BC PNP

Provincial Nominee Program
The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) offers accelerated immigration for qualified skilled workers and experienced entrepreneurs who wish to settle in British Columbia (BC) and become permanent residents of Canada.

This program is administered on behalf of the Province of B.C. by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada

The Provincial Nominee Program selects and nominates potential immigrants for permanent residence who have the ability to become economically established in B.C. and who will provide significant economic benefits to the province.

Individuals nominated by the Province of B.C., together with their spouse and dependent children, are eligible to apply for a permanent resident visa from Citizenship and Immigration Canada in the Provincial Nominee Class. Citizenship and Immigration Canada gives priority to processing permanent resident visa applications for provincial nominees. Citizenship and Immigration Canada makes the final decision on these applications.

Strategic Occupations
The Strategic Occupations component of the Provincial Nominee Program supports B.C. employers who need to recruit or retain qualified foreign workers to help meet their current and future skill needs, and whose activities contribute to the Province’s economic development objectives. The employer and the prospective employee (nominee candidate) submit a joint application to the program

Briefly, the requirements for applying to the strategic occupations component of the Provincial Nominee Program are as follows:

  • The employer has offered, and the nominee candidate has accepted, permanent, full-time employment in a skilled occupation
  • The candidate is qualified to do the job
  • The wage offered is competitive with BC wage rates for the occupation
  • The nominee candidate’s field of employment offers good long-term prospects
  • The employer must be financially sound, have a history of good practices, and normally must have been operating in BC for at least one year and have at least five paid employees
  • The employment of a foreign worker will be of significant economic benefit to B.C.
  • The employment of a foreign worker will not adversely affect the settlement of a labour dispute, or the employment of anyone involved in any such dispute
  • The nominee candidate has the ability to become economically established in BC

Designated Health Professionals
Applications in this category are limited to:

  • Registered nurses, psychiatric nurses and physicians recruited by provincial and regional health authorities administered through Health Match BC, and who meet the Provincial Nominee Program’s requirements.
  • Midwives who meet the Provincial Nominee Program’s requirements

International Graduates
Nominee candidates in this category must have satisfied the requirements for an eligible degree or diploma conferred by a recognized post-secondary institution in BC before accepting an offer of employment.

Eligible Degree Programs
An undergraduate or graduate degree awarded from a post-secondary institution in British Columbia that:
a.    has been established under an Act of British Columbia legislature; or,
b.    has completed the required government-mandated quality assessment process and has obtained Ministerial consent under the Degree Authorization Act (DAA).

The degree must be awarded within the following fields:

  • Natural sciences, applied sciences or engineering
  • Health sciences
  • Computer science, information systems or digital media
  • Business or commerce
  • Tourism, recreation and hospitality
  • Transportation and logistics

At its discretion, the BC PNP may accept degrees in other fields of study.

Eligible Diploma Programs
A program of study, offered by a B.C. public post-secondary institution, that is normally greater than 12 months of full-time equivalent study.
The diploma must be awarded within the following fields:

  • Applied sciences or technologies, or engineering
  • Health sciences or technologies
  • Computer science or technology, information systems or digital media
  • Business or commerce
  • Tourism, recreation and hospitality
  • Transportation and logistics

Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled Pilot Project
This 2-year pilot project applies to select occupations and eligible employers in the tourism/hospitality, food processing and long-haul trucking industries, and to qualifying foreign workers. Note: The pilot project was expanded to include the food processing industry as of October 20, 2008.

The tourism/hospitality, food processing and long-haul trucking industries were selected for this pilot project as they play a key role in B.C.’s export-oriented economy, and are experiencing acute and persistent labour shortages.

Through their respective provincial industry organizations, these industries have developed human resource development strategies to hire, train and retain domestic workers, and have demonstrated that they will be unable to fully meet their on-going workforce requirements without the opportunity to retain foreign workers through permanent immigration.

Eligible Occupations

  • Hotel Front Desk Clerks
  • Tour and Travel Guides
  • Outdoor Sport and Recreational Guides
  • Casino Occupations
  • Maitres d’hotel and Hosts/Hostesses
  • Bartenders
  • Food and Beverage Servers
  • Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Occupations
  • Light Duty Cleaners
  • Specialized Cleaners
  • Janitors, Caretakers and Building Superintendents
  • Other Attendants in Accommodation and Travel:
  • Doorkeeper, Hotel Guest Services Attendant, Hotel
  • Dry Cleaning and Laundry Occupations (Hotels/Resorts only)
  • Ironing, Pressing and Finishing Occupations (Hotels/Resorts only)
  • Other Elemental Service Occupations: Attendant, Sauna Room (Hotels/Resorts only), Hotel Valet
  • Long-Haul Truck Drivers
  • Process Control and Machine Operators, Food and Beverage Processing
  • Industrial Butchers and Meat Cutters, Poultry Preparers and Related Workers
  • Fish Plant Workers
  • Testers and Graders, Food and Beverage Processing
  • Labourers in Food, Beverage and Tobacco Processing
  • Labourers in Fish Processing

Requirements for Strategic Occupations

  • Occupation
  • Demand and outlook for the occupation
  • Wage for the position
  • Qualifications
  • Offer of employment
  • Employer’s history and operations
  • Economic benefits to B.C.
  • Ability to become economically established in B.C.