About the program
British Columbia wants to attract more labors to work in the tourism/hospitality industry, food processing industry, long-haul trucking and Northeast Development Region with a category called Entry Level and Semi-Skilled. As a part of the BC PNP – Skills Immigration program, if you are eligible for the category, you can receive the B.C. nomination to become a permanent residence in the province.
Eligibility
The Entry Level and Semi-Skilled category is a point-based selecting procedure like others in the BC PNP Skills Immigration. Your score will be determined based on a number of factors which are divided into two major groups, economic and human capital factors. The invitation draws would begin from the highest-scoring candidates. Besides the point table, you must first meet the minimum criteria from the category.
1. Be economically independent to support yourself and your dependents
The BC PNP has the minimum family income thresholds for different family sizes in all the areas of British Columbia. Your family income will be counted toward regular gross annual wages. Other incomes for example bonuses, commissions, tips, overtime wages, profit-sharing distribution will not be considered. The wage must also from the B.C employer who supports your BC PNP application. ELSS applicants have to demonstrate a history of meeting the income threshold requirement for the full nine-month period prior to submitting registration and application.
Your spouse or partner’s salary can be combined in but they must have a valid work permit or valid employment authorization. In case you and your spouse have divorced, provide along with your registration and application a signed Statutory Declaration of your official separation, a Divorce Certificate, or an equivalent official document indicating that the relationship has ended, or else your spouse would be included to calculate family size.
The following lists are the family income threshold base on the number of people, the Greater Vancouver and the rest of B.C will be different minimum income thresholds.
Greater Vancouver Regional District
1 person: $22,804 CAD
2 persons: $28,390 CAD
3 persons: $34,902 CAD
4 persons: $42,376 CAD
5 persons: $48,062 CAD
6 persons: $54,205 CAD
7 persons or more: $60,350 CAD
Rest of B.C
1 person: $19,006 CAD
2 persons: $23,659 CAD
3 persons: $29,087 CAD
4 persons: $35,316 CAD
5 persons: $40,054 CAD
6 persons: $45,175 CAD
7 persons or more: $50,296 CAD
The annual wage is calculated using the number of hours worked in a week to a maximum of 40 hours/week x 52 weeks per year. Exception for long-haul truck drivers, the number of hours worked in a week to a maximum of is 60 hours/week x 52 weeks per year.
2. Meet the minimum language and education requirements:
For job offer of a position classified under NOC Skill levels B, C or D, you only need to prove that your test result scored equal or greater than the benchmark 4 under the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) in all four competencies: listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, you can have better registration scoring with points earned for the language competency factors if you have a higher test result. Your test result must from a designated agency by the IRCC and be valid for 2 years from the date of issuance at the time you apply.
For English: The IELTS General Training and the CELPIP-General
For French: the TEF
The following list shows the minimum mark in each test to meet the CLB 4:
IELTS General Training: Listening 4.5; Reading 3.5; Writing 4.0; Speaking 4.0.
CELPIP – General: Listening 4; Reading 4; Writing 4; Speaking 4.
TEF: Listening 145; Reading 121; Writing 181; Speaking 181.
The minimum requirement for education is you must have successfully completed secondary education (equivalent to high school level). Similar to the language requirement, you can obtain a higher score if you have a higher education credential.
You would need to submit a copy (in English) of your highest level diploma, certificate, degree, or transcripts. For people who completed in an oversea institution, you can acquire an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to verify that your degree, diploma, or certificate (or other proof of your credential) is valid and equal to a Canadian one. The link below will tell you more about what an ECA is and how you can obtain one:
3. Have a full-time job offer from a B.C employer
The offer must for indeterminate, full-time employment (a permanent position, or one with no set end date) classified as NOC Skill Levels C or D and from an eligible B.C. employer. The wage that meets industry standards to work inside British Columbia. Your job offer must also in one of these groups: tourism/hospitality, long-haul trucking, and food processing industry.
The offer letter from your employer must have the company official letterhead on it and is signed by the one who is authorized to hire in the company. Your signature and the dated that you confirm to accept the offer must be in the letter too.
