BC PNP Program

Under current immigration legislation, the Federal government and the Province of British Columbia have entered into a partnership allowing BC to nominate immigrants that will help fulfill the Province’s unique economic and labour market needs. The program created from this partnership is known as the Provincial Nominee Program, or PNP for short, and is operated jointly by the Provincial Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services (MCAWS) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

Generally, the Canadian immigration process can be boiled down to two stages, selection and clearance (medical and security). Under Federal immigration programs, such as the Federal Skilled Worker, Family Class and Business Class programs, CIC facilitates both the selection and clearance processing stages. Under the BC PNP, the Province conducts the selection portion and, if successful, CIC will process the clearance portion and issue permanent resident visas.

BC PNP currently operates through two broad application categories: Strategic Occupations and Business Categories. The Strategic Occupations category is an employer driven process and seeks to recruit skilled workers, health care professionals and international students. In so doing, BC PNP targets labour market shortages and bottom line economic benefit to the Province.

The Business Categories are investment driven. Depending on location, an applicant can present a business plan for a new business demonstrating an investment of $300,000 to $800,000, job creation and active management in the business. Alternatively, an existing company can assist foreign professionals and key managers to immigrate by presenting a business plan demonstrating a $1 million investment in business expansion that will create new jobs.

BC PNP has the capacity to process the selection portion of applications quicker than CIC. In most cases, BC PNP can approve an application in less than one month and some applications are even processed in less than 10 days. Since 2001, BC PNP has nominated over 1015 applicants. When you factor in family members, the number grows significantly.

In return for selecting immigrants, CIC has committed to prioritizing PNP applications for clearance and visa issuance. Currently, CIC processes most PNP applications in less than one year. Contrasted with the 46 months it takes to process a Federal Skilled Worker application, the decision to apply through PNP is easy.

The Federal programs are perceived as having rigid rules, slow processing times and unsympathetic officers at times rendering muddled decisions. It is also commonly argued that the Federal programs are out of touch with Canada’s economic needs, are overly politicized and they unsuccessfully address practical priorities. And then there’s BC PNP: flexible, open minded, rational and accommodating. Motivated to bolster the Province’s economy, BC PNP is more concerned with substance over form and addresses real economic needs practically and efficiently.

All told, the BC PNP offers a win-win-win immigration solution. The Province can attract immigrants key to its economic future, CIC unloads a significant portion of applications to the Province that would other require assessment under one of its programs, and the prospective immigrant benefits from much faster processing times.

Currently, Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and British Columbia have active PNPs.