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.
Showing posts with label Provincial Nomination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Provincial Nomination. Show all posts
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Shallow Labour Pool
Federal and provincial governments are tackling the issues of the labour shortage and immigration in different ways.
We all know that Canada’s, particularly British Columbia’s and Alberta’s, labour markets are suffering from a major shortage these days. In August, two major announcements were made to address this problem — one from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the other from the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (B.C. PNP).
These two announcements reflect the current trend in Canadian immigration policy. The federal government is focusing on broader issues, while the provinces are doing more and more of the work to actually facilitate the entry of immigrants and workers that address real labour market shortages.
CIC announced the creation of the Temporary Foreign Worker Units (TFWU) in Vancouver and Calgary. According to CIC, the TWFUs will offer guidance to employers and human resources service providers in those two cities seeking to employ foreign workers who fall into a very limited category – that is, applicants who do not need a labour market opinion from Service Canada to support their work permit applications. This does not reflect a policy shift, but rather a re-allocation of resources. If the pilot project is successful, CIC will likely expand the program across much of Canada.
Essentially, employers and foreign workers will be able to vet applications to the TFWUs before they apply for a work permit. The TFWU will review the application and give the employer or foreign worker advice on the application. If the application is done properly, the TFWU will issue a letter to the employer or foreign worker that can then be used to apply for a work permit at an entry port into Canada. The TFWU will not issue work permits directly.
The impact from this project should be noticeable to some, but largely ineffective regarding our current provincial labour market shortages. The problem is that the TFWUs are generally designed to address intra-company transferees, whom are non-Canadian employees working in offices outside of Canada who are being transferred to their company’s offices inside of Canada (typically well-paid executives), the kind of jobs covered under trade agreements, like NAFTA, GATS and the Canada Chile Free Trade Agreement (engineers, geologists, dentists, lawyers, etc.) and those facilitated under other reciprocal arrangements. None of these agreements facilitate entry of construction workers, manufacturers or other labourers in sectors that our economy is truly in dire need.
The B.C. PNP’s announcement in August is a very positive sign of new things to come on the immigration scene. The B.C. PNP office has been given the green light to hire six new staff to deal with the ever-increasing volume of applications received by that office. Of the six new hires, four are anticipated to work on strategic occupation cases, while the other two are earmarked for business applicants. Three new staff will be hired almost immediately and the other three will join in the not-to-distant future.
The B.C. PNP has the flexibility and desire to help employers in the province hire those key employees that they need to make their businesses successful, contributing to B.C.’s bottom line. Construction workers, including various trades are typically welcomed.
The B.C. PNP is available to almost all employers facing difficulties finding qualified persons to take on good and typically decently paying jobs. Once nominated, a B.C. PNP applicant may apply for a work permit that will bridge the gap between nomination and landing as a permanent resident. Under this program, a foreign worker can typically start work within a few of months of filing an application in the PNP office.
So as the federal government offloads its responsibilities, the provinces are filling in the gaps. In many respects, this trend reflects our political landscape — national identity coupled with regional diversity. We may actually be on the right track.
Ryan N. Rosenberg, BA, LLB, is an immigration lawyer with Larlee & Associates. Email him at rnrosenberg@larlee.com or call 604-681-9887.
We all know that Canada’s, particularly British Columbia’s and Alberta’s, labour markets are suffering from a major shortage these days. In August, two major announcements were made to address this problem — one from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the other from the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (B.C. PNP).
These two announcements reflect the current trend in Canadian immigration policy. The federal government is focusing on broader issues, while the provinces are doing more and more of the work to actually facilitate the entry of immigrants and workers that address real labour market shortages.
CIC announced the creation of the Temporary Foreign Worker Units (TFWU) in Vancouver and Calgary. According to CIC, the TWFUs will offer guidance to employers and human resources service providers in those two cities seeking to employ foreign workers who fall into a very limited category – that is, applicants who do not need a labour market opinion from Service Canada to support their work permit applications. This does not reflect a policy shift, but rather a re-allocation of resources. If the pilot project is successful, CIC will likely expand the program across much of Canada.
Essentially, employers and foreign workers will be able to vet applications to the TFWUs before they apply for a work permit. The TFWU will review the application and give the employer or foreign worker advice on the application. If the application is done properly, the TFWU will issue a letter to the employer or foreign worker that can then be used to apply for a work permit at an entry port into Canada. The TFWU will not issue work permits directly.
The impact from this project should be noticeable to some, but largely ineffective regarding our current provincial labour market shortages. The problem is that the TFWUs are generally designed to address intra-company transferees, whom are non-Canadian employees working in offices outside of Canada who are being transferred to their company’s offices inside of Canada (typically well-paid executives), the kind of jobs covered under trade agreements, like NAFTA, GATS and the Canada Chile Free Trade Agreement (engineers, geologists, dentists, lawyers, etc.) and those facilitated under other reciprocal arrangements. None of these agreements facilitate entry of construction workers, manufacturers or other labourers in sectors that our economy is truly in dire need.
The B.C. PNP’s announcement in August is a very positive sign of new things to come on the immigration scene. The B.C. PNP office has been given the green light to hire six new staff to deal with the ever-increasing volume of applications received by that office. Of the six new hires, four are anticipated to work on strategic occupation cases, while the other two are earmarked for business applicants. Three new staff will be hired almost immediately and the other three will join in the not-to-distant future.
The B.C. PNP has the flexibility and desire to help employers in the province hire those key employees that they need to make their businesses successful, contributing to B.C.’s bottom line. Construction workers, including various trades are typically welcomed.
