British Columbia is Canada’s westernmost province, located at the crossroads of the Pacific Ocean and the majestic Rocky Mountains. Through strategic immigration initiatives, British Columbia is committed to fostering a dynamic and prosperous community. BC Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) offers skilled professionals and seasoned entrepreneurs a pathway to permanent residency. This program is designed to attract highly skilled and in-demand talent, enabling them to build their careers, families, and futures in British Columbia.
Skills Immigration: For workers and recent graduates with the skills, experience and qualifications needed by B.C. employers. There are five streams, each tailored to the skills, experience, and education of different people.
Entrepreneur Immigration: For experienced entrepreneurs who intend to create and actively manage a business in the province. This is a “temporary to permanent” immigration pathway. You will come to BC initially as a temporary resident and then apply for permanent residence after starting a business successfully. Currently there are three streams under Entrepreneur Immigration.
Job Offer |
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Education |
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Experience |
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Language | TEER 0 or 1: Not required unless you claim language points. TEER 2 or 3: CLB 4 |
Direct employees of a provincial health authority or physicians, nurse practitioners, or midwives with support from a provincial health authority may apply directly to the Health Authority stream. Workers not employed by a health authority must register in another stream. Those with job offers in targeted occupations may benefit from targeted invitations.
Job Offer |
BC public health employees Provincial Health Services Authority |
Education | Meet the public health authority’s education, training, and qualification requirements. |
Experience |
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Language | TEER 0 or 1: Not required unless you claim language points. TEER 2, 3, 4 or 5: CLB 4 |
Job Offer |
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Education |
Education Planner Credentials obtained at campuses of Canadian institutions located outside of Canada are not eligible. |
Experience |
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Language | TEER 1: Not required unless you claim language points. TEER 2 or 3: CLB 4 |
Job Offer | No job offer required. |
Education | A master’s or PhD degree from a BC institution in the natural, applied, or health sciences within the past three years. Master’s Level Programs
Doctoral Level Programs
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Experience |
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Language | No language requirements |
Job Offer | Full-time, indeterminate (no defined end date) under TEER 4 or 5 in an eligible occupation in the tourism/hospitality, food processing sectors or in any occupation under TEER 4 or 5 (except live-in caregivers TEER 44100) if you are currently working in the Northeast Development Region. |
Education | Minimum high school |
Experience | Minimum 9 months of full-time and continuous experience in an eligible occupation with same employer who is extending a job offer. 9 months of qualifying experience may come from a different but eligible occupation with the same employer. |
Language | CLB 4 |
The BCPNP primarily assists businesses in British Columbia in recruiting international talent, including workers and students, to fulfill labor market demands. To support your BCPNP application, your employer must meet to specific program requirements.
Minimum Number of Years in Operation in British Columbia
Valid Business Licence
Minimum Number of Full-Time Employees in British Columbia
History of good workplace and business practices
Your employer must be financially sound and have a history of good workplace and business practices, including complying with all applicable BC. and federal employment, labour, immigration, health and safety laws and regulations. Your employer may be asked to provide financial statements prepared by a certified professional accountant.
Offer of employment
The employer must provide a job offer for a full-time (minimum 30 hours per week) and indeterminate (no end date) position. Contract positions are not eligible. The onus is on the employer to demonstrate that the job offer is bona fide.
Wage/Salary
The wage stated in offer of employment must be at market rate and comparable to the rate paid to workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs in BC and consistent with the wage compensation structure of the employer. The BC PNP do not consider bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing distributions, tips/gratuities, overtime wages, housing allowances, room and board, or other similar payments to be part of your wage.
Minimum Personal Requirements
Minimum Business Requirements
When registering, you’ll need a business idea. This idea gets scored on its potential, how well your skills match, and its economic benefits. A detailed business plan will be required if you are invited to apply. The BCPNP is open to various business arrangements, including starting new businesses, buying existing ones, forming partnerships, or teaming up with entrepreneurs. You should provide goods and/or services that will make profits and demonstrate a long-term potential for success. Franchise businesses are acceptable if they’re established brands. Buying an existing franchise is also an option, but you’ll need a plan to expand or improve it, meeting the franchiser’s standards. Seasonal businesses are only considered if they operate for at least eight months each year. This ensures a focus on profitable, sustainable, and well-structured business ventures.
Ineligible businesses
The BCPNP does not accept certain types of business. These include:
Additionally, the BC PNP excludes registrations for certain business types in regions with populations over 300,000. These include convenience stores, DVD rental stores, gasoline stations, personal dry-cleaning services, and tanning salons. This ensures the program supports diverse and ethically sound business ventures.
Minimum Investment Requirements
To register, the candidate must demonstrate that he/she will make an eligible personal investment of at least $200,000 CAD in the proposed business within 610 days (approximately 20 months) of arriving in BC on a BC PNP supported work permit. If proposing a key staff member, the candidate must demonstrate that he or she will make an eligible personal investment of $400,000 CAD.
Minimum Job Creation Requirements
Applicant must demonstrate that the business in BC will create at least one permanent new full-time equivalent job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in the proposed business as well as the likelihood of supporting long-term employment of Canadians or permanent residents in the business. Job creation requirements differ for candidates who proposed to include a key staff member on their application.
