The Issue
Last week, we reported that the Alberta Provincial Nominee Program was discontinuing the receipt of applications until late January, 2016.
Now, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program has announced that it as well is no longer accepting applications in its Skilled Worker or Express Entry streams, until January, 2016.
The Background
The BC Provincial Nominee Program is a program administered by the province of British Columbia, through which applicants can seek permanent residence in Canada. (The nomination also acts as a Labour Market Impact Assessment [LMIA] when issued.) There are various streams.
As noted above, the streams currently being paused are the Skilled Worker and Express Entry streams. Note, however, that applications continue to be accepted in the Health Care Professional (Skilled Worker/Express Entry BC) category as well as the Northeast Pilot Project category. These categories continue to have high demands for qualified professionals. Further, applications continue to be accepted in the entrepreneurial stream, to a maximum of 200 per month.
What You Should Do
Certainly, those who may qualify under other programs such as the Canadian Experience Class, or Federal Skilled Worker program, should seek to utilize those programs wherever possible.
Note that it is expected that the BC program will change its criteria when the program reopens, and the new criteria are not yet announced. For those whose only option may be the BC Provincial Nominee Program, the best thing that can be done at this point, is to ensure that any application to be submitted is complete and ready to go for filing in January of 2016, recognizing, however, the reality that the change in the program may mean that they no longer qualify at that time.
It is also imperative that foreign workers and their employers, take any steps necessary in the interim to ensure that temporary worker status be maintained during any intervening periods.
Though we are not aware at this time of any other province formally pausing the intake of applications, it would seem that this trend may continue in view of the quotas each province or territory has, the current labour market conditions, and the backlog of applications already in process. For those who still wish to apply in other provinces, it may be advisable to proceed quickly, before any further changes are made.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.