British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Statistical Report：Entrepreneur Immigration (EI)（3）

Entrepreneur Immigration (EI)

The EI Stream is designed to target experienced  entrepreneurs who can support innovation and economic growth in the province. It has three categories:

• Base
• Regional Pilot
• Strategic Projects

The EI selection process has two steps. If an entrepreneur’s business proposal  is approved,  the Province supports their application for a work permit that allows them to come to B.C. as temporary residents  to implement their business plan. Entrepreneurs then have a specific period of time (between 12 and 24 months, depending on their application category) to establish their businesses before they become eligible for nomination.

The Base category allows foreign entrepreneurs to propose a new business or purchase an existing business in any part of British Columbia.

The BC PNP launched the EI Regional Pilot in March 2019. The Regional Pilot is limited to smaller communities that are not located within 30 km of a major center (population 75K or more). Unlike the Base category, which does not directly involve communities, the Regional Pilot category is delivered  in collaboration with participating communities, based on their specific economic development needs. 2021 was a transitionary period  for the Pilot. In March, the Province

extended it for an additional three years. This new phase of the Pilot, which includes new participating communities and minor  adjustments to eligibility criteria, began to accept registrations on November 1.

The Strategic Projects category is designed for foreign corporations that have identified strategic investment opportunities in B.C. to establish operations that are integral to the growth and expansion of their core business. It enables foreign corporations to permanently transfer key staff with specialized corporate knowledge and expertise to their operation in British Columbia. The volume of prospective applicants  who meet the criteria  for this category is small, so their statistics are only captured in the totals for the EI stream.

Registration, Qualification, and ITAs

Both the Base and Regional Pilot categories require  registration. Registration for the EI stream requires  a $300 processing fee because program staff must assess it and assign a business concept score to determine whether an entrepreneur is qualified for the pool. Qualified registrants may remain in the pool for up to six months.  Periodically, invitations to apply (ITAs) are issued to the highest scoring registrations. Draws for each category are conducted separately and at different scores.

Registration for the Base category is unrestricted and open to all interested entrepreneurs who feel they meet the criteria. In 2021, 76 per cent of registrants in this category were assessed as qualified and remained in the pool for up to six months. Invitations to apply were issued to 44 of these qualified Base Category entrepreneurs. These numbers are smaller than in 2020 because

on July 19, 2021, the BC PNP temporarily paused intake of new registrations for the Base category in order to commence a review that ensures the category will continue to support government priorities and to effectively prepare prospective applicants  to succeed as entrepreneurs in British Columbia.

To register for the Regional Pilot, an entrepreneur must have a referral from one of the 60+ participating communities. In 2021, the BC PNP received 10 registrations for the Regional Pilot, a significant decrease from  the 57 registrations received in 2020, but one that is expected to be temporary.

One reason for this decrease was the significant disruption to international travel created by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Because prospective entrepreneur immigrants were often unable to travel to Canada to conduct the exploratory visits required in this category during the pandemic, many had to delay submission of registrations that might otherwise have been received by the BC PNP during 2021. There was also a temporary lull in registrations because of the transition period between the first phase of the Pilot, which ended in March 2021, and the opening of registration intake for the second phase in November 2021. During  this time, the BC PNP was mainly focused on working to bring  new participating communities on board.

Application Intake

EI Applications                                                                    2021            2020            2019
EI–Base (Principal Applicant)	46	127	224
EI–Regional Pilot	11	70	34
Key Staff	0	10	10
Total	57	207	268

There are three different types of EI applications, each of which is listed separately in the table below. In 2021, application volume was lower in both categories than in 2020. As discussed in the previous sections, these decreases are linked to the temporary pause on registration intake for the Base category, the transitionary period in the Regional Pilot, and the COVID-19 pandemic’s ongoing impact on international travel.