The content inside must have:
- Job title and duties
- Rate of pay
- Standard hours of work
- Confirmation of the position is indeterminate* and full-time (at least an average of 30 hours a week, year-round)
- Discretionary benefits in addition to those required by law (such as pension and medical
- plans, disability insurance, sick pay, accommodation, and meal allowances, and extra paid
- vacations)
- If the position is covered by a collective agreement or a reference to the agreement
These content in the offer will help you to prove your gross annual wage and protect your rights since the program prohibits your employer from deducting your pay (or require you to pay any fees) for recruitment or retention, or any fee that is normally paid by the employer. The salary also needs to meet the industry standards and comparable to the other workers with a similar level of skills in the same occupation.
The BC PNP will not consider bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing distributions, tips/gratuities, overtime wages, housing allowances, room, and board, or other similar payments to be part of your wage.
In case you claimed a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), the wage you are earning at the time of registration and/or application must be equal to or greater than the wage stated in the offer of employment and on the LMIA.
If you contribute to your employer as an independent contractor instead of an employee in the company then you won’t be able to join in the Skills Immigration stream of the BC PNP.
Throughout the application process and 5 years in advance from the day you submit your application, the B.C company offers you the employment must have less than 10 percent of ownership/equity stake owned by your and/or your spouse.
Your employment must provide these benefits to B.C. and not adversely affect the settlement of a labor dispute, or the employment of anyone involved in any such dispute, or adversely impact training or employment opportunities for British Columbians :
- Maintaining or creating jobs for Canadians
- Transferring knowledge and skills to Canadians
- Supporting the development of proprietary new products
- Building the workforce for a major project
Exception for Northeast Development Region:
If you are currently working in the Northeast Development Region, eligible occupations is not restricted in only these groups, excluding live-in caregivers. The Northeast Development Region has 2 regional districts (Northern Rockies and Peace River) with a total of eight municipalities and nine First Nations as the following list:
- Northern Rockies Municipality: Blueberry River First Nations
- Chetwynd Municipality: Doig River First Nation
- Dawson Creek Municipality: Fort Nelson First Nation
- Fort St. John Municipality: Halfway River First Nation
- Hudson’s Hope Municipality: Kwadacha Nation
- Pouce Coupe Municipality: Prophet River First Nation
- Taylor Municipality: Saulteau First Nations
- Tumbler Ridge Municipality: Tsay Key Dene First Nation and West Moberly First Nations
4. Have at least 9 consecutive months working as a full-time employee
In the period prior to your registration and application, you must have at least 9 consecutive months working for the employer who supports your application. This needs to be a full-time position with at least an average of 30 hours per week, year-round.
Your work experience can be from a different ELSS-eligible occupation to the occupation in the offer but must be with the same employer. Moreover, after you have met all the ELSS requirements and registered, you can have a promotion to a NOC Skill Level B job with the same employer.
Annual vacation leave will generally count toward meeting this employment requirement. For example, if you worked for nine months for the supporting employer, and during that nine-month period you took a two-week vacation, you would still meet the nine-month employment requirement.
Employment, while you were using a Study Permit or Off-Campus Work Permit, will not be considered as work experience.
In addition to the 9 months of full-time employment requirement, long-haul truck drivers must also have at least two years of employment experience as a long-haul truck driver in the preceding three years before registering with the BC PNP. This experience can be obtained from within Canada or abroad
5. Qualify to do your job
The BC PNP will base on the NOC, Work BC or the industry standard to review the minimum qualifications and certificates for an occupation.
If the offered position requires mandatory certification, licensing or registration, you must provide documentation at the time of application to the BC PNP, showing that you meet these requirements, or how these requirements will shortly be met.
Long-haul truck drivers must have:
- A valid B.C. Class 1 driver’s license for the duration of the nine months of full-time work experience
- Air brake endorsement
- Other certification(s), if required (such as certification for transporting dangerous goods)
6. Be eligible to immigrate to Canada
The BC PNP program, in general, will not nominate someone who is inadmissible to migrate to Canada. Note-worthy, the federal economic immigration program will refuse your application too if you are in one of these categories:
- Prohibited from entering Canada
- In Canada and out of status: an individual whose status has expired, and who has not applied for restoration of status within the 90-day eligibility period, will be considered out of status
- Currently working in Canada without authorization
- Has an unresolved refugee claim in Canada
- Under a removal order in or outside of Canada
Employer requirements
For your employer, there will be standards from the BC PNP which your employer must meet in order to support and be eligible to offer employment.
