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British Columbia Immigration

British Columbia held two Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draws on February 16th, inviting a total of 494 candidates. In addition, the province announced that it was lifting temporary restrictions on 31 occupations which have recently been excluded from draws.

Out of the two draws, 459 of the invitations issued were to candidates in the Skills Immigration (SI) and Express Entry BC (EEBC) streams of the British Columbia PNP. Of these, the main sub-categories were the Skilled Worker, International Graduate and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled streams.

The remaining 35 invitations went to candidates in the service industry, such as retail and wholesale trade managers or food service supervisors. The province chose these occupations due to a large number of candidates working in the positions registered under the PNP stream.

The minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores for these draws were between 85 and 104 points.

In terms of future draws, the province has announced plans to include occupations which have typically been left out of most draws. These include tourism, hospitality, retail, and personal service fields.

These draws bring the province’s total for the year to nine, and the total number of invitations issued to 1,308. 

B.C.’s Provincial Nominee Program aims to help hopeful immigration applicants come to work and live in the province. Eligible applicants must demonstrate prior work experience, intention to stay in the province, and, if necessary, a valid work offer in the province.

An invitation to apply for provincial nomination is not the same as an invitation to apply for permanent residence. Provincial nomination does, however, increase a candidate’s chances of being offered an invitation to apply for permanent residence, since it adds 600 points if PR is applied through express entry. In other cases it takes approximately 18 months after the permanent residence application is submitted. 

BC PNP has many pathways through which candidates can hope to gain entry to the province. Among these are Skills Immigration, Express Entry BC, Entrepreneur Immigration, and other immigration streams.

Skilled Immigration is open to skilled or semi-skilled workers with interest in any of B.C.’s high-demand occupations. Prior experience may or may not be required, and experience working abroad may count towards that. Recent graduates are also in a good position for this stream. In this stream are sub-streams for tech workers, international graduates, healthcare workers, and more.

Express Entry BC works similarly to the federal Express Entry system, only it is intended to draw more hopeful immigrants directly to B.C.

Entrepreneur Immigration is a stream for experienced entrepreneurs who are interested in managing a business in B.C. There is a Regional Pilot substream for those who want to start a new business in the province in regional communities.

B.C.’s next PNP draw is expected to be held in 2-3 weeks time. It is unknown which stream will be the focus.

British Columbia Immigration

B.C.

Breaking Down B.C.’s PNP: How You Can Get to Canada’s West Coast

British Columbia, Canada’s third largest province for geographical territory and population, sits on the Pacific coast. British Columbia has much to offer. It is home to many small towns with local charm and breathtaking scenery, as well as the famous bustling city of Vancouver. 

The province recognizes the benefits of a successful and thriving immigrant population, which is why it has it’s provincial nominee program designed to facilitate the process of achieving permanent residency status. 

The B.C. PNP system has two main streams for applicants: Express Entry/Skills Immigration, and Entrepreneur Immigration. Express Entry/Skills Immigration paves the way for foreign workers who are international graduates of Canadian schools, or moderately to highly skilled in high demand industries in the province, granting them an easier route towards gaining permanent residence in the province.

This stream also has five categories under which its applicants are filed. These are Skilled Worker, Healthcare Professional, International Graduate, International Post-Graduate, and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled Worker. The majority of these are a part of the federal Express Entry system, while the last one is not. Those that are on the federal level can be nominated by the province to receive permanent residency, and gain an extra 600 points on the federal Comprehensive Ranking System, making their chances of receiving an invitation far more likely.

Last year, British Columbia nominated 6,500 candidates for permanent residence, most of which came from the Express Entry categories.

Skills Immigration and Express Entry pools both require that candidates are employed in a permanent, full-time position by a B.C. employer to be considered for permanent residence, with the exception of International Post-Graduates.

2016 saw the implementation of the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) which operates on a points-based system to assess the prime candidates for permanent residency according to their education, work history, language proficiency, and type of job offer they have earned. The candidates with the best scores are then invited to apply for permanent residence in the province.

The province performs regular draws from the candidate pool. The candidates selected in these draws are then issued an invitation to apply for permanent residence.

Everyone who hopes to apply for permanent residence, save those in the Healthcare Professional and International Post-Graduate pools are required to register for a SIRS profile in order to be eligible. 

In 2017, British Columbia created a new system called Tech Pilot. Tech Pilot is intended for Skills Immigration and Express Entry candidates with job offers in any of 29 tech careers determined by the province. 

This program has been extended until 2020, and addresses the province’s need for more employees in the technology sector. 

The Tech Pilot has unique requirements designed to deal with B.C.’s need for tech workers, and allows candidates to apply with a temporary job offer of one year, with 120 days remaining ahead of the application. 

The Tech Pilot program holds exclusive weekly draws, and has much flexibility and priority application processing in order to accommodate the employers needs.

The Entrepreneur streams have different rules than Express Entry. This stream has three categories: the Entrepreneur Immigration-Base category, Regional Pilot category, and Strategic Pilots category. 

The Regional Pilot category was introduced last year as a two-year program, in order to assist rural communities that are struggling economically. It allows communities to refer entrepreneurs who they feel will benefit their community’s economy to the B.C. PNP. Candidates who are nominated are encouraged to apply for a two-year work permit. If these entrepreneurs are successful, they can later apply for Canadian permanent residence through the PNP system.

British Columbia Immigration

British Colombia invites 265 candidates to apply for permanent residence

British Colombia invites 265 candidates to apply for permanent residence

On March 26, 2019, British Columbia (BC) released its latest invitation for 242 skills immigration and Express Entry candidates. The minimum scores in the categories were:

  • EEBC – Skilled Worker with a minimum score of 100;
  • EEBC – International Graduate with a minimum score of 105;
  • SI – Skilled Worker with a minimum score of 94;
  • SI – International Graduate with a minimum score of 100;
  • SI – Entry Level and Semi-Skilled with a minimum score of 73;

It is worth noting that the ITA score in BC province has significantly improved this time around, which indicates the increase in applications. Applicants with higher scores under various immigration programs for the province have begun to gather in the BC application pool.

Also, on the same day BC Provincial Nominee Program invited 23 entrepreneurs to apply for permanent residence through the Entrepreneur Immigration Stream which brought the number of invitations to a total of 265 on March 26. The minimum score of the round was 106. In March this year British Columbia invited a total of 683 candidates, and 2,021 since the start of the year. 61 of them were invited through the Entrepreneur Immigration Stream.

British Columbia Immigration

British Colombia introduces new Entrepreneur Immigration Programme

British Colombia introduces new Entrepreneur Immigration Programme

In what seems like a dream come true for many immigration enthusiasts, the most popular province in Canada, British Colombia has introduced its new EI Regional pilot programme for entrepreneurs. The good news is that the net-worth required to apply is much less than any other existing eligibility requirements for any province. The eligible investment at CAD 100,000 is also much lower than that required by any other Business investment under PNP’s.

The provinces’ own previously running regular entrepreneur immigration programme has an eligibility requirement of net worth CAD 600,000 and an investment of CAD 200,000.

The programme is a partnership between the Province and the Regional communities and has an endorsement element to it just like the community endorsement component in business entrepreneur programme for the province of PEI. For being eligible, the applicant is required to be endorsed by one of the regional communities of British Colombia with a population of less than 75,000 and located beyond 30 km of a municipality of 75,000 people. To be eligible, the communities need to demonstrate their capacity to support foreign investors.

If the programme interests you, do call us at # 011 45603720 or write to us at info@canadaeducationconsultants.com . You could also visit our website and register under the immigration form, and we will call you right away.