British Columbia invited more than 430 immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence in a draw held September 1.

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) continues to exclude occupations in tourism, hospitality, retail and personal services due to widespread unemployment in these sectors since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Invitations went to Skilled Worker and International Graduate candidates in the Express Entry BC (EEBC), Skills Immigration (SI) as well as those in Entrepreneur streams.

The EEBC category is for candidates with a valid profile in the federal government’s Express Entry system, which is Canada’s main pathway for skilled immigrants who are hoping to obtain Canadian permanent residence.

The SI category is for skilled and semi-skilled workers whose occupations are in high demand in the province of B.C.

The minimum score requirements in today’s draw ranged between 76 and 98 for the five EEBC and SI categories that were involved.

The minimum scores were:

• SI – Skilled Worker: 94
• SI – International Graduate: 98
• SI – Entry Level and Semi-Skilled: 76
• EEBC – Skilled Worker: 94
• EEBC – International Graduate: 98

In order to receive an invitation through the EEBC candidates must be registered under both the federal Express Entry system and B.C.’s Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS).

Express Entry is the federal government’s application management system. Express Entry candidates are given points based on human capital factors such as age, work experience, education, and language proficiency in English or French.

Express Entry candidates with a provincial nomination receive an additional 600 points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.

Skills Immigration candidates only need to be registered with the SIRS.

Invitations were also issued to applicants in the Entrepreneur Immigration – Base Category Stream and in the Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot Stream on September 1.

In the Entrepreneur Immigration Base Category, six invitations were issued to candidates with scores as low as 126. The Base Category is for either senior managers or business owners who plan to invest in a business in B.C. and to actively manage it on a day-to-day basis.

Under five invitations were also issued to candidates with scores of at least 128 through the Entrepreneur Immigration – Regional Pilot Stream, which is designed to attract new businesses to smaller, regional communities in B.C.

These three new draws follow last week’s draw through which 72 invitations were issued under the BC PNP’s Tech Pilot to Skilled Workers and International Graduates with job offers in one of its 29 eligible tech occupations.

A minimum score of 80 was the cut-off for each category.

Introduced in 2017, the Tech Pilot responds to labour needs in British Columbia’s tech sector.

BC PNP Tech Pilot applicants are not required to demonstrate an indeterminate, full-time job offer, a requirement that applies to most other BC PNP immigration categories. Instead, candidates must have a job offer that is at least one year in duration and have at least 120 calendar days remaining at the time of applying for a provincial nomination.