Eligibility

Please review our Entrepreneur Immigration - Base Program Guide to see the complete personal, business, investment and job requirements.

Personal requirements

• personal net worth of at least CAD$600,000
• business and/or management experience; if no business experience, must have the equivalent of a 2-year post-secondary diploma
• basic English or French language skill equal to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 4 or higher
• have been lawfully admitted in the country where you currently live
• have, or be eligible for, legal immigration status in Canada

Business, job and investment requirements

• establish an eligible new business or buy and improve an existing business
• make an eligible personal investment of at least CAD$200,000 in the business
• create at least one new full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident

Fees

• CAD$300 registration fee
• CAD$3,500 application fee

Process

1. Prepare a business proposal
2. Register your proposal with the BC PNP
3. Get a work permit
4. Build your business
5. BC PNP nomination
6. Permanent Residence

Prepare a comprehensive business proposal

The first step is to prepare a great business proposal that is well suited to your unique knowledge and experience and to the needs to the B.C. economy. You should do research to help you determine what kind of business to propose and which location in B.C. would be a good fit for your business. There are government resources to help you, such as the Starting a Small Business Guide.

You may also want to consider proposing a business that is related to one of the key sectors or significant economic benefits that are listed in the program guide. The Trade and Invest British Columbia website contains a wealth of information about the key industries and sectors as well as different regions and communities in B.C.

Register your proposal with us

Once you have prepared a business proposal, it will be time to reach out to the BC PNP. You will need to create a profile in BCPNP Online and complete the online registration. This includes providing a short business concept. There is a non-refundable registration fee of CAD$300.

We reserve the right to limit the number of registrations that we will accept for Entrepreneur Immigration to ensure we are able to meet our processing service standards.

The system will award points based on human capital factors - such as your education, experience, language - and economic factors such as the commercial viability of your proposal, the sector, the economic benefit and the region. The system will auto-calculate your section scores, based on the information you provide. The business concept section will be scored separately by the BC PNP staff within six weeks. You can find a breakdown of the scoring in the EI Base Program Guide.

If you meet the minimum requirements, you will enter the qualified pool. You stay in the pool for up to six months, or 180 days, or until you receive an invitation to apply. Registering does not guarantee that you will be invited to apply.

If you are invited to apply, a BC PNP-authorized accounting firm must review your personal net worth and verify your accumulation of funds. This review must happen before you submit your application. A list of authorized accounting firms and instructions will be included with your invitation to apply.

After you receive an invitation to apply, you will have four months to submit a complete application through BCPNP Online.

We may invite you to attend an interview. You will be asked about your business/work experience and your business plan.

We will assess your application according to the information you provide in both your application and interview.

If the application is approved, you will sign a performance agreement with the Province of B.C. Your performance agreement is unique to you. It is based on the information provided in your application, business plan and interview.

We may refuse your application if your application details differ from your registration information.

Get a work permit

If your application to the BC PNP is approved, we will give you a letter of support that you can use to apply for a work permit. This will enable you and your dependents to move to B.C. You have 90 days to submit your work permit application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). After getting a work permit, you must arrive in B.C. within 12 months.

Build your business

Once you arrive in B.C., you will have up to 20 months to:

• implement your business plan
• actively manage your business
• meet all the performance expectations in your signed performance agreement

BC PNP Nomination

To be nominated, you must show that you have met the terms and conditions of your performance agreement. You do this by submitting a final report to the BC PNP between 18 and 20 months after you arrive in B.C.

You must also submit proof of language skill to show that your language ability meets a Canadian Language Benchmark Level 4.

We will review and evaluate your final report. When we are satisfied that you have met your performance agreement terms, you will be required to sign a Conditions of Nomination declaration.

Permanent Residence

After you sign the declaration, you will be issued a confirmation of nomination as a provincial nominee. You may then apply for permanent residence to IRCC under the Provincial Nominee Class.

Get started

Visit our Documents page for:

• the Base Program Guide, which has complete program information, criteria, investment information, and full details of the scoring system and registration process.
• the Post-Arrival Guide, which has information about work permits, nominations, and submitting your final report.

We use the information in registrations to rank, select and invite people who best meet the province’s economic needs. Periodically, we invite people to apply through BCPNP Online. Visit the Invitations to Apply page for more information about invitations.

The BC PNP reserves the right to make changes to the registration process without prior notice, including changes to the score grid, the minimum total score required in each section, how long registrations stay in the qualified pool, and the number and frequency of registrants invited to apply.