British Columbia invites 87 in BC PNP Tech Pilot draw

The province of British Columbia has held its latest round of invitations – under the Provincial Nominee Program [PNP] of Canada – through the BC PNP.

On February 23, 2021, the BC PNP issued 87 invitations to apply [ITAs] for a nomination through BC for Canadian permanent residence.

As this was a Tech Pilot draw, the invitations to apply for a nomination by British Columbia were sent out to candidates in 29 key tech occupations.

The BC Provincial Nominee Program Tech Pilot offers a fast-tracked Canada immigration pathway for individuals with tech skills that are applying for Canada PR and can contribute to BC’s shared prosperity.   Since its launch in May 2017, the BC PNP Tech Pilot has supported over 4,200 tech workers to be nominated for Canadian permanent residence through British Columbia.   Following various extensions across the years, the BC PNP Tech Pilot has currently been extended until June 2021.   The Tech Pilot provides BC tech employers the “continued ability to recruit and retain” international talent wherever local skilled workers are not available.

For an individual to be considered by the BC PNP for an invitation through the Tech Pilot, their job offer must be –

• Under any of the 29 tech occupations, and
• For at least 1 year, with a minimum of 120 days of the job offer remaining [at the time of applying to the BC PNP].

Weekly invitations are issued to qualified registrants with valid job offers in any of the eligible tech occupations.

The invitations under the Tech Pilot are issued to candidates under the existing BC PNP categories of Express Entry BC [EEBC] and Skills Immigration [SI].

An Overview of the February 23 BC PNP Tech Draw Total invitations issued: 87
Category	Minimum Score
EEBC – Skilled Worker	75
EEBC – International Graduate	75
SI – Skilled Worker	75
SI – International Graduate	75

To apply for either the EEBC or the SI categories, an individual will have to first create their profile through the BC PNP’s online portal, registering under the Skills Immigration Registration System [SIRS].

A score – referred to as the SIRS score – is allotted after successful registration. This is the minimum score that is taken into consideration in the rounds of provincial invitations sent by British Columbia.

The minimum required score varies from draw to draw.

Aligned with the federal Express Entry system, a nomination through the BC PNP’s EEBC category will automatically get the individual 600 CRS points.

Hence, a provincial nomination through any of the Express Entry linked PNP ‘streams’ or immigration pathways is a guarantee of that individual being invited to apply for their Canadian permanent residence.

BC PNP draws in 2021   Total invitations issued so far: 1,395   ·         Skills Immigration [SI] ·         Express Entry [EEBC] ·         Entrepreneur Immigration [EI]
Date	Invitations issued	Categories	Details
January 5, 2021	168	SI and EEBC	Certain occupations excluded.
January 12, 2021	80	SI and EEBC	Tech Pilot draw
January 19, 2021	195	SI and EEBC	Certain occupations excluded.
January 26, 2021	81	SI and EEBC	Tech Pilot draw
February 2, 2021	208	SI and EEBC	Certain occupations excluded.
February 2, 2021	8	EI	Base Category
February 9, 2021	74	SI and EEBC	Tech Pilot draw
February 16, 2021	35	SI and EEBC	Invitations issued only to – ·         NOC 0621: Retail and wholesale trade managers, and ·         NOC 0631: Restaurant and food service managers.   [Note. – This draw was conducted separately.]
February 16, 2021	459	SI and EEBC	Temporary suspension on 31 occupations lifted.   Effective February 16, 2021, the BC PNP resumed issuing ITAs to the 31 occupations previously excluded from draws.
February 23, 2021	87	SI and EEBC	Tech Pilot draw

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