British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program

British Columbia
Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) is a Canadian provincial immigration program administered by the BC Provincial Nominee Program Office in the Government of British Columbia in partnership with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in the Government of Canada. Applicants with the provincial nomination certificate can submit permanent residence application to IRCC accordingly.

Except Nunavut, there is a provincial nominee program in each of the Canadian provinces and territories. In the province of British Columbia, the provincial nominee program has an Entrepreneur Immigration stream for business owners and senior managers to apply.

British Columbia is located in the Pacific North West. The Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean form a supernatural scenery. The 2010 Winter Olympic city Vancouver and the Canadian most romantic city Victoria are situated in BC.

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) stream has Base Category and Regional Pilot. They have different requirements.

The current processing time for work permit application from inside Canada is about 133 days. That for a work permit application from outside Canada varies among countries and regions, such as 6 weeks in Taiwan, 12 weeks in Hong Kong, and 15 weeks in China.

The current processing time for Permanent Resident (PR) status application through the Provincial Nominee Class is 15 – 19 months.

BC PNP - EI - Base Category Eligibility

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) stream Base Category has a higher requirement in net worth and investment than the Regional Pilot. It allows applicants to open a business in the metropolitan areas in the province of British Columbia in Canada.

Language

An English or French test result is required. For English, the requirement of minimum Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) 4 is equivalent to Reading 3.5, Writing 4.0, Listening 4.5, and Speaking 4.0 in International English Language Testing System (IELTS) General Training. The test result can be submitted later at final report.

Education

Minimum post-secondary credential such as a degree, diploma or certificate
OR
Active business owner-manager experience (100% ownership of one business) for at least 3 of the past 5 years

Experience

Within the last 10 years:
At least 3+ years of business owner-manager experience
OR
4+ years of senior manager experience
OR
A combination of 1+ year of business owner-manager experience and 2+ years senior manager experience

Exploratory Visit and Interview

Exploratory visit before registration is not required.

Net Worth

At least $600,000

Investment

Minimum $200,000

Business Ownership

At least one-third (33.33%)

Job Creation

Must create at least one full-time equivalent job (over 30 hours per week) for a permanent resident or Canadian citizen.

Business Location and Residence

Business can be located anywhere in BC.
Applicants must reside within 100 kilometers of the business.
Applicants must operate the business for at least 18 months on work permit before applying for permanent residence.

BC PNP - EI - Regional Pilot Eligibility

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) stream Regional Pilot has a lower requirement in net worth and investment than the Base Category. It encourages applicants to open a business in the regional communities in the province of British Columbia in Canada.

Language

Education

Minimum post-secondary credential such as a degree, diploma or certificate
OR
Active business owner-manager experience (100% ownership of one business) for at least 3 of the past 5 years

Experience

Within the last 5 years:
At least 3+ years of business owner-manager experience
OR
4+ years of senior manager experience
OR
A combination of 1+ year of business owner-manager experience and 2+ years senior manager experience

Exploratory Visit and Interview

Must engage and visit an enrolled community for support before registration

Net Worth

At least $300,000

Investment

Minimum $100,000

Business Ownership

At least majority (51%)

Job Creation

Must create at least one full-time equivalent job (over 30 hours per week) for a permanent resident or Canadian citizen.

Business Location and Residence

Business must be located at one of the participating communities in BC.
Applicants must reside within the boundaries of the community.
Applicants must operate the business for at least 12 months on work permit before applying for permanent residence.

Economic Class
Webinar Coming Up

Are you interested in immigrating to Canada through the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)? Email us at info@zebraimmigration.com to schedule a free 30-minute virtual consultation or RSVP for our webinar on April 9, 2022.

9

April 2022

FAQ

Regarding the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP)

What are the fees?

There are various fees to the service providers such as a retainer fee to a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) for the legal representation, fees to a designated accounting firm for net worth verification service, application fees to the BC PNP Office and IRCC for application processing, etc. A complete list of fees will be provided in the Retainer Agreement between the RCIC and the applicant.

Can my family come to Canada with me?

Your spouse, common-law partner, dependent child or dependent child of a dependent child can be accompanying family members of your application and come to Canada to work or study with you.

Please note that your parents, grandparents and siblings cannot be your accompanying family members.

You can apply to sponsor your parents and/or grandparents in the future after becoming a permanent resident or Canadian citizen.

Is IELTS Academic Test Result acceptable for the language requirement?

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) General Training and Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) General are the only two acceptable English tests for the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP).

Which French tests are acceptable for the language requirement?

If you want to satisfy the language requirement with a French test result instead of an English one, the test result needs to be from either Test d’évaluation de français pour le Canada (TEF Canada) or Test de connaissance du français pour le Canada (TCF Canada).