The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) is an immigration program designed to allow BC to increase the economic benefits of immigration to the province. It is a provincial program run in partnership with the federal government of Canada. Each year, the Government of Canada allocates a limited number of nominations to different provinces in Canada.
Skills Immigration – Skilled Worker
You must have an offer of indeterminate*, full-time employment from an eligible B.C. employer at a wage that meets industry standards
- The occupation of the job offer must be classified under Skill Type 0, Skill Level A or B in theNational Occupational Classification (NOC)
- Your employer must provide you with a written offer of employment on official company letterhead. It must:
- Be signed and dated by an employee, or owner, of the company who is authorized to hire employees.
- Be signed and dated by you confirming that you accepted the job offer
- Include your job title
- Include your job duties
- Include your rate of pay
- BC PNP does not consider bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing distributions, tips/gratuities, overtimes wages, housing allowances, room and board, or other similar payments to be part of your wage.
- Your wage must be at market rate and comparable to the rate paid to other workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs in B.C. and consistent with the wage compensation structure of your employer.
- To check the range of market wage rates by occupation, visit Job Bank, and use their wage comparison tool.
- If you were originally hired based on a positive federal Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), the wage you are earning at the time of registration and application must be equal to or greater than the wage stated in the offer of employment and on the Labour Market Impact Assessment.
- Include your standard hours of work
- Include wording that the position is indeterminate* and full-time
- Full-time is a minimum of 30 hours per week, year-round
- Include any discretionary benefits in addition to those required by law
- Pension and medical plans, disability insurance, sick pay, accommodation and meal allowances, and extra paid vacations
- If the position is covered by a collective agreement, it must also reference the agreement.
- Your employer must also meet employer requirements.
*Exception for the BC PNP Tech Pilot for the “indeterminate job offer”
Experience and Qualifications
1. You must have a minimum of two years of full-time (or full-time equivalent) work experience in the same NOC code as the occupation in your job offer. Experience in a similar occupation at a NOC skill level equal or greater than the occupation for the job offer may be included if, at the time of your application, you can satisfactorily demonstrate how this work experience is directly related.
2. Experience obtained in paid co-op work terms is eligible if it meets the following criteria:
- the paid co-op work term is full-time (minimum 30 hours per week)
and
- the paid co-op experience is a NOC skill level equal to or greater than the NOC code of the B.C. job offer
- at the time of application, you must be able to satisfactorily demonstrate how this work experience is directly related
- For the purposes of assessing your work experience in Canada, the BC PNP will only consider work experience that was obtained while you were legally authorized to work.
- You must be qualified for the offered position.
- BC PNP may refer to the National Occupational Classification (NOC), WorkBC, or other industry standards to determine the minimum qualifications for an occupation.
- If the offered position requires mandatory certification, licensing, or registration, you must provide documentation at the time of application to the BC PNP, showing that you meet these requirements, or how these requirements will shortly be met.
3. You must demonstrate that you meet minimum income requirements* according to your:
Language Proficiency Requirements
1. Job offers for occupations classified under NOC Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A do not require submission of a valid language test.
2. Job offers for occupations classified under NOC Skill Type B require submission of a valid language test with a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 4 in all four competencies: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
3. Valid language proficiency tests are:
- IELTS
- CELPIP-General
- TEF Canada
- TCF Canada
Other Requirements
1.In the five years preceding your application, and throughout the BC PNP application process, you and your spouse or common-law partner must not have held a combined ownership/equity stake of more than 10 per cent in the B.C. company that has offered you employment.
2. Your employment must provide economic benefit to B.C. For example, your employer will contribute to:
- maintaining or creating jobs for Canadians
- transferring knowledge and skills to Canadians
- supporting the development of proprietary new products
- building the workforce for a major project
3. Your employment must not adversely affect the settlement of a labour dispute or the employment of anyone involved in any such dispute, or adversely impact training or employment opportunities for British Columbians.
