Race and Company Blog

BC PNP: Summary of Recent Significant Changes to the Program

The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is for workers who have the skills, education and work experience to contribute to the economy of a specific province or territory, want to live in that province and want to become permanent residents of Canada.

Each province and territory has its own “streams.” The BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) enables the province to select and nominate foreign workers, international students and entrepreneurs to help meet BC’s labour market needs, support government priorities, and help grow BC’s economy. If you are nominated, you and your family can apply to IRCC to become permanent residents of Canada.

On November 16, 2022, BC made significant changes to the Skills Immigration stream. It is important to be aware of these changes and how they may affect your application if you are planning on applying for permanent residence.

There are four main steps to the BC PNP process: registration, invitation, application and decision. The Skills immigration registration system is a points based expression of interest system. Draws are regularly held to invite applicants based on their registration score:
https://www.welcomebc.ca/Immigrate-to-B-C/Invitations-To-Apply

The following changes were made to the Skills Immigration scoring system:

1) Points have been removed for National Occupation Classification (NOC) skill levels

2) Due to the removal of points for NOC code, the following factors increased in points:

  • Directly related work experience now receives a maximum of 60 points (previously 40);
  • Highest level of education now receives a maximum of 40 points (previously 25);
  • Language proficiency in English or French now receives a maximum of 40 points (previously 30);
  • Hourly wage of job offer now receives a maximum of 55 points (previously 50);
  • Area within British Columbia (B.C.) now receives a maximum of 25 points (previously 10);

3) 5 points are now available to eligible professional designations held by an applicant

4) A maximum score for language ability (30 points) can now be achieved with a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 9 as opposed to the previous 10.

It is also worth noting that Applicants will receive 5 points for employment in the district of Squamish and an additional 10 points to individuals with regional education or work experience in the district of Squamish.

If you are thinking about applying for permanent residence through the BC PNP or any other program, please contact your local immigration lawyer at Race and Company today. To arrange a consultation with Laura Schemitsch, please email: OfficeAssistant@raceandco.com

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