British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)

The BCPNP (British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program) is the program used by the government of British Columbia to choose the immigration candidates to nominate to the Canadian government to become permanent residents of the province, and contribute to grow the economy.

The BCPNP is one of Canada’s PNPs. With 10 different immigration streams, the program is very diverse, with two categories for skilled workers and international graduates in Canada and post-graduates in British Columbia: Express Entry BC and Skills Immigration, and an extra one for entrepreneurs.

Choosing British Columbia Immigration

The British Columbia province, located at the west of Canada, is home to one the largest and enjoyable cities in Canada, Vancouver. Being the third most populated province, after Ontario and Québec, it has become one of the most sought-after immigration destinations in Canada.

Apart from some federal programs, the British Columbia province also offers some pathways to the Canadian province. These can be split between Express Entry aligned streams, and non-aligned.

Indeed, the BCPNP currently includes four streams that are Express Entry aligned. A provincial nomination is issued when the application is successful, leading to the applicant receiving 600 extra CRS points. This, in turn, will lead the applicant to automatically receive an ITA in the following Express Entry draw from the pool.

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Concerning the other non-aligned Express Entry streams, there is no need to be eligible for Express Entry and being in the pool. These are the same streams as for the Express Entry aligned streams. Other streams include healthcare professionals with job offers and entrepreneur investors.

​Introduced in 2017, the BCPNP Tech Pilot program provides the opportunity to Technology and IT workers to fast-track their immigration to BC and obtain permanent residence. Besides, draws for the Tech Pilot program are conducted each week, compared to two-week draws for the Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC categories.

All BCPNP categories, except Healthcare and International Post-Graduate streams, are operated through the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS).

Candidates will need to create an account with their individual data in regards to their level of studies, language proficiency, previous job experience, and their employment offer in British Columbia. The system will then attribute each candidate a score (max 200 points), and those with a score above the cut-off (published periodically by the immigration office of BC) will receive an invitation to apply for a BC nomination.

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program Streams

The BCPNP has a Tech Pilot immigration program, launched in 2017, where IT and Technology skilled workers can benefit from faster processing time of their BC provincial nomination application (only for Skilled Worker, International Graduate and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled streams). This program also needs a job offer to be eligible.