4. You can only have one active BC PNP registration and/or application at a time
5. The BC PNP will not nominate you if you:
- are prohibited from entering Canada
- are in Canada and are out of status
- if your status has expired, and you cannot demonstrate you have applied for restoration of status within the 90-day eligibility period, you will be considered out of status
- are working in Canada without authorization
- have an unresolved refugee claim in Canada
- are under a removal order in or outside of Canada
6. You must inform the BC PNP if there is a change in your circumstances. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- change of employer
- change of job title and duties
- decrease in salary
- change in the number of dependants
- change in immigration status
7. If you are invited to apply, you must submit the $1150 application fee with your online application before your application will be processed.
Skills Immigration – Healthcare Professional
The Skills Immigration – Healthcare Professional category was created because of the increasing demand for health care workers in B.C. You may be eligible under this category if you are a physician, nurse, psychiatric nurse, or allied health professional with a job offer from a public health authority, or if you are a midwife.
Job Offer
You must have a job offer from a public health authority as a:
- Physician
- Specialist Physician
- Registered Nurse
- Registered Psychiatric Nurse
- Nurse Practitioner
- An Allied Health Professional such as a:
- Diagnostic Medical SOnographer
- Clinical Pharmacist
- Medical Laboratory Technologist
- Medical Radiation Technologist
- Occupational Therapist
- Physiotherapist
- Midwife (Has further specific requirements)
- You must have a letter of confirmation from an established practice group in B.C. confirming your acceptance into the group as an affiliated midwife for a period of at least 6 months.
- This letter must be on the group’s official letterhead
- This letter must be signed by the head of the practice group
- This letter must be signed by you
- You must be registered, or eligible to be registered, with the College of Midwives of British Columbia.
2. You must have an offer of indeterminate, full-time employment, at a wage that meets industry standards
- Your employer must provide you with a written offer of employment on official company letterhead. It must:
- Be signed and dated by an employee, or owner, of the company who is authorized to hire employees
- Be Signed and dated by you confirming that you accept the job offer
- Include your job title
- Include your job duties
- Include your rate of pay
- BC PNP does not consider bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing distributions, tips/gratuities, overtimes wages, housing allowances, room and board, or other similar payments to be part of your wage.
- Your wage must be at market rate and comparable to the rate paid to other workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs in B.C. and consistent with the wage compensation structure of your employer.
- To check the range of market wage rates by occupation, visit Job Bank, and use their wage comparison tool.
- If you were originally hired based on a positive federal Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), the wage you are earning at the time of registration and application must be equal to or greater than the wage stated in the offer of employment and on the Labour Market Impact Assessment.
- Include your standard hours of work
- Include working that the position is indeterminate and full-time
- Full-time is a minimum of 30 hours per week, year-round
- Include any discretionary benefits in addition to those required by law
- Pension and medical plans, disability insurance, sick pay, accommodation and meal allowances, and extra paid vacations
- If the position is covered by a collective agreement, it must also reference the agreement.
- Your employer must also meet employer requirements.
Experience and Qualifications
1. Minimum of two years of full-time work experience in the same NOC as the occupation in your job offer.
This experience may be from work performed within Canada or abroad2.You must be qualified for the offered position.
- BC PNP may refer to the National Occupational Classification (NOC), WorkBC, or other industry standards to determine the minimum qualifications for an occupation.
- If the offered position requires mandatory certification, licensing, or registration,
- you must provide documentation at the time of application to the BC PNP, showing that you meet these requirements, or how these requirements will shortly be met.
Income Requirements
You must demonstrate that you meet minimum income requirements* according to your:
Language Proficiency Requirements
1. Job offers for occupations classified under NOC Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A do not require submission of a valid language test.
2.Job offers for occupations classified under NOC skill Type B require submission of a valid language test with a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 4 in all four competencies: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
3.Valid language proficiency tests are:
- IELTS
- CELPIP-General
- TEF Canada
- TCF Canada
Other Requirements
1. In the five years preceding your application, and throughout the BC PNP application process, you and your spouse or common-law partner must not have held a combined ownership/equity stake of more than 10 per cent in the B.C. company that has offered you employment.
