Your Best Immigration, Global Mobility, Visa, and Relocation Guide

Strategically located on Canada’s west coast British Columbia is the most diverse and beautiful Canadian province known for bustling cities, natural beauty, warm weather, and dense forests. As the most popular province, British Columbia is a center of cultural diversity and economic prosperity. British Columbia is also an attractive location to start a new business or manage an existing one. All thanks to its favorable investment policies, welcoming government, competitive tax regime, and world-class quality of life. Having said that, one can consider British Columbia an ideal destination to leverage promising business opportunities around the world.

British Columbia PNP Entrepreneur Immigration

If you are an entrepreneur and planning for British Columbia immigration then you may apply for British Columbia PNP Entrepreneur Immigration. The visa pathway is designed for experienced businessmen who want to invest or manage an existing business in British Columbia. The BC PNP is an ideal choice for high-net-worth entrepreneurs who have a proven track record of success in business ownership and investment and thus live in British Columbia.

The entire program can be divided into three categories:

 Entrepreneur Immigration– This category targets senior business managers or business owners who wish to migrate to British Columbia. Under this pathway, entrepreneurs may further apply for Canada permanent resident status once they operate their business successfully for 550 days.

To be eligible, you must

• Demonstrate a personal net worth of at least CAD$600,000
• Show a valid business and/or management experience
• Be eligible for legal immigration status in Canada
• Provide a proposed business plan that gives an overview of your business activities and its related day-to-day operations. Your business must also be able to generate at least one job in B.C.
• Be lawfully admitted in the country where you currently reside
• Make an eligible personal investment of at least CAD$200,000 in the business.

BC PNP Entrepreneur Regional Pilot– It’s a Canada Entrepreneur Visa created for high-net-worth entrepreneurs who want to invest and manage a business in British Columbia. However, all applicants must be referred by small communities in British Columbia.

Interested applicants are required to register their profile with the BC PNP. After this, scores will be allocated based on the program’s requirements and ranking system. Applicants with the highest scores will be issued an official application to apply further for the program or apply for Permanent Resident application.

To qualify, one must:

• Select a community in British Columbia that has a population under 75,000 and is located 30 kilometers away from a city.
• Establish a business with at least 51% ownership
• Establish active business ownership and senior management experience in the last 5 years, which includes:
• 3+ years as business owner-manager; or
• 4+ years as a senior manager; or
• 1+ year as business owner-manager and 2+ years as a senior manager
• Must be able to invest CAD $300,000 and $100,000 as a personal business investment.
• Must submit a valid business plan to related to ongoing business operations in a participating community in British Columbia.
• All candidates must demonstrate English or French-language proficiency equivalent to the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) Level 4.

Strategic Projects Category- This visa pathway under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program aims at foreign corporations who want to set up a business in B.C. The visa stream allows them to identify business opportunities in the province and expand their core operations.

The Strategic Projects Category enables companies to transfer up to five key staff members to the province who can permanently settle in the province and become permanent resident Canada. These members will actively manage the entire business operations.

In order to qualify, the foreign corporation must satisfy the below-mentioned requirements:

• The company must be well-established and of sound financial health.
• Must demonstrate sufficient investment capabilities and be committed to international expansion into B.C.
• Must ensure to provide significant economic benefit to the province by making a high-value investment in B.C.

What are the Other Requirements?

Apart from the aforementioned requirements, the foreign corporation must:

• Make a minimum investment of $500,000 to establish a new or expand an existing business in Canada
• The business must be able to create at least three full-time jobs for Canadian citizens or permanent residents for each proposed key staff member in British Columbia.

What is the Processing Time for BC PNP Canada Entrepreneur Program?

By processing time, we mean the estimated time taken by the immigration authorities to process an application for British Columbia PNP. The processing time starts from the date of your application submission and is subject to change due to various factors. For entrepreneur programs, it takes around a period of three months for an application to be assessed by the authorities. However, this can be changed depending on the volume of applications received or the processing capacity of the department.