1. Requirements:
These are the basic criteria for an employer’s eligibility
- Established as an employer in good standing in B.C.
Your employer’s business structures need to be incorporated or extra-provincially registered; registered as a limited liability partnership in B.C.; an eligible public sector or non-profit employer. The establishment must be in B.C in accordance with the federal Income Tax Act. The company should have operated for at least 2 years.
- Provide full-time, indeterminate (permanent or with no set end date) employment
- For companies within the Greater Vancouver Regional District: at least 5 indeterminate, full-time employees (or full-time equivalents) in B.C.
- For companies outside the Greater Vancouver Regional District: at least 3 indeterminate, full-time employees (or full-time equivalents) in B.C.
Your employer may be asked to submit a T4 Summary of Remuneration Paid to demonstrate that this requirement is met.
- Have a history of good workplace and business practices
Your employer must comply with all applicable B.C. and federal employment, labor, immigration, health, and safety laws and regulations. Your employer may be asked to provide financial statements prepared by a certified professional accountant to prove the financial capacity.
- Sign an employer declaration
Your employer must sign a declaration, found in the job offer form, that the company meets all of the requirements. The employer contact who signs the job offer form must be an employee or owner of the company and have the authority and consent of the company to support the BC PNP application, including any and all requirements of hiring a foreign worker.
- Meet domestic labor market recruitment requirements, where applicable
Your employer must demonstrate that genuine efforts were made to recruit from the local labor market and that hiring you will not adversely affect employment or development opportunities for local candidates (Canadian citizens and/or permanent residents).
The BC PNP will assess the genuine effort of the employer on these criteria:
-
- The specific efforts made to identify a Canadian or permanent resident for the position.
- The recruitment methods and duration are consistent with industry standards and practices.
- The qualifications listed in the recruitment ads are reasonable, are sufficient to allow a Canadian or permanent resident to qualify for the position, do not require a candidate to have a foreign network or foreign work experience and are not specifically catered to a particular candidate.
- The level of scrutiny exercised when verifying the qualifications of all potential candidates.
- If the employer has used the services of a third party to conduct the recruitment effort, the third party must meet provincial licensing requirements.
- Make you a full-time, indeterminate job offer.
- Offer you a wage in line with industry standards.
2. Restrictions:
If your employer’s company in these circumstances, your application will be refused
- Involved in producing, distributing or selling pornographic or sexually explicit products, or providing sexually oriented entertainment or services
- Employment agencies and similar firms, unless they are establishing an employer/employee relationship with the registrant and/or applicant
- Any other type of business that by association would tend to bring the BC PNP or the Government of British Columbia into disrepute.
3. Responsibilities:
The employer must also fulfill these responsibilities to be considered by the BC PNP program:
- Provide a written job offer with sufficient content as described below
- Complete the employer sections of the application forms.
- Notify the BC PNP if there are any changes in your employment status, includes promotion or termination, you have been laid off or are on extended leave; circumstances where the business has closed or changed ownership.
4. Eligible from the public sector and Non-profit Organizations:
The BC PNP will approve an application with an offer from a public sector agency or non-profit organization with a permanent establishment in B.C if they meet the following requirements:
- Provincial and regional health care authorities and agencies.
- Public post-secondary education and training institutions.
- Private non-profit post-secondary institutions that are accredited by, or registered with, The Private Career Training Institutions Agency of BC.
- Institutions supported by the Government of Canada or the Province of B.C. conducting research in natural and applied sciences, engineering, computer and information systems, or health sciences.
- Provincial/federal/municipal government organizations and agencies.
- Other non-profit groups registered as charitable organizations and/or incorporated under the Society Act (RSBC 2015) or the Canada Corporations Act, Part II, 1970.
The point table of the BC PNP
The highest registration points in your ability will enhance your application amongst many candidates in the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS).
The maximum point is 200 and they are separated into two major groups: the economic factors (the maximum point is 120) and the human capital factors (the maximum point is 80)
The average score of invitation draws is on an upward trend. However, compared to the past data of the latest draws in 2019, the score for the ELSS category would around 70 – 80 points.
The economic factors include the skill level of the B.C. job offer, the wage in the B.C. job offer and the regional district of employment.
