British Columbia is leading the country in economic growth, and continues to rely on economic immigration to meet labour market demand.

The B.C. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is the Province’s only direct economic immigration tool for bringing in new British Columbians.

It provides a pathway to permanent residence for highly-skilled, in-demand workers and experienced entrepreneurs, so they can settle in B.C. and raise a family.

The B.C. PNP Tech Pilot was created in 2017 to help local tech companies recruit and retain the international talent they need when local skilled workers are unavailable.

Facts:

• Since the 2001 inception of the program, more than 44,000 workers and entrepreneurs have been attracted to the province through the PNP.
• In 2017, B.C. PNP nominated 69 entrepreneurs who had invested in new or existing B.C. businesses and demonstrated an active management role. The entrepreneurs invested $56 million and created 147 jobs.
• The federal government sets the maximum number of provincial nominees the provinces and territories can select each year.
• B.C.’s quota of PNP nominations for 2018 has been set at 6,250 by the federal government. Past B.C. PNP allocations from the federal government:
  • 2017 – 6,000
  • 2016 – 5,800
  • 2015 – 5,500
  • 2014 – 4,150
  • 2013 – 3,800
• B.C. uses its full nomination allocation every year.
• Thanks to many updates to B.C.’s PNP intake and processing, including the 2015 introduction of an online registration and application system, processing times for people invited to apply to the skills immigration stream is 2-3 months, and 4-6 months for the entrepreneur Immigration stream.
• Top countries of citizenship for PNP nominees in 2017 were India, China, South Korea, Australia and the United Kingdom.
• In June 2018, the B.C. PNP Tech Pilot was extended for another year and enhanced by reducing the requirement for a permanent full-time job offer to a one-year full-time offer.
• Candidates must also have job offers in one of the 29 eligible tech occupations listed on the PNP Tech Pilot page at: WelcomeBC.ca
• In 2017, the PNP Tech Pilot nominated 923 tech workers for permanent residency status.