British Columbia issued a total of 357 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) in draws that took place on July 19 and July 26. The latter draw was a 'tech-only' draw, a new initiative started by BC in May. Non-tech workers and graduates may have been invited to apply on July 19.
Eligible individuals interested in applying for immigration to Canada through certain categories of the BC PNP, including the five that were included in these draws, are required to enter into the Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) pool. Candidates are assigned a points score upon entry into the pool. This score is based on civil status, education, work experience, and other factors. The highest-ranking candidates in the SIRS pool are issued ITAs in periodic draws conducted by the government of BC.
A portion of the invited candidates are now in a position to submit their BC PNP provincial nomination application through one of the enhanced BC PNP sub-categories aligned with the federal Express Entry selection system. If and when these candidates receive a BC PNP nomination certificate, they will receive 600 additional points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and an Invitation To Apply (ITA) at a subsequent draw from the pool. It should be noted that the ITA with respect to the BC PNP is not the same as the ITA issued at the federal Express Entry level.
The remaining invited candidates will have their applications processed outside the Express Entry system at the federal level.