British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program

British Columbia is one of the biggest provinces in Canada. Located in the western most part of Canada, it is also home for the most populous cities in Canada – Vancouver. The province is known for its national parks, natural lakes and recreation areas. Around two-thirds of the province’s land is forest area. British Columbia produces the largest amount of Cranberries and Blueberries in the world. British Columbia back bone for economy has always been forest resources, mining, farming and natural gas. In the recent past, the province has set up industries and has welcomed Information technology. To get the right resources they participated in the Provincial Nominee Program. They have been part of this program since its inception in the mid-90s.

BCPNP was defined to help the local immigration authorities recruit the right personnel into the province based on the current job requirements in the province. British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program reduces the process time to help aspirants looking to relocate to British Columbia. The program works in tandem with Federal Government immigration department. BCPNP has 2 separate categories to invite qualified aspirants to move to BC

The BCPNP Streams

1. Skills Immigration Stream:

This stream is for all those skilled and semi-skilled professionals. BCPNP invites qualified professionals into British Columbia through this stream and through Express Entry BC Stream. This is dedicated for attracting professionals for high demand occupations in BC. Anybody who is an IT professional or a health care provider & practitioner, who is experienced or is a entry level professional or a new graduate can apply under this stream.

The province issues periodic ITA (invitation to apply) to qualified professionals. Applicants must

  • Have a job offer from one of the employer based in British Columbia.
  • Be able to prove his or her experience in the domain
  • Provide proof of language proficiency
  • Have a minimum of 2 years of full time work experience in the domain

The process

  • There is a Skills Immigration Registration System or SIRS which is directly managed by BCPNP. Interested aspirants will be registering into the system. This is not mandatory for Healthcare professionals and International post graduates.
  • Once the profile is in the system, it will be evaluated according to the factors and will be ranked as required. The highest ranked profiles will receive an Invitation to Apply for nomination from the province.
  • After having received an ITA, the aspirant will be submitting a completed application form with required documents within 30 days of receiving the same.
  • The candidates who achieved the nomination can then proceed to apply for Canada Permanent residency with the IRCC. The IRCC will conduct a background check of the candidate before proceeding to the next steps in the process.

The applicant will be submitting his or her application in full with all supporting documents as would be required for the processing.

2. Express Entry BC Stream

The BCPNP’s Express Entry stream works in tandem with the Federal Express Entry system. This program does not require the aspirant to hold a job offer from an employer in British Columbia, but should have a sponsoring employer to support.

The Process

  • Profile should be part of the Express Entry Pool and should have received a profile number and Job seeker validation code. Aspirants intending to relocate to BC should submit an Expression of Interest accordingly.
  • Qualified aspirants with highest rankings will receive an ITA following which they will have to submit their application for nomination within 30 days
  • After having obtained a nomination, the aspirant will be submitting their application for Canada PR with the IRCC.

3. Entrepreneur Immigration stream

For more information about this stream, please visit our BCPNP-Business Investment Stream page.

BCPNP Tech Pilot

This program was started in the year 2017 to help British Columbia recruit qualified IT professionals into the province to help the local employer expedite fill in the job vacancies in the province.

The BCPNP has shortlisted 29 jobs under Technology sector. There will be weekly draws and invitations are issued to qualified professionals. Selected candidates must fulfill the other factors as determined by BCPNP to be eligible for this program. However, this stream does not require the employer to provide a job offer for indefinite period. The job offer can be for a minimum of one year. This is one of the shortest modes of relocation for IT professionals into Canada.

The applications under this program are processed on priority basis. Usually BCPNP takes 2 to 3 months to provide nomination. However, this program takes much lesser time.

Aspirants, who have applied under this program, do not require LMIA - Labour Market Impact Assessment.

Why XIPHIAS

XIPHIAS Immigration is top immigration firms in India. They are

  • Registered with ICCRC
  • Engage qualified professionals to do your work
  • Maintains transparency in the dealings
  • Have strong network

What XIPHIAS can do for you

  • Evaluate your profile to help you make your decision
  • Help you with your profile creation and submission of your Expression of Interest
  • Prepare required documents
  • Follow-up about your application and update you accordingly
  • Take up your case with the IRCC as would be required
  • Identify the next steps
  • Help you with relocation to British Columbia.


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