The three streams will be open to eligible students who have recently graduated from bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in British Columbia (BC) in 2025.

In January 2025, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) is set to launch the following three new Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams for international graduates.

• Undergraduate Stream
• Master Stream
• Doctoral Stream

Comment: International graduates are students who have received a degree, diploma, or certificate from an eligible post-secondary institution in Canada within the last three years. See below for full details on the eligibility criteria for the International Graduate Stream of the BCPNP.

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These courses aim to create a clear pathway for international graduates to obtain permanent residence (PR) in Canada and improve their employment prospects in British Columbia.

What has British Columbia revealed so far about the new streams?

So far, B.C.’s provincial government has provided the following details about the new streams the PNP will introduce in 2025.

• Launch date: January 2025
• Updated language requirement: Each new stream will require a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 8
• Graduates of the Diploma and Certificate programs will not be eligible for these new streams, but may still be eligible for other BCPNP pathways

The following details the information released so far by the BC, the eligibility criteria, features, and benefits of each upcoming stream.

Comment: BC has also revealed that more information about these streams, including more detailed criteria for each new stream, will be available in late 2024. The province noted that “when the new graduate streams are launched, an updated version of the BC PNP Skills Immigration Program Guide will be published with the full stream criteria.”

Undergraduate Stream

• For recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree from eligible post-secondary institutions
• Eligible graduates must have a qualified, full-time, indefinite (without an announced end date) job offer

Master Stream

• For recent graduates with a master’s degree (in any field of study) from eligible post-secondary institutions
• Graduates must have a full-time job offer (lasting at least one year) in a skilled occupation

Doctoral Stream

• “Graduates and [PhD] Candidates from doctoral-level programs from eligible post-secondary institutions

Other important details about the three new BCPNP streams

Job Offer* Restrictions: The three new BCPNP streams mentioned above “shall not be limited to the list of eligible occupations.”

*BC has clarified that, while job offers will not be limited, employment offers will still need to meet the criteria of BC’s three new sections.

Approved program restrictions: B.C.’s three new streams will not include the list of approved programs, meaning that “students who have recently graduated from degree programs in any field of study may be eligible for the new student streams” as long as they meet the required criteria.

Invitation of Applications Competition (ITA): The BC government clarifies that, because there are different streams for eligible candidates with each type of certificate (bachelor, masters, doctorate), there will be no competition between students with different certificates for the ITA. In other words, “applicants from the undergraduate stream [only] Will be considered alongside other applicants with graduate degrees.

Am I eligible for B.C.’s International Graduate Stream?

Although each new stream will have specific eligibility criteria, the following will outline the general eligibility criteria for all BCPNP International Graduate streams.

To qualify through B.C.’s International Graduate Stream, candidates must do the following:

• Have received a degree, diploma, or certificate from an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution within the last three years
• Have accepted a qualifying full-time job offer from an employer* in B.C.
• Must be eligible to work in their chosen occupation in B.C.
• They will be given a salary offer in line with BC wage rates for the job they will be working on
• Prove the ability to support yourself and any eligible dependents
• meet the minimum language requirements
  • Updates: BC recently raised the minimum language requirement for all BCPNP streams except for its Health Authority stream (which was already adjusted)

*The employer must “agree to provide support” [the candidate’s] While accepting applications, they themselves have to fulfil certain employer-centric requirements.

Important Details About Skills Immigration to British Columbia

Skills Immigration, which includes the BCPNP, uses a point-based system to rank and select qualified immigration candidates. Candidates who receive an ITA through the BCPNP have 30 calendar days to submit their application to the province.

Comment: Once the applicant submits his/her application, he/she has to pay the application fee and submit all the required documents.

The BCPNP scores candidates based on human capital and economic factors through its points system. Human capital factors include relevant work experience and proficiency in Canada’s official languages ​​(English, French). Meanwhile, economic factors include the salary of the candidate’s BC job offer and the candidate’s employment location in BC

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