On August 10, 2020, the provincial nominee program of British Columbia (BC PNP) has invited 437 candidates to apply for a provincial nomination. If approved, a BC PNP nominee will be allowed to apply for Canadian permanent residence.
In order to receive an invitation through the Express Entry British Colombia (EEBC), candidates must be registered under both the federal Express Entry system and B.C.’s Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS).
Only candidates with competitive profiles and who rank highly will receive invitations to apply.
Candidates who receive a provincial nomination earn an additional 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points which virtually guarantees that they will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence under IRCC’s Express Entry system.
CRS Cut-Off Scores
The BC PNP draw held on August 7 invited candidates from both their EE BC and SIRS programs with CRS scores as follows:
Express Entry BC Categories
Skilled Worker: 97
International Graduate: 98
Skills Immigration Categories
Skilled Worker: 97
International Graduate: 98
Entry Level and Semi-Skilled Worker: 76
Fee Increase
An increase in BC PNP fees has been recently applied due to the expansion of the program. Since 2009, B.C.’s annual PNP allocation from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has more than doubled from 3,000 nominations to 6,750 in 2019.
Fees have increased from $700 to $1,150 effective August 6th, 2020. However, BC PNP still maintains competitive application fees when compared to other provincial programs. For example, Ontario charges between $1,500 to $2,000 for processing fees in addition to the fees charged by the federal government to process the application for permanent residence.
The program is designed to assist nominees with immigration and employment-related requests while they await permanent residence, and these requests have increased by 50% in recent years. There are currently more than 9,500 nominees in B.C. waiting to become permanent residents.
Bakouni 