workers, and entrepreneurs to settle in British Columbia province permanently.

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Those applying for a PNP must meet certain requirements regarding their ability to benefit the Canadian state and the specific province to where they’re planning to move. This concerns British Columbia PNP as well.

What is BC PNP?​

This dual benefit results in a general gain for the Canadian government, for they get to grow their labour market and economic growth.Canada establishes a target for the number of immigrants they’ll let in using PNP programs.

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How Does the BC PNP Work?

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program is an immigration solution for skilled individuals. Qualification includes being a skilled worker, a graduate, an entrepreneur, or anyone with the necessary attitudes to contribute to the British Columbia economy.

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British Columbia PNP is one of the most versatile PNPs in Canada. It offers the Skill Immigration and Express Entry streams for skilled graduates and workers in different categories. Entrepreneurs have their own channel, and there are special considerations for capable immigrants who don’t qualify for those.

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The streams split into other categories. The Skills Immigration branch offers Express Entry for four of its categories; it’s partnered with the federal election system.

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Applicants who succeed receive two benefits: an additional 600 points in the CRS and a permanent residence application invitation after they’re approved.

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The British Columbia PNP receives management from the SIRS (Skills Immigration Registration System). Applicants need to register their profile plus personal information relevant to their BC job offer: experience, language proficiency, and education.

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The SIRS uses the Expression of Interest/Invitation to Apply foundation, and candidates receive a score from the BC government to draw the best candidates.

There are some British Columbia Provincial Nomination categories that don’t require an active job offer for application. Many categories independent from the SIRS fit into this description. There’s also a program started in 2017 called Tech Pilot. IT and tech workers have the option to migrate to BC for permanent residence.

Skills Immigration

Skills Immigration is the channel for workers in occupations with high demand. The invitation system uses points, and you need to register and apply through an online portal; permanent residency requires a paper application.

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Some categories require no prior experience, and all categories count your work abroad as experience. Both entry and semi-skilled levels do require experience in BC. Depending on the work, international graduates from Canadian universities/colleges may need zero work experience as long as they graduated recently; it also depends on the job offer.

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Entrepreneur Immigration

This stream aims for entrepreneurs looking to manage a business in BC and have enough experience. It’s also a point-based evaluation, and you must have your personal and investment funds at hand.

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There’s also a regional pilot branch for entrepreneurs looking to begin a business by participating with the communities in BC.

There’s finally room for companies with expansion plans towards BC; it offers permanent residency for their key staff.

British Columbia PNP Requirements

Now, we’ll go in-depth with the requirements for each category inside the British Columbia PNP. Below, you’ll also find the additional requirements for the Express Entry stream for the applicable categories.

The EE streams have all the previous requirements plus the ones pointed out in the list.