June 2020

Canada is indeed one of the top places on the planet to work and live. Along with other provinces, British Columbia has its advantages to attract immigrants, wherein the province selects a limited number of people who apply for Canada immigration to gain permanent residency in Canada under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). The individuals who are selected under the BC PNP are qualified for applying to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to gain permanent residence for themselves and their dependents.

BC PNP has two streams, namely The Skilled Immigration (SI) Stream and The Entrepreneur Immigration (EI) Stream. The SI is for those people who pursue skills, experience and relevant qualifications needed by the companies based in British Columbia. Whereas, the EI is for those experienced individuals who are willing to invest and actively start an eligible business in British Columbia. 

From total BC PNP nominees, 99% belongs to the SI stream while the remaining 1% is the EI stream. In the case of the EI stream, the assessment takes a longer time as the applicant has to serve a period of temporary worker status because he/she applies for the nomination.  

Comparing to 2018, a rise of 37.5% was seen in the SI stream in 2019, accounting total of 20,587 registrations for BC PNP. The SI – International Graduate and Express Entry BC – International Graduate category marked 27.3% of the share of all the registrations received in 2019. 

In the case of the EI category, BC PNP received a total of 451 registrations in 2019. The registrations were from entrepreneurs who expressed interest in applying to the EI Base category. Out of the total registrations, 295 of the applicants were eligible for the pool to receive an invitation to apply. An increase was noticed as compared to the count in 2018, which was 196 out of 362. 

In March 2019, the EI Regional Pilot was launched for which the entrepreneur should have a referral from one of the 60+ engaging communities. After the link was opened for this in March, BC PNP received 74 registrations, and 62 were qualified.

As compared to 2018, a 10.2% increase was marked in the total BC PNP applications in 2019. In 2019, 8,292 applicants accepted the ITA (Invitation to Apply) for BC PNP. Out of the total number, SI applications were 8,024, and the remaining 268 accounted for EI applications.  

Every year the IRCC allocates a certain number of nominations to each province. For the year 2019, BC was allocated with 6,500 nominations and included the PNP the total sum was 6,551 nominations for permanent residence. The number of allocations for BC PNP numbers saw an increase in 2019. In 2018, the initial number allocated to BC was 6,250 nominations. Still, it went to 6,500 nominations after receiving an in-year rise from IRCC because of the unused nominations in other territories and provinces.52% of the total nominations accounted for the Skilled Worker category. 

What about international students? Yes, along with other categories, the BC PNP also has a specific category for its international students. For 2019, 32.6% of the nominations accounted for International Graduate and International Post-Graduate categories.

An additional step is to be followed before the nomination for the EI application. BC PNP supports the applicants under EI who are qualify stage 1 for applying to the work permit so they can arrive in British Columbia and implement their business idea. At this stage, the entrepreneurs usually have a period of two years for establishing their business before they qualify for the nomination. In 2019, 77 candidates were approved for a work permit under EI. In 2018, the number was 73. 

From the top ten source countries for SI nominations, India ranks firth while China and Brazil mark a second and third place in the list. The SI nomination proportion for these ten countries has been gradually decreasing from the past three years; in 2019, it was 75%, in 2018 noted to be 76%, and in 2017 it was 77%.

In 2019, India and China accounted for half portion of the SI nomination. A minute decrease was seen in the percentage in 2019 as compared to 2018 and 2017. In 2017 it was 53%, which decreased to 44.8% in 2018. Whereas, in 2019, the number was 48.7%.

For the EI nomination, China topped the list. The top five countries accounted for EI nominations showed a rising graph from 2018 (88%) to 2019 (96%).

From the top ten occupations mentioned below, a shift was noticed for SI nomination in the year 2019. An increase was marked in the restaurant and foodservice manager occupation, denoted by NOC level 0. Second ranks the retail and wholesale trade manager who again belongs to NOC level 0. In 2019, the restaurant and foodservice manager, cooks, and food counter attendants accounted for 11.4% of BC PNP nominations, which was a decrease compared to 14.2 % in 2018.

The main concern of the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness incorporate marking up B.C. as a favoured area for new and rising innovation and technologies, expanding the development of residential B.C. tech organizations and expelling hindrances to pulling in talented labourers and skilled workers. To support this, the Tech Pilot attempts to guarantee that the innovation and technology part can flourish by attracting and holding the talent it requires in 29 professions in engineering, technology and business support services.  

In 2019, Tech Pilot nominations represented 23% of all nominations, an expansion from the 17.4% they represented in 2018. A 33.3% rise was noticed in tech nominations from 2018 to 2019.

The city of planned living arrangement is utilized to decide the SI regional distribution, with the best five local regions, namely Metro Vancouver, Capital, Squamish-Lillooet, Fraser Valley, and Central Okanagan. The Metro Vancouver Regional District, earlier known as the Greater Vancouver Regional District, is the prime location for SI nominees. 

For EI candidates, the business area is utilized to decide the provincial region. In 2019, there were noteworthy increments in the quantity of chosen people whose organizations were in the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts.

The regular compensations for SI nominees saw significant increments in each classification from 2018 to 2019, after a year where pay rates had generally remained stale. Increases in regular pay rates from 2018 to 2019 were particularly eminent in the International Graduate (19.5%), Skilled Worker (13.4%), and EEBC – International Graduate (13.1%) classes. An increase in wages was seen from 2018 to 2019, which were particularly eminent in the International Graduate (19.5 %), Skilled Worker (13.4%), and EEBC – International Graduate (13.1%) classes.