British Columbia has conducted a new tech pilot draw on July 7 to apply for a provincial nomination. A total of 57 people were issued invitations in this draw. Across all subcategories selected candidates required a minimum provincial score of 80.
In 2017, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Tech Pilot was launched to help employers recruit potential immigrants in the IT sector and promote the immigration process for foreign tech employees and international students.
The BC PNP provides weekly Tech Pilot invitations to qualified applicants with a legitimate one-year work offer in one of the listed occupations of the program. The job offer must also have a minimum of 120 days left at the time of submission.
Via its BC PNP, the province of British Columbia has conducted 14 tech-only draws till date in 2020, including the most recent draws prior to this draw taking place on June 9 and 23. Recent statistical data show B.C had a big year, last year for Immigration with respect to registrants, nominees and the Tech Pilot.
Tech Pilot nominations were 1,509 in 2019, a rise of 33 per cent over 2018. Tech Pilot nominations represented 23% of all nominations, up from 17.4% in 2018. It should be noted, further, that B.C. Foreign workers and graduates continue to be invited to non-tech occupations.
The province held the biggest draw since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and the second largest in 2020, last week. In that draw a total of 314 candidates for the Express Entry and Skills Immigration were invited. That number of invitations is comparable to the number of invitations issued at the largest draw that took place on March 10, when 332 invitations were issued before the pandemic began.
Summary of the recent BC PNP draw
Draw date: July 7, 2020.
Program: BC PNP – Tech Pilot
Number of candidates invited: 57
The categories invited
Express Entry BC (EEBC)
1. EEBC- Skilled Worker
Minimum score required under this category: 80
2. EEBC- International Graduate
Minimum score required: 80
Skills Immigration (SI)
1. SI- Skilled Worker
Minimum score required under this category: 80
2. SI- International Graduate
Minimum score required: 80
Total number of Tech draws conducted so far this year: 14
Total number of nominations through tech pilot in 2019: 1509