BC PNP — Entrepreneur Immigration Stream

BC PNP — The Entrepreneur Immigration stream of the BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) is a path to immigrate to Canada and settle in B.C. for experienced entrepreneurs who can support innovation and economic growth in the province.

These are some factors that candidates are assessed based on them:

• business and work experience
• personal net worth
• adaptability
• business proposal
• language proficiancy

applicants enter into the selection pool and final registration scores are ranked along with other registrants. The BC PNP invites the highest-scoring of these applications.

The below are the two sub categories under this PNP program:

• ENTREPRENEUR IMMIGRATION - REGIONAL PILOT
• ENTREPRENEUR IMMIGRATION – BASED CATEGORY

BC ENTREPRENEUR IMMIGRATION PNP- BASE CATEGORY

The BC ENTREPRENEUR IMMIGRATION PNP- BASE CATEGORY intended to attract experienced entrepreneurs who intend to establish new businesses or take over and grow existing businesses in B.C. 

This program is a 2 stage program toward permanent residency. The successful applicants will receive a work permit which allows them to enter Canada and after managing their qualified business in Canada in the prescribed timeline, they would be eligible to apply for permanent residency of Canada.

Here is an overview of the requirements.

Personal requirements

To qualify, you must:

• have a personal net worth of at least CAD$600,000
• demonstrate business and/or management experience
• have, or be eligible for, legal immigration status in Canada
• minimum language ability equivalent to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4.
• In terms of education, you must have either a post-secondary credential (such as a degree, diploma or certificate from a licensed postsecondary institution) or evidence of  experience as an active business owner-manager with 100 per cent ownership of the business for at least three of the past five years. The 100 per cent ownership of the business may be shared between you, your spouse or common-law partner, and/or your dependent child(ren).

Business, job and investment requirements

To qualify you must:

• establish an eligible new business or purchase and improve an existing business
• make an eligible personal investment of at least CAD$200,000 in the business
• create at least one new full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in the business

the BC PNP encourage you to make an exploratory visit to B.C. to learn more about opportunities and the local business environment before you register.

During your visit, you can:

• investigate and evaluate potential business opportunities
• conduct market research
• make local business contacts
• learn more about living and doing business in B.C., and gain a better understanding of the health care and education programs, housing, culture, recreation opportunities, and lifestyles.

Each of B.C.’s regions offer different key industries, business opportunities, demographics, and lifestyle opportunities. We encourage you to explore B.C.’s regions to find the best community for your proposed business and your family’s settlement.

• B.C.’s communities www.britishcolumbia.ca/invest/communities/
• B.C.’s regions www.welcomebc.ca/Choose-B-C/Explore-British-Columbia/Regions-in-B-C
• Regional profiles www.workbc.ca/Labour-Market-Industry/Regional-Profiles.aspx
• Industry sectors www.britishcolumbia.ca/invest/industry-sectors/