2. Your employment must provide economic benefit to B.C. For example, your employer will contribute to:
- maintaining or creating jobs for Canadians
- transferring knowledge and skills to Canadians
- supporting the development of proprietary new products
- building the workforce for a major project
3. Your employment must not adversely affect the settlement of a labour dispute or the employment of anyone involved in any such dispute, or adversely impact training or employment opportunities for British Columbians.
4. You can only have one active BC PNP registration and/or application at a time
5. The BC PNP will not nominate you if you:
- are prohibited from entering Canada
- are in Canada and are out of status
- if your status has expired, and you cannot demonstrate you have applied for restoration of status within the 90-day eligibility period, you will be considered out of status
- are working in Canada without authorization
- have an unresolved refugee claim in Canada
- are under a removal order in or outside of Canada
6. You must inform the BC PNP if there is a change in your circumstances. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- change of employer
- change of job title and duties
- decrease in salary
- change in the number of dependants
- change in immigration status
7. If you are invited to apply, you must submit the $1150 application fee with your online application before your application will be processed.
Skills Immigration – International Graduate
You may be eligible for the BC PNP through Skills Immigration – International Graudate category if you are an international student who has graduated from a Canadian university or college in the past three years.
Education
1. A degree, diploma, or certificate from an eligible post-secondary institution in Canada
- Degrees:
- Must be from and authorized undergraduate or graduate degree program from an institution authorized to grant degrees
- Diplomas and Certificates
- Must be from a public post-secondary institution in Canada.
- Diplomas and certificates from private institutions are not eligible.
- Language training programs do not qualify
- Must have been at least 8 months (2 semesters) of full-time equivalents coursework.
- Co-op work terms, practicums, and internships are cannot be counted toward the 8-month requirement
- You may complete co-op work terms, practicums, and internships only if the 8 -month coursework requirement has been met.
2. You must submit your registration to the BC PNP within 3 years of the dates shown on your official transcript
- Distance learning education within or outside Canada is ineligible
Job Offer
1. Must have a job offer for a full-time, indeterminate* position that typically requires a university or college education at a wage that meets industry standards
- The occupation of the job offer must be classified under Skill Type 0, Skill Level A or B in the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
- Your employer must provide you with a written offer of employment on official company letterhead. It must:
- Be signed and dated by an employee, or owner, of the company who is authorized to hire employees
- Be Signed and dated by you confirming that you accept the job offer
- Include your job title
- Include your job duties
- Include your rate of pay
- BC PNP does not consider bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing distributions, tips/gratuities, overtimes wages, housing allowances, room and board, or other similar payments to be part of your wage.
- Your wage must be at market rate and comparable to the rate paid to other workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs in B.C. and consistent with the wage compensation structure of your employer.
- To check the range of market wage rates by occupation, visit Job Bank, and use their wage comparison tool.
- If you were originally hired based on a positive federal Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), the wage you are earning at the time of registration and application must be equal to or greater than the wage stated in the offer of employment and on the Labour Market Impact Assessment.
- Include your standard hours of work
- Include working that the position is indeterminate* and full-time
- Full-time is a minimum of 30 hours per week, year-round
- Include any discretionary benefits in addition to those required by law
- Pension and medical plans, disability insurance, sick pay, accommodation and meal allowances, and extra paid vacations
- If the position is covered by a collective agreement, it must also reference the agreement.
- Your employer must also meet employer requirements.
- *Exception for the BC PNP Tech Pilot for the “indeterminate job offer”
2. Your employer must satisfy the BC PNP that the job offer is bona fide.
Experience and Qualifications
You must be qualified for the offered position.
- BC PNP may refer to the National Occupational Classification (NOC), WorkBC, or other industry standards to determine the minimum qualifications for an occupation.
