Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training

Labour Market and Immigration Division

Pathways to Citizenship –BC Provincial Nominee Program

October 27, 2015

Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and

Skills Training

Workforce Development &

Immigration Division

The Immigration Pathway

2

Pre-Decision

Recruitment Selection Integration Citizenship

Immigration to BC

3

1%

4%

33%

11%

5%

20%

9%

15%

34,949*Immigrants

Non-Economic

39%

Provincial Nominees

Canadian Experience

Skilled Workers & Skilled Trades

Live in Caregivers

Other Non-Economic

Family

Refugees

Business

Economic61%

*2014 Data is preliminary and subject to change

Canada – BC Immigration Agreement

4

Foreign Worker Annex

• Expedited 10-day processing

• New work permits

• Significant Investment Projects

Provincial Nominee

Annex

• Continues BC’s authority to nominate economic immigrants

• Strengthens program integrity

• Signed April 2015

• Streamlines access to international skilled workers through:

• Foreign Worker Annex of the Canada-British Columbia Immigration Agreement

– BC can recommend in-demand, high wage occupationsfor inclusion on Employment and Social Development Canada’s list of occupations for 10-day LMIA processing.

• ESDC has final authority and is currently reviewing BC’s recommended occupations for 2015.

• BC’s list of recommended occupations will be reviewed and revised with ESDC annually.

Expedited LMIA Processing

5

Skills Immigration

Results & Trends

6

Results: Skills and Business Nominations

7

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Business

Skills

Total Calendar Year Nominations

(2 – 3%)

(97 – 98%)

5,500 Nominations for 2015

= 4,150 Base +

1,350 Express Entry

2015 Year-to-Date:

4,002 Nominated

*1,205 Express Entry

Skills Application Intake

8

3,589

4,487

3,352

4,5325,076

8,969

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Skills Nominations by Category

9

2%

3%

36%

60%

4%

18%

18%

60%

Int'l Post-Grads

Int'l Graduates

ELSS/Northeast Pilot

Skilled Workers

2014 2010

Skills Nominee Composition - 2014

10

Skill 0/A24%

Skill B57%

Skill C7%

Skill D12%

Skill LevelAccountants/ HR Managers

2%

Administrative5%

Education1%

Food Service36%

Health Care4%

Hospitality4%

Natural and Applied Science

10%

Other High Skill18%

Other Low Skill2%

Retail5%

Trucking3%

Sector

March 31st, 2015

• 90-day pause for policy shift, redesign

July 2nd, 2015

• Re-opened program to limited intake; full within 36 hours due to overwhelming demand.

• Extend temporary closure for all but Express Entry BC, Health Care and Northeast Pilot categories

September 1st, 2015

• Temporary Pause on Express Entry BC categories

Current State of BC PNP

11

• Responsive, client-friendly immigration pathway.

• Increase in demand results in inventory 5,700 applications

• Inefficient processing times (1 + years)

• Skills applications misaligned with labour market – 80% below $22.00/hour wage.

• Limited nominations allocation + increased labour market demands necessitate policy & program shift

Redesigning PNP: Challenges & Opportunities

12

• Ongoing, dynamic intake with efficient processing times.

• Prioritize high-opportunity applications and align intake with operating capacity.

• Flexible criteria adjusted annually based on BC Labour Market Outlook and stakeholder input.

• Nominate skilled workers and entrepreneurs based on ability to succeed in BC and contribute to the provincial economy.

*PROPOSED* New Skills Intake for 2016

13

14

Points for:

☑ Skill level of job (NOC)

☑Wage level

☑ Job in the region

☑Work experience

☑ Education

☑ Language

Bonus points:

☑BC/Cdn education & work experience

☑Priority job

Ranked Applicant Pool

Different points thresholds for different categories

Highest scoring registrants from each category invited to apply

Lower scoring applicants not

selected will be removed from pool

after 12 months

Minimum scores published based on invitations to apply.

BC PNP – Estimated Levels by Category

15

25%

35 - 45%

15 - 20%

10 - 15%

2 - 5%

BC PNP By Category – Estimated for 5,500 nominations in 2015

Express Entry

Skilled Workers

Int'l Graduates

Entry Level & Semi-Skilled

Entrepreneurs

• Skills Immigration:

• Express Entry British Columbia:

Processing Times

16

Date Received Estimated Processing Time

Sept – Dec 2014 12 – 14 months

Jan – March 2015 14 – 16 months

April – June 2015 16 months

Date Received Estimated Processing Time

May – June 2015 3 – 4 months

July – August 2015 4 – 5 months

Entrepreneur Immigration

Results & Trends

17

Business Immigration Applications Received 2009-2014

18

Federal Entrepreneur

Program suspended

Federal Immigrant Investor

Program suspended.

