British Columbia Tech Pilot draw distributes 57 invitations

The Canadian province of British Columbia organized a new Tech Pilot draw on July 7 and distributed 57 invitations among eligible candidates. International students and foreign tech workers and were given invitations to apply for a provincial nomination through the BC PNP.

What is the Tech Pilot?

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Tech Pilot came into existence back in 2017 in order to help employers attract potential immigrants in the IT or Information Technology sector. The pilot’s objective is to facilitate the process of immigration for both international students and foreign tech workers.

The BC PNP issues Tech Pilot invitations every week to eligible candidates who have secured a valid one-year job offer in any of the program’s specified occupations. It is also mandatory that the job offer has a minimum of 120 days left at the time of application.

In 2019, British Columbia issued 1,509 Tech Pilot nominations, which marked a 33 percent increase as compared to 2018. Tech Pilot nominations made up 23 percent of all nominations in 2019.

Details of the draw:

The July 7 draw witnessed the distribution of invitations among candidates belonging to the Skilled Worker and International Graduate sub-categories. They were part of the Skills Immigration and the Express Entry BC (EEBC) streams.

All the selected candidates were required to have a minimum provincial score of 80 in order to be eligible.

Express Entry candidates are given 600 additional points towards their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score if they manage to attain a provincial nomination from British Columbia. They are almost guaranteed an Invitation to Apply (ITA) during a future federal draw.

Individuals have to create a profile via the BC PNP online portal and register themselves under the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) if they want to be considered for immigration via the Skilled Worker and International Graduate categories.