The B.C. PNP is available to almost all employers facing difficulties finding qualified persons to take on good and typically decently paying jobs. Once nominated, a B.C. PNP applicant may apply for a work permit that will bridge the gap between nomination and landing as a permanent resident. Under this program, a foreign worker can typically start work within a few of months of filing an application in the PNP office.
So as the federal government offloads its responsibilities, the provinces are filling in the gaps. In many respects, this trend reflects our political landscape — national identity coupled with regional diversity. We may actually be on the right track.
Ryan N. Rosenberg, BA, LLB, is an immigration lawyer with Larlee & Associates. Email him at rnrosenberg@larlee.com or call 604-681-9887.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
JOB OFFER = VISA
Get a Job, Get a Visa
While I don’t claim to be a psychic, I am confident in the following premonition: The future of immigration policy in Canada is employment driven.
Be sure that family reunification and protection of the vulnerable will always be a priority, but outside of that realm, the most efficient way to accomplish immigration goals in Canada is through employment offers. Canada is starving for skilled persons to fill labour market shortages and one only needs to open the help wanted page of the newspaper or to visit an internet job bank to reach this conclusion.
Immigration policies have developed to help address these dire economic needs. For instance, the evolution of provincial nominee programs (PNP) over the past 5 years have led to a reliable employment driven option. With a solid job offer in a sector facing a labour shortage, most provincial nominee programs will offer you expedited immigration processing. In BC, a PNP application can land you a work permit in a couple of months, so long as an employer can prove a labour market shortage for the position that they are trying to fill. In Manitoba, for example, employers can pre-approve job openings through the PNP process and then recruit for those positions overseas. The list goes on.
With a job offer in hand, the upside is tremendous. Nearly instant work permits in some circumstances and permanent resident visa processing often in less than one year. Without a job offer you could wait over two and in some cases more than 3 years for your visa. Further to this point, for every provincial nominee that a visa post processes for permanent residence, a skilled worker applicant has to wait longer.
So as a prospective immigrant, you have to be wondering how to make the most of a job offer before you accept it. The options are countless, but there are some guiding principles, no matter which route you take.
First, be sure that your job offer is legitimate as no matter which route you take, there will be at least a basic level of investigation. Second, do not take a job offer that will pay you less than Canadians are paid for the same work. Canada’s immigration policies have safeguards in place to protect immigrants from exploitation. Third, be sure that your skills are in demand. We all know that our economy needs skilled trades and information technology professionals, but we also need a whole lot more. Check with a credible labour market information source before you accept a job offer. Fourth, be sure that your employer is willing to participate in the process. Immigration applications supported by job offers require the employer’s assistance in gathering documents and providing support letters.
Your most important consideration is whether or not your job offer fits into an immigration program that meets your needs. This is where it gets complicated. Not all programs are processed with the same priority and depending on what country you are coming from, your age, your status in Canada, where you intend to reside and where you studied (not to forget your spouse’s circumstances) you may have different options available to you. For example, if you are under 30 and from a certain list of countries you may qualify for a one year open work permit (ie any employer and no job offer required before arriving in Canada).
So with a list of options longer than most all you can eat sushi menus, research your options first and you’ll be working in Canada in no time.
While I don’t claim to be a psychic, I am confident in the following premonition: The future of immigration policy in Canada is employment driven.
Be sure that family reunification and protection of the vulnerable will always be a priority, but outside of that realm, the most efficient way to accomplish immigration goals in Canada is through employment offers. Canada is starving for skilled persons to fill labour market shortages and one only needs to open the help wanted page of the newspaper or to visit an internet job bank to reach this conclusion.
Immigration policies have developed to help address these dire economic needs. For instance, the evolution of provincial nominee programs (PNP) over the past 5 years have led to a reliable employment driven option. With a solid job offer in a sector facing a labour shortage, most provincial nominee programs will offer you expedited immigration processing. In BC, a PNP application can land you a work permit in a couple of months, so long as an employer can prove a labour market shortage for the position that they are trying to fill. In Manitoba, for example, employers can pre-approve job openings through the PNP process and then recruit for those positions overseas. The list goes on.
With a job offer in hand, the upside is tremendous. Nearly instant work permits in some circumstances and permanent resident visa processing often in less than one year. Without a job offer you could wait over two and in some cases more than 3 years for your visa. Further to this point, for every provincial nominee that a visa post processes for permanent residence, a skilled worker applicant has to wait longer.
So as a prospective immigrant, you have to be wondering how to make the most of a job offer before you accept it. The options are countless, but there are some guiding principles, no matter which route you take.
First, be sure that your job offer is legitimate as no matter which route you take, there will be at least a basic level of investigation. Second, do not take a job offer that will pay you less than Canadians are paid for the same work. Canada’s immigration policies have safeguards in place to protect immigrants from exploitation. Third, be sure that your skills are in demand. We all know that our economy needs skilled trades and information technology professionals, but we also need a whole lot more. Check with a credible labour market information source before you accept a job offer. Fourth, be sure that your employer is willing to participate in the process. Immigration applications supported by job offers require the employer’s assistance in gathering documents and providing support letters.
Your most important consideration is whether or not your job offer fits into an immigration program that meets your needs. This is where it gets complicated. Not all programs are processed with the same priority and depending on what country you are coming from, your age, your status in Canada, where you intend to reside and where you studied (not to forget your spouse’s circumstances) you may have different options available to you. For example, if you are under 30 and from a certain list of countries you may qualify for a one year open work permit (ie any employer and no job offer required before arriving in Canada).
So with a list of options longer than most all you can eat sushi menus, research your options first and you’ll be working in Canada in no time.
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