More than 200 new immigrants were issued with Invitations to Apply on November 3, 2016 under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program – one of the smaller rounds of ITAs issued so far this year.
By comparison the last three rounds saw 608, 805 and 637 invitations issued.
The numbers were again dominated by international graduates, who accounted for 152 of the ITAs issued under both the Express Entry and Skills Immigration categories.
Elsewhere, a total of 48 skilled workers were issued with ITAs, and 16 entry level and semi-skilled candidates.
British Columbia PNP: Invitations Issued November 3, 2016
| Category | Minimum score | Number of invitations |
| Express Entry Skilled Worker | 80 | 33 |
| Express Entry International Graduate | 70 | 99 |
| Skills Immigration: Skilled Worker | 80 | 15 |
| Skills Immigration: International Graduate | 70 | 53 |
| Skills Immigration: Entry Level and Semi-Skilled | 50 | 16 |
| TOTAL | N/A | 216 |
Source: www.welcomebc.ca
The previous round of invites, on October 28, saw 339 international graduate invitations out of an overall total of 608 ITAs.
There were also 190 skilled worker ITAs issued, 68 for entry level and semi-skilled workers and 11 in the entrepreneur stream.
British Columbia PNP: Invitations Issued October 28, 2016
| Category | Minimum score | Number of invitations |
| Entrepreneur | 132 | 11 |
| Express Entry Skilled Worker | 80 | 103 |
| Express Entry International Graduate | 80 | 116 |
| Skills Immigration: Skilled Worker | 80 | 87 |
| Skills Immigration: International Graduate | 70 | 223 |
| Skills Immigration: Entry Level and Semi-Skilled | 45 | 68 |
| TOTAL | N/A | 608 |
Source: www.welcomebc.ca
As it comes to the end of 2016, the Provincial Nominee Programs will be looking to fulfill their federal government caps if they have not already done so.
Federal Immigration Minister John McCallum recently set immigration levels for 2017, with an upper limit of 320,000. Some 51,000 places have been set aside for provincial programs, versus 47,800 in 2016.
B.C.’s 2016 plan is to accept a majority of candidates from the Skilled Worker stream (35 to 45 per cent). A sizeable proportion of immigrants will come through Express Entry (25 per cent), while between 15 and 20 per cent will be International Graduates.
The province’s government plans to make immigrants in the Entry Level and Semi-Skilled category between 10 and 15 per cent of its intake, with the Entrepreneur stream taking between 2 and 5 per cent.
The province issues minimum scores that will guarantee a candidate an invite in the next round of invitations. However, the published scores are subject to change.
Scores Needed for Guaranteed Invitation
| Category | Guaranteed Registration Score |
| Skills Immigration – Skilled Worker | 135 |
| Skills Immigration – International Graduate | 105 |
| Skills Immigration – Entry Level and Semi-Skilled | 95 |
| Express Entry BC – Skilled Worker | 135 |
| Express Entry BC – International Graduate | 105 |
B.C. Premier Christy Clark has led calls for the federal government to increase PNP caps, saying the current limits acted as a constraint to the growth of Western Canada.
The provincial premiers also released a joint statement in July, asking for the same immigration powers as Quebec.
“Canada’s Premiers call on the federal government to establish an equivalent agreement to the Canada-Quebec Accord with all provinces and territories,” read a statement from the Council of the Federation talks in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Quebec sets its own immigration quotas, currently at 50,000, but set to increase in the coming years.
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