Human capital factors are the experience, level of education and language efficiency that prove the individual’s ability to contribute to B.C’s economy. These factors support successful settlement and integration in the province.
You can find out the point table in details in here
How to apply
Before getting started the first step, you should make sure that you are capable to meet all the requirements at the time you register online. Your eligible employer also needs to be ready to support your submission.
The whole procedure will have 6 stages :
Stage 1: Registration
Access the BC PNP online to create an online profile and complete all of the sections of the registration. You are responsible for updating your contact information in your profile and ensuring that all required information is current and up-to-date.
After you complete your registration, you will receive your registration score and will be entered into a selection pool for the category in which you have registered for a maximum of 12 months since submitted. A confirmation will be sent to your email with the BC PNP registration number. A candidate can only have one active BC PNP registration and/or application at a time. If you do not receive this email, check the junk/spam folder. In case you are still couldn’t find it, log in to your profile, you will have the option of receiving another confirmation link to your email.
If you want to change the information that you have entered in your registration outside of the information captured in your profile, you will need to withdraw your registration and submit a new registration with the updated information by using your existing profile.
You can find the instructions for how to enter the information on the BC PNP website in this guideline, from page 11 to page 32:
No fee is required to pay for the registration until you are invited to the next step: invitation.
Stage 2: Invitation
The BC PNP will invite the highest-scoring candidates from each of the categories. After invited, you have 30 days from the invitation date to submit a complete application via the BC PNP online system. The incomplete application won’t be processed. If you can not submit it only time, your invitation will be canceled. However, your profile will remain so you need to submit another registration. Your previous one has been removed at the time of invitation.
When you are invited and choose to select the ‘decline’ button, your invitation to apply will be declined. You may submit a new registration at any time, however, re-registration does not mean that you will receive another invitation to apply
Stage 3: Application
If your application information differs from your registration information, resulting in a decrease in your total registration score, and your revised registration score is below the minimum draw score at the time you were invited to apply, your application will be refused.
Stage 4: Decision
The BC PNP may refuse to accept an application in these cases:
- An invitation for an application does not apply to that person
- The person has retained a representative who does not meet the prescribed requirements, as described in section 4 of the Provincial Immigration Programs Regulation
- The applicant has had a previous approval canceled by the BC PNP
- The applicant has, in the 2 years immediately before the date of the application, been found by the BC PNP to have made a misrepresentation in a previous application
- The applicant has another active application and/or registration
Stage 5: IRCC application
If your application is approved, you will receive a nomination to apply to IRCC for permanent residence. You have 180 days (approximately 6 months) from the date on your confirmation of nomination to apply to IRCC for a permanent resident visa. IRCC will assess your application and make the final decision on your visa. With this nomination, you may be eligible to receive a work permit support letter that you can apply to IRCC to obtain or renew a work permit to start or continue working in B.C. for your employer while you await the decision on your permanent residence application.
Throughout the BC PNP and the permanent residence application process, you should maintain your full-time employment status with the supporting employer in B.C. At the time they receive an invitation to apply but your authority to work is no longer valid, if you can still maintain your legal resident status in Canada then you may submit an application to prove that you meet the 9-months requirement at the registered date and the job offer is still valid. The employer would need to demonstrate recruitment for that vacancy during the time the employee is not authorized to work as well.
Any changes to your circumstance, include employment status, change of employer, job title, work location,… must be notified to the BC PNP. Follow this instruction to submit an online Change of Employment request:
- Step 1: Log on to BCPNP Online and select My Dashboard
- Step 2: Select View on the applicable case
- Step 3: Select Post-Nomination Support
- Step 4: Select Change of Employment
- Step 5: Upload the required document and submit the request.
Stage 6: Permanent Residence
If you are invited by the IRCC to apply for the permanent residence, make sure you submit any additional documents they require, pay the fees and be prepared for an interview if necessary. The IRCC has Application package for Provincial Nominees in the link below with all the necessary documents that you need to prepare:
You should take in the notices for the documents as well:
- Do not staple your application package together
- Do not separate sections with plastic page protectors, binders or envelopes
- Do remove transcripts from envelopes (if applicable)
- You and your spouse, if applicable, must both sign the application form
When you apply to become a permanent residence, you and your family members must include police certificates, plus the medical examination. To avoid delay, you should start to acquire your police certificate immediately and submit your application even if the police certificate has not been issued. When you send it to the IRCC after that, quote your full name, date of birth and EP + “File’s name”. For the medical examination, only schedule to get the examination once you have received the instructions and IRCC request to do so.
