BC Business Immigration, FAST

Since its inception, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) has offered expedited immigration solutions for international investors wanting to immigrate to Canada and settle in BC.

BC PNP offers three compelling programs in an effort to attract more business and investment immigrants to the province. The program is currently divided into three streams – “Business Skills”, “Regional Skills” and “Strategic Projects”.

The Business Skills program is designed for people with viable business plans to establish or purchase and expand a business in the greater Vancouver and Abbotsford areas. The program requires a personal net worth of $800,000, a minimum investment of $400,000 and for the investor to hold at least 1/3 of the equity in the business. The investment must create at least three new jobs for Canadians or permanent residents and the investor must play an active role in the management of the business.

The Regional Skills program is similar to the Business Skills program, only it is designed for areas of BC outside of Greater Vancouver and Abbotsford. The program requires a personal net worth of $400,000, a minimum investment of $200,000 and the investment must create at least one new job for a Canadian or permanent resident.

The program is designed to provide investors with work permits so they may come to Canada to set up their businesses. Once operational and terms of the program have been satisfied, the BC PNP will issue a nomination certificate that will entitle the investor to expedited immigration status in Canada. If the investor fails to satisfy the program criteria within 2 years of arrival in Canada, they will not be issued a permanent resident visa and may have to leave Canada.

Under either of these programs, BC PNP has created a very interesting fast-track option. Investors now have an option to secure a nomination certificate at the front end of the process by placing a performance bond in trust with the province.

If an investor chooses the fast-track option, the province will issue the nomination certificate upon approval of the investor’s PNP application and the investor placing a performance bond in trust for $125,000. The investor is also obligated to settle in BC on a work permit (provided jointly by the BC PNP and Immigration Canada), to open a bank account in BC and to begin working on their business plan before receiving nomination. Upon satisfaction of these terms, the province will issue a nomination certificate and the investor may apply for permanent resident status. The investor may (and should) remain in Canada, with his or her family, while the application for permanent residence is in process, actively managing the business.

Under the bond option, the investor has to establish his or her business and hire employees, as required under the program, within 2 years of arriving in Canada. If these criteria are met, the investor will receive the bond back, without interest. If the investor fails to execute the business plan, the investor will forfeit the bond, but will not lose permanent resident status.

Using a provincial business program can reduce processing times of permanent resident visa applications by 3-4 years as compared to federal entrepreneur applications. The upside is tremendous and as all successful investors now, timing and security are paramount and this PNP program offers just that.

The third program, the “Strategic Projects” program, does not offer a fast track option. This program is designed for foreign corporations that want to invest at least $500,000 in BC. For every 3 jobs created, the foreign company can designate one potential immigrant staff member who can move to Canada to work in the Canadian business project.

In all, the BC PNP has demonstrated its commitment to forward thinking approaches to real-time issues. With the current criteria in place we have seen a sharp increase in business investor immigrant applications in BC helping fuel and maintain our already hot economy.

Ryan N. Rosenberg is a practicing immigration lawyer with Larlee & Associates Law Corporation in Vancouver, BC. He may be reached at Ryan.Rosenberg@larlee.com or by phone at +1-604-681-9887.