The British Columbia Nomination scheme allows immigrants to reside and work in British Columbia through guaranteed offer of employment from an employer based in the province, or through other business categories.

Candidates are restricted to living and working in the province they have been nominated by, until they obtain their Canadian citizenship.

The British Columbia Provincial Nomination scheme generally chooses a limited number of applicants for the migration in order to meet the recognized skills shortages.

Applicants need to qualify in any one of the two streams, the Strategic Occupation Stream or the Business Categories Stream.

The Strategic Occupation Stream

The Strategic Occupation Stream is very much like the Canadian work permit. Candidates must possess a guaranteed offer of employment from an employer in British Columbia.

Under the strategic occupations component of the Provincial Nominee Program, the requirements for applying are -

• The employer has offered, and the nominee candidate has accepted, permanent, full-time employment in a skilled occupation
• The candidate is qualified to do the job
• The wage offered is competitive with BC wage rates for the occupation
• The nominee candidate’s field of employment offers good long-term prospects
• The employer must be financially sound, have a history of good practices, and normally must have been operating in BC for at least one year and have at least five paid employees
• The employment of a foreign worker will be of significant economic benefit to B.C.
• The employment of a foreign worker will not adversely affect the settlement of a labour dispute, or the employment of anyone involved in any such dispute
• The nominee candidate has the ability to become economically established in BC For more details, please see requirements for strategic occupations

The strategic occupations component of the Provincial Nominee Program is focused on supporting industries that are priorities for economic development:

• Construction
• Information technology and new media
• Film and television production
• Life sciences
• Clean energy technologies
• Manufacturing and processing
• Aerospace
• Engineering and environmental services
• International financial and business services
• Health services and post-secondary education
• Tourism and hospitality
• Oil and gas
• Mining
• Other business activities contributing to economic expansion and diversification outside of the Greater Vancouver Regional District

The job offer needs to be for a position which cannot be filled from the domestic workforce and must be for one of the below mentioned professional categories:

Skilled workers

Skilled workers in occupations listed in skills level O, A and B of NOC are eligible to apply. These are management, professional, technical, trades and other skilled occupations that generally require post-secondary education or training, and several years of relevant employment experience.

Applicants with no formal education should prove that they are fully qualified and have the skills, knowledge and experience to perform the duties of the position they will be filling.

Through this category aerospace workers and Information and high technology industries workers are especially encouraged to apply.

Health Care Professionals

The following applicants can apply through this category:

• Registered nurses, psychiatric nurses and physicians recruited by provincial and regional health authorities administered through Health Match BC, and who meet the Provincial Nominee Program's requirements.
• Midwives who meet the Provincial Nominee Program's requirements

All other applications to hire health professionals and other skilled health workers are considered in the skilled worker category.

The Business Categories Stream

The Business stream category can be divided into three subcategories, each with particular requirements:

Business Skills Category

To be eligible to apply under this category, applicant should -

• have at least CDN$2 million net value
• make an asset/investment of CDN$800,000
• control at least 1/3 share in a proposed business venture.
• have some business experience and an active management responsibility.
• have a business plan representing how a venture will make minimum of 5 new jobs in British Columbia need to be submitted.

Regional Development Category

To qualify under the regional development category

• Applicant needs to have a business venture outside the Greater Vancouver area.
• Applicant needs to have at least CDN$600,000 net value
• Applicant needs to create at least CDN $300,000 (excluding real estate) of investment.
• Applicant needs to have minimum of 50% equity and an active management responsibility.
• Applicant should submit a business plan demonstrating how a venture will generate a minimum of 2 new jobs in British Columbia.

Projects Category

Applicants must either be skilled managers or technical professionals who are crucial to:

• Project/scheme proposed by an organization with a demonstrable proof in the specific area.
• A fresh investment/asset worth minimum of CDN$1 million which will make minimum of 5 new jobs in British Columbia.

Applicants applying under any of the British Columbia Nomination Programme may apply to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for a permanent resident visa.

Dependents

The scheme also provides a route for fiancé, spouse and dependent immigration. Under the provincial program applicants and their families can permanently settle in Canada. Prospective candidates immigrating to Canada under the British Columbia Scheme can bring their common-law partner or conjugal partner, spouse and any dependent children to join them.

Benefits

British Columbia Nomination Scheme provides Canadian permanent residency and permits successful applicants to reside and work on permanent basis in Canada.

After the three year permanent residency status in Canada, applicants may apply for Canadian citizenship.

Provincial nomination schemes in many situations provide quicker immigration route when compared to other categories of Canadian business visas. Applicants do not need to pass a point’s based assessment in order to be eligible, though candidates work experience, skills and adaptability are still considered under the British Columbia Nomination Scheme.

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