Send your application using regular mail to the following address:
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Provincial Nominee Program
Centralized Intake Office
P.O. BOX 1450 Sydney, NS B1P 6K5
Canada
If you use courier mail then send to this address:
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Provincial Nominee Program
Centralized Intake Office
49 Dorchester Street
Sydney, NS B1P 5Z2
Canada
Must-have documents
Once be invited to apply, you must prepare these documents:
For the principal applicant:
- Copy of Canadian immigration records (if applicable)
- Valid B.C. drivers license (if required by the employment offer)
- Copy of biographical page of the passport
- Current photograph
- Copy of LMIA (if applicable)
- Copy of education and/or training certificates
- Copy of Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) (if applicable)
- Copy of Official Language Test Results
- Current resume/CV
- Spouse or Common-Law partner’s B.C. employment record (if applicable)
Your employer also has the responsibility to prepare these documents:
- BC PNP job offer form
- Employer recommendation letter
- Copy of the offer of employment
- Detailed job description
- Company information
- Copy of the Certificate of Incorporation (or legal equivalent)
- Copy of the valid municipal Business License
- Evidence of recruitment efforts (if applicable)
Non-English documents must be translated by a certified translation with photocopies of the originals. Documents must be stamped and certified by a person officially authorized to notarize documents as accurate translations
You can check the detailed requirements for the documents in this guideline, from page 58 to page 60:
Cost
You must submit the $700 application fee with your online application before your application will be processed. Incomplete applications will not be approved, and application fees will only be refunded if you withdraw your application before the BC PNP begins to assess it.
You may also be prepared to pay additional costs, includes: translating, language test, ECA, rights of permanent residence fee (if you are invited),…
After you apply
The average processing time of categories in the BC PNP Skills Immigration Program is around 2 – 3 months. The permanent residence is a paper procedure so it would normally take approximately 14 – 18 months.
You can contact the BC PNP in writing by sending an email to the address PNPinfo@gov.bc.ca to withdraw your application and find out if you are eligible for a refund. Make sure in your email, you provide fully your full name, your date of birth, and your BC PNP application file number in your email request. Withdrawal requests submitted in-person or through voicemail will not be accepted.
For the applicant who gets a refusal, you can request a review of the decision within 30 days since being noticed about the decision. You must submit your written review request on the BCPNP online. The reasons for the request must be declared clearly in the review request and you should provide any information the BC PNP requires you. The review fee is $200 CAD and non-refundable.
List of ELSS-Eligible Occupations and its NOC codes:
You can use the code to check the job description and main duties on the National Occupational Classification website
Tourism/ Hospitality:
- NOC code 6525 Hotel Front Desk Clerks
- NOC code 6531 Tour and Travel Guides
- NOC code 6532 Outdoor Sport and Recreational Guides
- NOC code 6533 Casino Occupations
- NOC code 6511 Maîtres d’hotel and Hosts/Hostesses
- NOC code 6512 Bartenders
- NOC code 6513 Food and Beverage Servers
- NOC code 6711 Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers, and Related Occupations
*These occupations below must be employed directly by the Hotel/Resort
- NOC code 6731 Light Duty Cleaners
- NOC code 6732 Specialized Cleaners
- NOC code 6733 Janitors, Caretakers, and Building Superintendents
- NOC code 6721 Support Occupations in Accommodation, Travel, and Facilities Set-Up Services
- NOC code 6741 Dry Cleaning, Laundry and Related Occupations
- NOC code 6742 Other Service Support Occupations
Food processing industry
- NOC code 9461 Process Control and Machine Operators, Food and Beverage Processing
- NOC code 9462 Industrial Butchers and Meat Cutters, Poultry Preparers and Related Workers
- NOC code 9463 Fish and Seafood Plant Workers
- NOC code 9465 Testers and Graders, Food, Beverage and Associated Products Processing
- NOC code 9617 Labourers in Food, Beverage and Associated Products Processing
- NOC code 9618 Labourers in Fish and Seafood Processing
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