- If the offered position requires mandatory certification, licensing, or registration, you must provide documentation at the time of application to the BC PNP, showing that you meet these requirements, or how these requirements will shortly be met.
- Supervisor or management positions are normally only obtained through progressively increasing experience or responsibilities. If you have been offered a supervisor or management position, the onus is on your and your employer to demonstrate that you have obtained experience that qualifies you for the position. You must clearly demonstrate this experience in your resume.
Income Requirements
You must demonstrate that you meet minimum income requirements* according to your:
Language Proficiency Requirements
1. Job offers for occupations classified under NOC Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A do not require submission of a valid language test.
2. Job offers for occupations classified under NOC skill Type B require submission of a valid language test with a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 4 in all four competencies: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
3. Valid language proficiency tests are:
- IELTS
- CELPIP-General
- TEF Canada
- TCF Canada
Other Requirements
1. In the five years preceding your application, and throughout the BC PNP application process, you and your spouse or common-law partner must not have held a combined ownership/equity stake of more than 10 per cent in the B.C. company that has offered you employment.
2. Your employment must provide economic benefit to B.C. For example, your employer will contribute to:
- maintaining or creating jobs for Canadians
- transferring knowledge and skills to Canadians
- supporting the development of proprietary new products
- building the workforce for a major project
3. Your employment must not adversely affect the settlement of a labour dispute or the employment of anyone involved in any such dispute, or adversely impact training or employment opportunities for British Columbians.
4. You can only have one active BC PNP registration and/or application at a time
5. The BC PNP will not nominate you if you:
- are prohibited from entering Canada
- are in Canada and are out of status
- if your status has expired, and you cannot demonstrate you have applied for restoration of status within the 90-day eligibility period, you will be considered out of status
- are working in Canada without authorization
- have an unresolved refugee claim in Canada
- are under a removal order in or outside of Canada
6. You must inform the BC PNP if there is a change in your circumstances. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- change of employer
- change of job title and duties
- decrease in salary
- change in the number of dependants
- change in immigration status
7. If you are invited to apply, you must submit the $1150 application fee with your online application before your application will be processed.
Skills Immigration – International Post-Graduate
You may be eligible for the BC PNP’s Skills Immigration – International Post-Graduate category if you are an international student who has graduated from a B.C. post-secondary institution with a master’s or doctorate degree in the natural, applied, or health sciences.
Education
1. You must have a master’s or doctoral degree received within the past 3 years from an eligible program at an eligible post-secondary institution in B.C.
- Distance learning education within or outside Canada is ineligible
2. Your master’s or doctorate degree must be in one of the following programs of study in the natural, applied or health sciences:
- agriculture, agriculture operations, and related sciences
- biological and biomedical sciences
- computer and information sciences and support services
- engineering
- engineering technology and engineering-related fields
- health professions and related programs
- mathematics and statistics
- natural resources conservation
- physical sciences
- Eligible programs of study can be found by clicking on the BC PNP IPG & EEBC IPG Eligible Programs of Study document on this page.
Ability & Intent to Live and Work in B.C.
1. You must provide evidence to support your intent and ability to live and work in B.C.
- Some examples may include:
- Length of any previous and/or current period of residence in B.C.
- Connections to B.C.
- Work
- Study
- Family
- Description of actions taken to permanently settle in B.C.
- Finding a job
- Finding a place to live
- Current employment in B.C.
- Proof of employment search
- prospective employers, applications, networking efforts, business development, etc.
- Community involvement
- Ability to financially support yourself in B.C.
- Your plan to obtain or maintain legal authorization to work in B.C.
2. If you are not currently residing in B.C., you must indicate the date by which you will reside permanently in B.C.
Other Requirements
1. You can only have one active BC PNP registration and/or application at a time
2. The BC PNP will not nominate you if you:
- are prohibited from entering Canada
- are in Canada and are out of status
- if your status has expired, and you cannot demonstrate you have applied for restoration of status within the 90-day eligibility period, you will be considered out of status
- are working in Canada without authorization
- have an unresolved refugee claim in Canada
- are under a removal order in or outside of Canada
3. You must inform the BC PNP if there is a change in your circumstances. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- change in the number of dependants
- change in immigration status
4. If you are invited to apply, you must submit the $1150 application fee with your online application before your application will be processed.
