The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program invited 142 immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence in a provincial draw that took place on April 9.

Invitations to apply for a provincial nomination went out to foreign nationals who registered with the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) points-based application management system, also known as Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS). 

Registrants invited to apply had to first create a BC PNP Online profile and register for one of the immigration categories under either the Skills Immigration or Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) Stream. 

The Express Entry BC categories are open to immigration candidates with a profile in the federal Express Entry system. The system manages the pool of candidates for three Federal High Skilled Canadian immigration programs — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.

If those candidates are successfully approved for a British Columbia nomination, they will receive an additional 600 points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. This means they can rank among the top-scoring in the federal pool of immigration candidates and obtain an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian permanent residence in a future draw. 

The remaining BC PNP Skills Immigration applicants will have their Canadian permanent residence applications processed with the Government of Canada outside the federal Express Entry system if they are approved for a provincial nomination.