SK, MB & NB Business

PNPs limit intake

Federal Entrepreneur &

Investor Programs terminated

Feb 2014

152 135

197

746

861

1,085

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Surplus Applications

19

By Category By Region

*approximately 1,800 applications in inventory

• Maintain nominations at 2 – 5% of allocation.

• Manage intake – align applications with capacity.

• Emphasize entrepreneurship – rebranding to distance from passive investment.

• Maintain program integrity – introduce 3rd party review of funds.

• Maintain existing investment and job creation criteria to retain flexibility & add human capital points.

• Re-structure fees to reflect level of effort at various stages.

Entrepreneur Immigration Goals & Objectives

20

• Minimum net worth of $600,000.

• Minimum investment amount of $200,000.

• Purchase/partnership of existing business requires $50,000 for improvement or expansion of the business.

• Have 2 years of post-secondary education or have 100% owner-operator experience for 3 of the last 5 years.

• Must create at least 1 new fulltime equivalent job.

• Be a resident in B.C. for at least 75% of the time while on a work permit.

Program Criteria Updates

21

1. Online Entrepreneur Immigration Registration (EIR)

2. Invitation to Apply (ITA)

3. Online application submission and third party verification of personal net worth (PNW)

4. Application Assessment

5. Due Diligence / Interview

6. Business Establishment with Work Permit

7. Nomination Assessment

8. Nomination

Entrepreneur Immigration Application Process

22

• Charge fee to discourage frivolous registrations, reflect level of effort to pre-screen candidates.

• PNP will accept 200 registrations max per month.

• Registration expires from the ‘pool’ after 6 months.

• Top-scoring registrants are invited to apply

• Number and frequency of invitations to apply (ITA) based on processing capacity, nomination allocation.

Entrepreneur Immigrant Registration (EIR)

23

• Registrant self-score: Max 120 points– Personal Net Worth -12 points

– Experience - 24 points

– Human Capital Factors - 18 points

– Investment - 30 points

– Jobs created/maintained - 36 points

• PNP score: Max 80 points

Business Concept : Must demonstrate ability and intent to actively manage and grow business with the potential for

significant economic benefits to B.C.

– Commercial viability: 28

– Transferability of Skills: 24

– Economic Benefits: 28

EIR - Points Allocation = 200 Points

24

• Only about 85 ITAs to be issued in 2015/16 –increase over time as surplus is eliminated.

• Just-in-time processing for new applications

• Third party Personal Net Worth report by a qualified supplier* required as part of complete application

• Applicants may be interviewed in-person

• Service standard: 3-4 months * Pre-qualified professional accounting/finance firms.

Invitation to Apply (ITA) and Assessment

25

• Active and ongoing management of day-to-day business (resident in Canada 75% of work permit period).

• Satisfying eligible investment (inventory, working capital, etc.) and job creation per Performance Agreement

• Reside within 100km of business

• Expectation to continue business operations after nomination

Nomination Criteria

26

Strategic Investment Projects

27

• To lead and support the attraction of strategically important investment projects that require the transfer of foreign key staff to BC through the BC PNP resulting in new investment and job creation.

• Provide expert knowledge and support on immigration and work permit issues to key foreign investment clients of other Division/Ministry.

Strategic Investment Projects: Objective

28

Criteria:

• Meet Immigration Act & Regulations

• Minimum investment: $500,000.

• Create min. 3 new jobs for each key staff brought in up to max. of 5 key staff.

Application Process:

• Initial assessment/Invitation to apply. (4 - 12 weeks)

• Formal application including interview/site visit. (3 - 8 months)

• Performance Agreement & support Key Staff work permit.

• Nomination when performance milestones met.(4 - 18 months)

• Post Nomination monitoring.

Strategic Investment Projects: Criteria

29

• Foreign company in good financial standing; expect to have at least 150 employees and over $20 million annual revenue.

• Identified investment opportunities in BC related to core business.

• Investment based on sound business decisions; completed assessment of commercial viabilities and due diligence; prepared a viable implementation work plan.

• Priority sectors: advance manufacturing, new media, forestry products processing, scientific research and development, high-tech and specialized engineering.

Strategic Investment Projects: Ideal Applicant

30

• Bill 39 introduced October 6, 2015

• Three main objectives:

1. Increase transparency of program administration with clear delegation of decision-making authority and process to review refusals

2. Protect program integrity by strengthening the ability to detect and deter fraud, misrepresentation and other program abuses;

3. Codify provincial authority to collect and set fees for applying to immigration programs

Provincial Immigration Programs Act

31

32

BC Provincial Nominee Program

Immigration Programs Branch

Ministry of Jobs, Tourism & Skills Training

t: +1 (604) 775-2227

f: +1 (604) 660-4092

e: PNPInfo@gov.bc.ca

www.WelcomeBC.ca/PNP

Oct 28, 2015