Skills Immigration – Entry Level and Semi-Skilled (Including employment in the Northeast Development Region of B.C.)
If you are working in an entry-level or semi-skilled occupation in BC you may be eligible for The Skills Immigration – Entry Level and Semi-Skilled (ELSS) category.
Region of Occupation & Eligible Occupations
You must meet one of the following
1. You are currently working in the Northeast Development Region of the province in any entry-level or semi-skilled occupation, other than live-in caregivers, listed under NOC Skill Level C or D.
2. You are currently working in B.C. in an eligible occupation in the tourism/hospitality, long-haul trucking, or food processing industry. Here is the list of eligible occupations:
- Occupations in Travel and Accommodation
NOC 6525 Hotel Front Desk Clerks - Tour and Recreational Guides and Casino Occupations
NOC 6531 Tour and Travel Guides
NOC 6532 Outdoor Sport and Recreational Guides
NOC 6533 Casino Occupations - Occupations in Food and Beverage Service
NOC 6511 Maîtres d’hotel and Hosts/Hostesses
NOC 6512 Bartenders
NOC 6513 Food and Beverage Servers
NOC 6711 Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Occupations - Cleaners (Employed Directly by Hotels/Resorts)
NOC 6731 Light Duty Cleaners
NOC 6732 Specialized Cleaners
NOC 6733 Janitors, Caretakers and Building Superintendents
NOC 6721 Support Occupations in Accommodation, Travel and Facilities Set-Up Services - Other Service Occupations (Employed Directly by Hotels/Resorts)
NOC 6741 Dry Cleaning, Laundry and Related Occupations
NOC 6742 Other Service Support Occupations - Food Processing
NOC 9461 Process Control and Machine Operators, Food and Beverage Processing
NOC 9462 Industrial Butchers and Meat Cutters, Poultry Preparers and Related Workers
NOC 9463 Fish and Seafood Plant Workers
NOC 9465 Testers and Graders, Food, Beverage and Associated Products Processing
NOC 9617 Labourers in Food, Beverage and Associated Products Processing
NOC 9618 Labourers in Fish and Seafood Processing - Long-Haul Truck Drivers
NOC 7511 Long-Haul Truck Driver
Work Experience In An Eligible Occupation
1. You must be employed and working full-time with the B.C. employer supporting your BC PNP application for at least 9 consecutive months* immediately prior to registering to the BC PNP.**
- Full-time is a minimum average of 30 hours a week, year-round.
- Your occupation must be ELSS-eligible (Exception for Northeast Development Region of B.C. If you are currently working in the Northeast Development Region, you may be eligible in any entry-level or semi-skilled occupation listed as NOC Skill Level C or D, excluding live-in caregivers.)
- Employment that is part of a program of study or obtained using a Study Permit of Off-Campus Work Permit does not qualify for your work experience.
- * Long-haul truck drivers must also have at least 2 years of employment experience (within or outside Canada) as a long-haul truck driver in the preceding 3 years before registering with the BC PNP.
- ** The BC PNP may allow for promotions within the ELSS category from an ELSS-eligible occupation to a NOC Skill Level B occupation with the same employer if you qualify for and have registered with the BC PNP under the ELSS category. You must have met all ELSS requirements before the promotion.
2. You must maintain full-time employment with your employer in B.C. throughout both the BC PNP and Permanent Residence processes.
- You may still submit a PR application if you are no longer authorized to work for your B.C. employer when you receive an invitation to apply. However, all of the following conditions must be met:
- You have maintained legal status in Canada (e.g. as a visitor) or left Canada
- You have met the 9-month full-time employment requirement on a valid work permit in B.C. at the time of current registration
- The Job offer remains valid throughout the current registration and application process.