Invitation to Apply
Just meeting the basic eligibility criteria doesn’t ensure an invitation to apply for the BCPNP Entrepreneur Program. Candidates enter the selection process and are scored and ranked. Top-ranked candidates are invited to apply. If invited, you’ll have 4 months to submit a detailed application. There is a mandatory in-person interview at the BC PNP office in Vancouver in either English or French. Upon approval, you’ll receive a Letter of Confirmation, a support letter for a 2-year work permit, which will be issued by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) after submitting a separate work permit application. You’ll sign a performance agreement and have 20 months to implement your business proposal. If invited, you’ll also need to have your personal net worth and funds accumulation verified by a certified supplier as part of the nomination process.
Transition to Permanent Residence
If the applicant meets the requirements of the performance agreement within the 20 months, the BC PNP will nominate him/her for permanent residence. He/she, along with his/her dependent family members can then apply for permanent residence under the BC PNP with IRCC. Once the entrepreneur completes the terms of the performance agreement, he/she can submit a final report to the BC PNP to be issued a nomination certificate. The entrepreneur must demonstrate to the BC PNP that he/she:
Regional Pilot is for entrepreneurs who want to start a new business in participating regional communities across BC. To reflect the lower costs of starting a business and settling in regional communities with smaller populations, the personal net worth and investment criteria is lower than the existing Entrepreneur Immigration – Base Category (EI – Base Category)
Key features of the EI – Regional Pilot
Active community role: Participating communities have a key role in the pilot. They are actively involved in attracting foreign entrepreneurs to their community and working with local partners and existing networks to provide support for entrepreneurs settling into their communities.
Referral from the community: Participating communities may refer foreign entrepreneurs to the BC PNP whose business concept aligns with the community’s economic priorities. The foreign entrepreneur must be invited by the community to conduct an exploratory visit and present their concept to the community’s designated contact person prior to receiving a referral.
Community concierge: A dedicated BC PNP concierge service supports communities with immigration program information.
Invitations & prioritization: Foreign entrepreneurs who are referred by a participating community are placed in a separate registration pool dedicated to the pilot when they register. Regional pilot registrations and applications are prioritized.
Requirements
This stream is for international companies planning major investments in BC. It allows these companies to bring up to 5 senior employees to BC to manage operations. These employees should be key to company growth and settle permanently. This stream is designed to foster international investment and job creation in BC, ensuring a win-win for both investing companies and the local economy.
Company Eligibility
Key Staff Eligibility
Investment Requirements
The BCPNP is a pathway for skilled and semi-skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and other professionals to gain permanent residency in British Columbia, Canada, by contributing to the province’s economic growth.
The BCPNP consists of various categories, including Skills Immigration, Express Entry BC, and the Entrepreneur Immigration stream.
It primarily targets sectors like health care, technology, and other critical industries, offering pathways for workers with skills, experience, and qualifications needed by BC employers.
Yes, spouses/common-law partners and dependent children can be included in your nomination for permanent residency.
Language requirements vary by category. For TEER 0 and 1, it’s not mandatory unless claiming language points, whereas TEER 2 and 3 require a minimum of CLB 4.
Yes, under the International Graduate stream, if they have graduated from an eligible Canadian university or college and meet other criteria.
Yes, you can still qualify for the BCPNP. If you have received another indeterminate job offer from a new employer who meets all the BCPNP requirements, your application can continue to be processed. It’s crucial that your new employer fulfills the program’s employer criteria and the job offer aligns with your BCPNP category. It’s advisable to inform BCPNP about your change in employment situation and provide details of the new job offer to ensure your application remains valid and is processed accordingly.
Yes, a minimum personal investment of $200,000 CAD is required for the Base stream (or $400,000 CAD if proposing a key staff member).
Requirements vary but generally include a job offer from a BC employer, relevant work experience, and language proficiency and educational requirements based on the specific stream.
Express Entry BC offers 600 CRS points to eligible candidates if they are nominated, thus enabling them to apply for permanent residency.
Processing times vary based on the stream and application complexity, ranging from several weeks to several months.
Applicants must have a full-time, indeterminate job offer from a BC public health authority or be a designated health professional with support from a health authority.
The community actively refers entrepreneurs whose business concepts align with economic priorities and supports them in settling into the community.
Entrepreneurs must start a business in a regional community, meet specific criteria including a minimum investment, and create at least one new job.
Key staff must be senior employees crucial to the BC operation, take on executive or senior managerial roles, or possess specialized knowledge, and work full-time and permanently in BC.
The BC PNP may request financial statements, policy documents, and other proof to ensure employers are in good standing and meet workplace, business practices, and employee number requirements.
These services provide support and immigration program information to communities involved in the Regional Pilot.
Applicants must have a minimum of 2 years of full-time (or equivalent) experience in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupations, which may be from Canada or abroad.
No, applicants in this category do not require a job offer but must have completed a master’s or PhD degree in certain fields from a BC institution.
The wage must be at market rate, comparable to rates for similar jobs in BC, and consistent with the employer’s wage compensation structure.
