British Columbia

British Columbia is Canada’s westernmost province. Defined by the Pacific coastline and mountain ranges, and home to Canada’s third-largest city, Vancouver. The province’s economy is very diverse and depends upon a strong natural resources sector, with a focus on forestry and mining. British Columbia has a culture with a unique combination of European, Asian, and First Nations influences.

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP)

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) is targeted to accelerate the process for those wishing to obtain Canadian permanent resident status and who trying to settle permanently in British Columbia. 

The program is run by the British Columbia government with the partnership of the federal immigration department, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Interested candidates must follow a two-stage process: 

1. – First, apply for a nomination to the provincial government, 
2. – then, if the candidate gets nominated, apply for permanent residence to the federal government.

Every year IRCC allocates to BCPNP a limited number of nominations to the candidates.

• – The BCPNP accepts applications under three major categories: Express Entry BC, Skills Immigration,  Entrepreneur Immigration. each with their own streams.

The BC PNP Tech Pilot

The BC PNP Tech Pilot allows British Columbia immigration officials to speed up the processing of immigration candidates for in-demand technology occupations.

By the weekly draws, invitations are sent to candidates with work experience in one of 29 eligible occupations in the BC technology sector.

The BC PNP Tech Pilot prioritises technology sector applications under existing BC immigration streams. Candidates must fulfill the basic requirements of an applicable British Columbia immigration category or stream, including a minimum one-year job offer from a B.C. employer.

Eligible categories are Skilled Workers, International Graduates, Healthcare Professionals, International Post-Graduates, and Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled Workers.

Processing time

The estimated time is of 2-3 months for nomination application under Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC.

But for the applications under Entrepreneur Immigration, the BC PNP estimated time is 6-week from the date of registration. Another 4-week processing time must be calculated by the date of submission of supplication until the decision notification doesn’t come (at the work permit stage).

At the Federal level, IRCC currently processes provincial non-Express Entry nominee applications by the time period of 15-19 months. For the Express Entry streams, the general average of 6 months applies.