BC PNP International Post-Graduate Stream

The BC PNP International Post-Graduate (IPG) stream lets students who studied at an eligible British Columbia post-graduate institute immigrate to the province. The student must have completed their Masters or doctoral degree from British Columbia or be a PhD student (studying in the province) to be eligible for this stream. 

The BC PNP IPG stream is one of the five Skills Immigration streams of British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP), and also includes the Express Entry BC option. The other streams are:

• Skilled Worker stream
• Health Authority stream
• International Graduate stream
• Entry Level and Semi-Skilled (ELSS) stream

The BC PNP is one of the eleven Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of Canada. PNPs are designed to nominate select candidates for immigration if they have the skills, education, and work experience, as required by the province or territory they would be immigrating to. 

BC PNP International Post-Graduate stream: Overview

1. Eligibility Criteria
   • BC PNP IPG Requirements
   • BC PNP Skills Immigration Requirements
2. Eligible List of Colleges and Study Field
3. Processing Time & Fees

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Eligibility Criteria of BC PNP International Post-Graduate stream

To be eligible for the BC PNP IPG stream, you must have:

• studied at a BC post-secondary institution
• obtained at least graduation-level education
• studied at an eligible institute and study program

These are the basic requirements which you must have fulfilled at least 3 years before applying for BC PNP Skills Immigration. 

When we say ‘obtained eligible education, we refer to education:

• obtained at a BC post-secondary institution in an eligible program – Master’s Degrees (in applied, natural and health sciences) 
• obtained in any field of study from a BC post-secondary institution – Doctoral Degrees
• you gain while studying in any field of PhD programs at a BC post-secondary institution

The BC PNP IPG stream does not require a student to have a job offer from an employer. In fact, if you meet the requirements, you can even apply to the stream without registering first. 

BC PNP IPG Requirements

Meet the following requirements to be eligible to apply to the IPG stream:

1. Be eligible for BC PNP Skills Immigration program 
2. Within 3 years of graduating from the institution, apply to the BC PNP: This means you can apply to BC PNP as soon as you graduate but not after 3 years of graduation. Moreover, PhD students can apply as soon as they are accepted in candidacy. 
3. Must intend to live, work, and/or study in the province 
4. In case you choose the EEBC option, you must meet additional requirements 
5. Obtain eligible level-study from an eligible program at a BC post-secondary institution
   1. If you studied at a master’s level program, you must have completed a degree in one of the following natural, applied and health sciences:
      1. engineering
      2. physical sciences
      3. mathematics and statistics
      4. natural resources conservation
      5. biological and biomedical sciences
      6. health professions and related programs
      7. engineering technology and engineering-related fields
      8. agriculture, agriculture operations and related sciences
      9. computer and information sciences and support services
   2. Those who completed their degrees, must submit one or more of the following documents:
      1. A copy of degree
      2. A letter from the university to demonstrate you completed a degree
      3. A copy of transcript to show you meet and completed the requirements of the degree
   3. In case you choose the distance education option, you must have completed 50% or more than that of the studies in Canada

BC PNP Skills Immigration Requirements

Apart from meeting the IPG requirements, there are some other requirements as well that a candidate must meet when applying through any one of the Skills Immigration streams. These are:

• Intend to live in British Columbia
• Provide economic benefits to the province
• Be legal
• Prove language proficiency
• May be required to obtain a job offer
• If you are required to get an employment offer, your employer must be eligible 
• Must meet the academic requirements
• If required, the wage offered to you in the employment contract must be competitive
• Must meet the family income requirements
• Candidate’s employment situation must be eligible 

This is not an exhaustive list as there are other eligibility criteria’s to meet as well.

BC PNP IPG Eligible List of Institutes and Study Field

Study of fields and public as well as private post-secondary institutions eligible under the BC PNP IPG stream are listed below:

Public Post-Secondary Institutes	Private Post-Secondary Institutes
1. British Columbia Institute of Technology	9. Fairleigh Dickinson University
2. Royal Roads University	10. New York Institute of Technology
3. Simon Fraser University	11. Northeastern University
4. Thompson Rivers University	12. Trinity Western University
5. University of British Columbia – Okanagan
6. University of British Columbia – Vancouver
7. University of Northern British Columbia
8. University of Victoria

Since there are no restrictions on which program of study you choose for doctoral [except for Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) programs] or PhD students, we have only listed out the eligible programs under master’s degree. 

Processing Time & Fees

The nomination process when applying through British Columbia International Post-Graduate stream takes about 1 year to complete. The whole process consists of the following stages which take different time periods to finish. 

Stage	Processing Time
Application Submission	3 Months
Sending Post-Nomination Request	3 Months
Request Review	6 Months
Total	12 Months (1 year)

The fees when applying for a nomination through the BC PNP Skills Immigration stream is CAN$1,975. The fee is made up of:

Application Submission	CAN$1,475
Request Review	CAN$500

Registering with the BC PNP does not cost you any money. 

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