BlogCanadian Immigration ProgramsHow do I immigrate to Canada?Working in CanadaYou’ve been Invited to Apply! What’s next for a BC PNP Business Applicant?

As we learned in our last issue, the new BC PNP Entrepreneur immigration stream now has a scoring system that allows PNP officers to select only the highest scoring applicants and provide them with an Invitation to Apply ( ITA). Mirroring the new Express Entry immigration program from the federal government, this new selection system is designed to allow the program to better manage it’s intake of applications and provide speedier overall processing. In this new selection model not all business applicants will be eligible to apply. Only the highest scoring applicants will be issued an ITA. So if you are one of the lucky business applicants to receive an ITA, what’s next? How do you get to the nomination stage to be able to apply for permanent residence to Canada?

If you receive an ITA, you will have four months to complete and provide your business application to the BC PNP office. You will need to immediately engage the services of a Qualified Supplier to review your personal net worth and accumulation of funds prior to submitting your application. A Qualified Supplier is a professional chartered accounting services supplier who has been approved by the BC PNP office to complete a verification report of your personal net worth. You cannot engage the services of a qualified supplier without a BC PNP file number which you receive with your ITA. Generally the qualified supplier will prepare their verification report within 60 days but this will depend upon the volume of financial documentation provided. You are responsible for the cost of obtaining the report.

In addition to the verification report, you will need to provide all the BC PNP business application forms, supporting documentation, and a comprehensive business plan and pay a $3500 application fee. Upon receiving a complete application, the BC PNP will assess your application. You may be required to attend an interview or to provide further documentation. If you are requested to attend an interview, you will be expected to describe your past business experience and also demonstrate a thorough understanding of your proposed business plan. A decision on your application will be made based upon all the documentation and information provided up to the interview stage. Following the interview it will not be possible to provide any further information in support of your application.

If your application is approved, you will then enter into a Performance Agreement with the Province of British Columbia. The Performance Agreement sets out the conditions that you must satisfy in order to be nominated by the BC PNP in order to apply for permanent residence to Canada. The Performance Agreement includes such key elements as:

1. your proposed business and location
2. the amount of investment and time period that within which it will be made
3. the job creation proposal
4. the active management responsibilities
5. the residency requirements
6. your schedule for completing the stages of the business plan

After executing the Performance Agreement, you will receive a Letter of Confirmation (LOC) also known as a work permit support letter. This will be the basis for applying for a two year work permit to come to Canada and start working on establishing your business plan. Upon arriving in BC, you will have 20 months to complete all the terms of your Performance Agreement. There are several reporting stages within this process:

• You must file an arrival report within 2 months of arriving in B.C.
• You will have 20 months to fulfill all the terms of the Performance Agreement
• You will need to submit a Final Report to the BC PNP office within 18-20 months of arriving in B.C.

Based upon the information you provide demonstrating that you have established your business in accordance with the Performance Agreement and that you have an active management role in the day to day operations, you will receive a Nomination Certificate. With the BC PNP Nomination Certificate in hand, now you can apply for Permanent Residence to Canada. Next time we will summarize the time frames for the various stages of BC’s new PNP Entrepreneurial stream.