In the latest provincial draw held on October 6, 2020, another 72 tech candidates have received invitations – to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence – from the province of British Columbia in Canada.
Earlier, BC PNP had ended the month of September with the biggest draw of 2020.
Launched in 2017, Tech Pilot draws held under British Columbia’s Provincial Nominee Program [BC PNP] invite immigration candidates in any of the 29 key tech occupations. The BC PNP Tech Pilot has been extended until June 2021.
The Tech Pilot of British Columbia is not a separate stream or category as such. In order to be eligible for receiving an invitation through the BC PNP Tech Pilot draw, the candidate must be registered in any of the existing BC PNP streams and also have a valid job offer of a minimum of 12 months in any of the eligible occupations for the Tech Pilot.
For applying for the Express Entry BC or Skills Immigration categories of the BC PNP, the candidate must begin the process with the creation of their profile through the BC PNP’s online portal, registering under the Skills Immigration Registration System [SIRS].
A score – referred to as the SIRS score – is allotted to the candidates based on factors such as their location of employment in BC, language proficiency, work experience, and education level.
The latest BC PNP Tech Pilot draw on October 6 invited 72 tech candidates from 4 categories. The minimum score required was 80 across the categories.
Overview of the October 6 BC PNP Tech Pilot draw – 72 invitations issued
| Category | Minimum Score |
| EEBC – Skilled Worker | 80 |
| EEBC – International Graduate | 80 |
| SI – Skilled Worker | 80 |
| SI – International Graduate | 80 |
On successfully securing a nomination through the BC PNP, the candidate can then proceed to applying to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada [IRCC] for Canadian permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Program [PNP].
A provincial nomination fetches an additional 600 points towards the ranking score – the Comprehensive Ranking System [CRS] score – of a profile while in the Express Entry pool. Hence, a provincial nomination is a guarantee of the individual receiving an Invitation to Apply [ITA] in a subsequent federal Express Entry draw that is held.
The BC PNP Tech Pilot provides an expedited Canada immigration pathway to individuals with tech skills applying for Canada PR and having the potential of contributing to “BC’s shared prosperity”.
As per the BC PNP, “Processing times for 80% of BC PNP applications is 2-3 months from receipt. Tech Pilot applications are typically processed in shorter timeframes”.
BC PNP draws in 2020 so far
[I] Skills Immigration and Express Entry draws
| Date | Invitations issued | Details |
| January 7, 2020 | 173 | – |
| January 14, 2020 | 70 | Tech Pilot draw |
| January 21, 2020 | 58 | Tech Pilot draw |
| January 28, 2020 | 284 | – |
| February 4, 2020 | 85 | Tech Pilot draw |
| February 11, 2020 | 83 | Tech Pilot draw |
| February 19, 2020 | 53 | Tech Pilot draw |
| February 27, 2020 | 290 | – |
| March 3, 2020 | 80 | Tech Pilot draw |
| March 10, 2020 | 332 | – |
| March 17, 2020 | 87 | Tech Pilot draw |
| March 30, 2020 | 311 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| April 7, 2020 | 147 | Tech Pilot draw |
| April 16, 2020 | 271 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| April 21, 2020 | 91 | Tech Pilot draw |
| April 29, 2020 | 75 | Tech Pilot draw |
| May 7, 2020 | 237 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| May 12, 2020 | 92 | Tech Pilot draw |
| May 19, 2020 | 170 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| May 26, 2020 | 133 | Tech Pilot draw |
| June 2, 2020 | 241 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| June 9, 2020 | 87 | Tech Pilot draw |
| June 16, 2020 | 276 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| June 23, 2020 | 87 | Tech Pilot draw |
| June 30, 2020 | 314 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| July 7, 2020 | 57 | Tech Pilot draw |
| July 14, 2020 | 320 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| July 21, 2020 | 62 | Tech Pilot draw |
| July 28, 2020 | 34 | Tech Pilot draw |
| August 7, 2020 | 437 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| August 11, 2020 | 52 | Tech Pilot draw |
| August 18, 2020 | 302 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| August 25, 2020 | 72 | Tech Pilot draw |
| September 1, 2020 | 428 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| September 8, 2020 | 67 | Tech Pilot draw |
| September 15, 2020 | 407 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| September 22, 2020 | 74 | Tech Pilot draw |
| September 29, 2020 | 450 | Certain occupations excluded. |
| October 6, 2020 | 72 | Tech Pilot draw |
| TOTAL invitations in 2020 so far – 6,961. | ||
[II] Entrepreneur Immigration [EI]
| Date | Category | Invitations issued |
| January 14, 2020 | EI – Regional Pilot | 7 |
| January 14, 2020 | EI – Base Category | 18 |
| February 4, 2020 | EI – Regional Pilot | 5 |
| February 4, 2020 | EI – Base Category | 14 |
| April 6, 2020 | EI – Regional Pilot | 18 |
| June 2, 2020 | EI – Regional Pilot | 9 |
| June 2, 2020 | EI – Base Category | 29 |
| July 28, 2020 | EI – Regional Pilot | 5 |
| July 28, 2020 | EI – Base Category | 7 |
| September 1, 2020 | EI – Regional Pilot | <5 |
| September 1, 2020 | EI – Base Category | 6 |
| TOTAL invitations in 2020 so far – 123 approx. | ||
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