British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)

British Columbia Province is located in the westernmost Part of Canada. It is rich in natural resources, cultural diversity and economic growth. It’s known for its natural beauty and called the “Heart of the Wild.” British Columbia is home 4.6 million people, and Vancouver, country’s 3rd-largest city. The economy of British Columbia focuses on strong natural resources. It’s unique coastal climate, vast forest areas, and the natural environment makes it the most beautiful province in Canada, indeed in the whole world.

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) is the Provincial Nominee Program of British Columbia which targets prospective immigrants with high skills/experience for provincial nomination certificate, and allow the foreign national to apply for Canada PR.

Two Primary Immigration Streams of BC PNP

1. Skills Immigration
2. Express Entry British Columbia
3. Entrepreneur Immigration

Skills Immigration

BC PNP’s Skills Immigration Stream is classified into the below streams:

1. Skilled Worker Category: for those who have received an eligible job offer in a skilled occupation. Candidates need to have several years of work experience in the skilled occupation.
2. International Graduate Category: for those have completed their graduation from an eligible University/College of Canada in the last three years. The candidates must obtain a job offer from an employer of BC to meet the eligibility under this category.
3. International Post-Graduate Category: for the graduates in Doctoral degrees or Masters from an eligible educational institution of BC in applied, natural, or health science study programs. This category doesn’t require any job offer to apply.
4. Health Care Professional Category: for those who have work experience in eligible jobs like nurses, physicians, psychiatric nurses, or allied health professionals. The eligible job offer must be obtained for one among the 11 qualifying health occupations.
5. Entry Level and Semi-Skilled Worker Category: This category is for the workers in the semi-skilled or entry-level positions in food processing, tourism/hospitality, or long-haul trucking, or for those workers in semi-skilled or entry-level positions who are living in BC’s Northeast Development Region.

Express Entry BC (EEBC)

Express Entry System of BC is aligned with the Federal Express Entry immigration selection system. It allows the eligible individuals to obtain priority for processing their BC PNP application. If nominated, they will be allowed for PR application.

Express Entry BC can process the below Skills Immigration Categories:

1. Skilled Worker Category
2. International Graduate Category
3. International Post-Graduate Category
4. Health Care Professional Category

Potential express entry candidates must meet minimum eligibility criteria for the province for one among the below categories under BC PNP:

1. Skilled Workers (including health care professionals category)
2. International Post Graduates
3. International Graduates

In addition, they must be eligible for one of the federal economic immigration programs to enter into the express entry pool:

1. Federal Skilled Worker
2. Federal Skilled Trades
3. Canadian Experience Class

All the above three economic immigration programs require the candidates to fulfill the language proficiency levels and sufficient funds required to support themselves and their family in Canada.

Entrepreneur Immigration

This stream is for those who intend to invest and settle down in British Columbia. They will be eligible for Canada PR under Entrepreneur immigration stream. It’s divided as below:

1. Entrepreneur Immigration Category: This is for the business owners and senior managers who want to invest into a proposed business of BC.
2. Strategic Projects Category: This category is for the foreign-controlled companies who want to set up a business operation in BC. It will allow the nomination of up to five key foreign professional, managerial, or technical staff members for Canada permanent residence in BC.

Applications will be assessed based on the below factors:

1. Source of funds and Personal net worth.
2. Business proposal (job creation in BC and proposed investment).
3. Adaptability; and
4. Business and/or Work Experience.