British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program Issues 422 Invitations

Canadian provinces are inviting more skilled immigrants this year to fill up their existing labor gaps. The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is beneficial for provinces and territories looking to invite the most suitable candidates for their labor markets from the Express Entry pool. 

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) held its latest draws on September 28 and issued more than 400 invitations. The BC PNP wants to attract international workers who are in high demand because of their professional skills. The candidates they choose usually strive to become permanent residents of Canada. 

Details of the draws

The September 28 general draw catered to candidates in the Express Entry BC (EEBC), and Skills Immigration (SI) streams. The province invited 386 candidates in this draw. The following sub-categories of the SI and EEBC streams were targeted: International Graduate, Skilled Worker, and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled. The invited candidates had scores ranging from 69 to 90 points. 

The second draw also targeted the SI and EEBC categories. The chosen candidates’ professions were categorized under NOC 0621 or NOC 0631. A total of 36 invitations were distributed amongst candidates with a minimum score of 105.

The reason why British Columbia has been organizing two separate invitation rounds every month is that it wants to balance the needs of different sectors in the provincial labor market. Certain professions have more candidates listed in the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) than the rest, and BC PNP wants to resolve the disproportion as fairly as possible.