- Your employer must demonstrate ongoing recruitment for the vacant position during the period you are not authorized to work.
Job Offer
You must have an offer of indeterminate, full-time employment from an eligible B.C. employer at a wage that meets industry standards
- The occupation of the job offer must be classified under Skill Level C or D in the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
- Your employer must provide you with a written offer of employment on official company letterhead. It must:
- Be signed and dated by an employee, or owner, of the company who is authorized to hire employees
- Be Signed and dated by you confirming that you accept the job offer
- Include your job title
- Include your job duties
- Include your rate of pay
- BC PNP does not consider bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing distributions, tips/gratuities, overtimes wages, housing allowances, room and board, or other similar payments to be part of your wage.
- Your wage must be at market rate and comparable to the rate paid to other workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs in B.C. and consistent with the wage compensation structure of your employer.
- To check the range of market wage rates by occupation, visit Job Bank, and use their wage comparison tool.
- If you were originally hired based on a positive federal Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), the wage you are earning at the time of registration and application must be equal to or greater than the wage stated in the offer of employment and on the Labour Market Impact Assessment.
- Include your standard hours of work
- Include working that the position is indeterminate and full-time
- Full-time is a minimum of 30 hours per week, year-round
- Include any discretionary benefits in addition to those required by law
- Pension and medical plans, disability insurance, sick pay, accommodation and meal allowances, and extra paid vacations
- If the position is covered by a collective agreement, it must also reference the agreement.
- Your employer must also meet employer requirements.
Income Requirements
1. You must demonstrate that you meet minimum income requirements* according to your:
2. You must also be able to demonstrate a history of meeting the minimum income requirements for at least 9 consecutive months prior to submitting registration and/or application.
Education and Qualification
1. You must have completed secondary education (graduated from high school) within or outside of Canada.
- You will need to submit a copy of your highest-level diploma, certificate, degree, or transcripts in English.
2. If the offered position requires mandatory certification, licensing, or registration, you must provide documentation at the time of application to the BC PNP, showing that you meet these requirements, or how these requirements will shortly be met.*
- *Long-haul truck drivers must have:
- A valid B.C. Class 1 driver’s license for the duration of the 9 months full-time work experience
- airbrake endorsement
- Other certification(s), if required (such as certification for transporting dangerous goods)
Language Proficiency Requirements
You must submit valid language test results with a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 4 in all four competencies: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
- Valid language proficiency tests are:
- IELTS
- CELPIP-General
- TEF Canada
- TCF Canada
Other Requirements
1. In the five years preceding your application, and throughout the BC PNP application process, you and your spouse or common-law partner must not have held a combined ownership/equity stake of more than 10 per cent in the B.C. company that has offered you employment.
2. Your employment must provide economic benefit to B.C. For example, your employer will contribute to:
- maintaining or creating jobs for Canadians
- transferring knowledge and skills to Canadians
- supporting the development of proprietary new products
- building the workforce for a major project
3. Your employment must not adversely affect the settlement of a labour dispute or the employment of anyone involved in any such dispute, or adversely impact training or employment opportunities for British Columbians.
4. You can only have one active BC PNP registration and/or application at a time
5. The BC PNP will not nominate you if you:
- are prohibited from entering Canada
- are in Canada and are out of status
- if your status has expired, and you cannot demonstrate you have applied for restoration of status within the 90-day eligibility period, you will be considered out of status
- are working in Canada without authorization
- have an unresolved refugee claim in Canada
- are under a removal order in or outside of Canada
6. You must inform the BC PNP if there is a change in your circumstances. These may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- change of employer
- change of job title and duties
- decrease in salary
- change in the number of dependants
- change in immigration status
7. If you are invited to apply, you must submit the $1150 application fee with your online application before your application will be processed.
Visit our blog post "What is BC PNP?" for more detail about application process.
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