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The Express Entry International Graduate category of the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) provides a way for candidates in the federal Express Entry pool who graduated from a university or college in Canada, and who also have a job offer in BC, to obtain permanent resident status in Canada.

Changes Coming To The Express Entry International Graduate Stream In 2025

The BC PNP International Graduate and International Post-Graduate streams will change in 2025. The BC Provincial Government announced that it plans to replace these two streams with three new streams:

  • A Bachelor’s stream: for recent graduates of eligible institutions with bachelor’s degrees who have an indeterminate full-time job offer.
  • The Master’s stream: for recent graduates of eligible institutions with a minimum of one-year full-time job offer in a skilled occupation.
  • The Doctorate stream: Graduates and PhD candidates can apply directly to this stream. The government did not outline whether there would be a job offer requirement for this stream.

BC’s language level requirement will be updated so that applicants need to meet CLB 8 or higher for these streams. At the moment, applicants only need to meet minimum language requirements according to the federal immigration program requirements, so this could be a minimum of CLB 5. In other words, the language requirement for student graduates applying for these streams may be higher.

Those who complete certificate or diploma programs in Canada may be eligible for other BC PNP streams.

Successful applicants to the EE International Graduate category obtain a BC PNP provincial nomination certificate. When this is uploaded to the Express Entry profile, 600 additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points are awarded, followed by an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence at a subsequent draw from the pool.

Watch our video.

EEBC – International Graduate draw history

EE International Graduate criteria

To qualify for this category, candidates must:

  • be eligible for one of the federal economic immigration programs (Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class, or Canadian Experience Class) and create an Express Entry profile;
  • have accepted a full-time, permanent job offer in a skilled position (National Occupational Classification TEER 1, 2, or 3) from an employer in BC — management occupations (grouped under NOC TEER 0) are not eligible through this stream, but may apply through the BC PNP Skilled Worker categories;
  • qualify to work in the job offered;
  • have a wage offer in line with BC wage rates for the occupation;
  • have completed a degree, diploma, or certificate from an eligible post-secondary institution in Canada in the past three years;
  • show they can support themselves and their dependents;
  • have, or be eligible for, legal immigration status in Canada; and
  • meet minimum language requirements according to the federal immigration program requirements.

Note: your study program in Canada does not necessarily need to have been based in BC. If you studied in another province, you may still be eligible for the EE International Graduate category of the BC PNP.

Employer requirements

There are certain requirements for the employer as well. The employer must:

  • be established as an employer in good standing in BC;
  • provide full-time, indeterminate (permanent or with no set end date) employment;
  • have a history of good workplace and business practices;
  • sign an employer declaration;
  • meet domestic labour market recruitment requirements, where applicable; and
  • offer a wage in line with industry standards.

The BC Skills Immigration Registration System

Applications to the EE International Graduate category of the BC PNP are managed under the Skills Immigration Registration System, or SIRS. Under this system, eligible candidates must first register a profile under the SIRS, a unique system used by the BC PNP to rank and select candidates who have the ability to settle permanently in the province.

Upon registration, candidates are assigned a score based on a combination of factors, including the details of the job offer, as well as human capital factors relating to work experience, language ability, and level of education.

The system operates on an Expression of Interest / Invitation to Apply basis, whereby the BC PNP conducts periodic draws and invites the highest-ranked candidates to apply for provincial nomination. The BC PNP also periodically invites candidates with experience in in-demand occupation in the tech, healthcare, and childcare sectors (refer below for the in-demand lists).

Let’s look at a hypothetical profile of somebody who is competitive under the SIRS. Maria completed a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), after which she obtained a post-graduation work permit in Canada and obtained a job in the industry. She then received a permanent job offer in the Vancouver area, and in the same field, with an annual salary of $44,000. With her high intermediate English ability, Maria’s 105 points under the SIRS give her a strong chance of being invited under the SIRS.

You may ask, wouldn’t Maria have been invited under the federal Express Entry system anyway, without having to obtain additional points such as by obtaining a provincial nomination? Not necessarily. While Maria would be rewarded under the CRS for her young age (27) and education in Canada, her language ability of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 8, combined with the fact that her job offer in BC is not supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) and that her work permit is open, means that she gets limited points for language ability and no points for a job offer under the CRS. However, she would get points for the job offer under the SIRS, as the employer is not required to obtain a LMIA under that system. Overall, her initial CRS score would be 418. If she applies to the BC PNP, however, this would increase to 1,018, meaning that she would be well on the way to permanent residence in Canada.

There are many other ways to gain points under the SIRS and settle in BC, and Canada, permanently. To view the SIRS scoring system in full detail, visit our dedicated SIRS page.

Priority Occupations for BC PNP draws

The BC PNP periodically issues invitations to candidates with experience in priority occupations. The priority occupations are divided into four categories: tech occupations, healthcare occupations, childcare occupations, and other priority occupations. These are the priority occupations for each category:

BC PNP - Priority Tech Occupations

BC PNP Tech Occupations
10030 Telecommunication carriers managers
20012 Computer and information systems managers
21100 Physicists and astronomers
21210 Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries
21211 Data scientists
21220 Cybersecurity specialists
21221 Business systems specialists
21222 Information systems specialists
21223 Database analysts and data administrators
21230 Computer systems developers and programmers
21231 Software engineers and designers
21232 Software developers and programmers
21233 Web designers
21234 Web developers and programmers
21300 Civil engineers
21301 Mechanical engineers
21310 Electrical and electronics engineers
21311 Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
21320 Chemical engineers
21399 Other professional engineers
22110 Biological technologists and technicians
22220 Computer network and web technicians
22221 User support technicians
22222 Information systems testing technicians
22310 Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
50011 Managers - publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting and performing arts
22312 Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
51111 Authors and writers (except technical)
51112 Technical writers
51120 Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations
52119 Other technical and coordinating occupations in motion pictures, broadcasting and the performing arts
52112 Broadcast technicians
52113 Audio and video recording technicians
52120 Graphic designers and illustrators
53111 Motion pictures, broadcasting, photography and performing arts assistants and operators

BC PNP - Care Economy: Priority Healthcare Occupations

BC PNP - Care Economy: Priority Childcare Occupations

BC PNP - Other Priority Occupations

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Rebecca Major

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Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Rebecca Major is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (R511564) with nearly 15 years of licenced Canadian Immigration experience, gained after graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in the UK. She specializes in Canadian immigration at Moving2Canada.
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