British Columbia Express Entry Skilled Worker Immigration

Successful applicants to the British Columbia Express Entry Skilled Worker 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.

British Columbia Express Entry Skilled Worker 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 0, 1, 2, or 3) from an employer in BC;
• qualify to work in the job offered;
• have a wage offer in line with BC wage rates for the occupation;
• have at least two years of skilled work experience (this does not need to be directly-related to the job offer);
• 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.

British Columbia Express Entry Skilled Worker: 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 British Columbia Express Entry Skilled Worker 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 scores well within the SIRS. Jonathan, a native English speaker, has an Express Entry profile and has been offered a job as a mechanical engineer in the Vancouver area, where he has been working for just over a year while on a work permit. The annual salary is $70,000. His highest level of education is a Bachelor’s degree, which he obtained in his home country, after which he gained a few years of work experience. All of these credentials together give him 132 points under the SIRS, a very competitive score.

You may ask, wouldn’t Jonathan 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. For example, whereas the Express Entry CRS awards a significant number of points for age, the SIRS does not consider age as a factor. Jonathan might be in his forties, therefore his initial CRS score might have been quite low. However, with the 600 points he would receive upon being issued a BC PNP nomination through the EE Skilled Worker category, he would be well positioned to become a permanent resident.

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:

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