British Columbia issues 95 invitation to apply (ITA) for a provincial nomination for permanent residence on March 23. This brings the total of immigration candidates to 2,535 this year. These people can apply for a provincial nomination.
BC held its Tech Pilot draw through its British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). This was under the Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC categories.
Recipients of the invitations were from the International Graduate and Skilled Worker subcategories. They required at least an 80 provincial score.
The BC PNP Tech Pilot is a quick immigration pathway for sought-after international students and IT workers. It works through the existing provincial immigration streams of British Columbia.
There was an announcement by the province that it will extend the Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) Regional Pilot up to March 31, 2024.
Tech Pilot
The BC PNP Tech Pilot provides a fast immigration pathway for people with tech skills and wishes to become Canadian permanent resident. Candidates need to fulfil two essential criteria:
- Register themselves in one of BC’s existing provincial immigration streams.
- Have a valid job offer of a minimum of a year in one of 29 eligible occupations of the Tech Pilot.
There are several factors for the Tech Pilot job offer to fulfil:
- The job offer should be for at least a year.
- There should be a minimum of 120 days remaining at the BC PNP application to the job offer.
- The offer should be for a full-time job.
- The job offer should be from an eligible employer in British Columbia.
Job offers for more than a year are also eligible under this program.
Invitations are sent out every week through BC’s Tech Pilot to all the top-scorers. These candidates have to fulfil the eligibility criteria to receive the invitation.
Those who receive the ITA for a provincial nomination have 30 days to submit a completed application. After this, it takes two to three months for the authorities to process most tech applications.
Approved candidates receive a nomination confirmation. Candidates may use this nomination to apply for permanent residence from the IRCC under the Provincial Nominee Class.
BC PNP Tech Pilot Application Process
The Tech Pilot is not a separate category of stream of the BC PNP. This is why willing applicants need first to create their profile on BC’s online portal.
This online portal of the province is the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS). Candidates need to register themselves under one of the existing categories.
The SIRS is a point system. It lets BC PNP give applicants the necessary skills to contribute to BC’s economic growth.
After careful evaluation of the applicants, they receive a score that decides whether a candidate may receive an ITA. Different factors determine this score. These include:
- Years of work experience
- Job offer in BC
- Level of education
The basis for the Tech Pilot’s eligibility is the occupation or the job offer of a registrant.
The launch of the pilot project was in May 2017. After a labour market study, they found this out that the greatest challenge for the tech sector of BC is access to talent.
Thus, the creation of the Tech Pilot took place to support the growth of the tech sector. It made it possible and simple for workers with in-demand skills to immigrate to BC.
There have been several extensions to the pilot. The most recent was until June 2021.
Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot
The launch of the Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot, was in early 2019. It lets BC work in partnership with regional communities of less than 75,000 people.
The pilot welcomes approved immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to start a new business. The location of communities needs to be more than 30 kilometres from a population centre of more than 75,000 people.
This helps a candidate enrol himself in the pilot.
It is essential for willing entrepreneurs to complete an explanatory visit to the community where they wish to start their business. They also need to obtain a community referral before registering for the pilot.
Successful candidates receive a temporary work permit. BC may later issue a nomination for permanent residence after determining that the business has met all necessary criteria. There is an outline of these criteria in a performance agreement.
There has been an enrollment of a total of 65 communities in the initial pilot phase. BC also expects several other communities to welcome entrepreneurs. This will be after international travel restrictions are lifted.
Get in touch with us on WhatsApp or Call us at 905-671-4442. You may even email us at info@immigrationterminal.ca if you have any queries about your permanent residence application.