Business Immigration to the Province of British Columbia

Business Immigration to the Province of British Columbia

There are 3 types of business programs for obtaining PR in this province.

  1. Entrepreneur Base Category – Base stream entrepreneur immigration
  • For this program, you need:
  • Financial assets of 600 thousand or more
  • Business management experience
  • English language proficiency at level 4
  • To open a new business or acquire an existing one in British Columbia
  • To invest at least 200 thousand in the enterprise
  • To create at least one job for a Canadian citizen (or PR)
  • To create and submit a business plan for approval

You create a profile on the British Columbia Ministry of Immigration platform, and points will be awarded based on your factors. If you have a passing score, you will be invited send your business plan for an audit by an authorized accounting firm in the province. All documents and the approved business plan must be submitted within 4 months from the date of invitation. If approved, you will be issued a work permit, and over the next 20 months, you will have the opportunity to implement your project. After 18 months, you submit all documents to British Columbia again to demonstrate that you meet the initially stated conditions and apply for a nomination from the province under the business stream. After receiving the nomination, you may apply for PR.

  1. Regional Entrepreneur Category – Regional Pilot

This is a simplified business immigration program to remote, rural, and northern regions of British Columbia. To immigrate through this program, you need to contact the regions where you plan to open a business, visit them, and secure a letter of support from them.

List of regions:

  • Cariboo region: 100 Mile House, Mackenzie, Prince George (now paused), Quesnel, Williams Lake (now paused)
  • Kootenay region: Castlegar & Central Kootenay, Columbia Valley and East Kootenay, Cranbrook (now paused), Kimberley, Nelson & Central Kootenay, Rossland, Trail, West Boundary (Area E).
  • Lower Mainland/Southwest region – community Lillooet.
  • Nechako region – Bulkley-Nechako community
  • Vancouver Island/Coast: Campbell River, Comox, Mount Waddington, Port Alberni, Power River
  • Thompson Okanagan region: Chase, Clinton (now paused), Pentincton (now paused), Salmon Arm (now paused), Vernon.
  • North Coast Region: Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine (Areas B, C, E), Terrace.
  • Northeast economic region: Fort St. John, Tumbler Ridge (now paused)


For this program, you need:

  • Financial assets of 300 thousand or more
  • Business management experience
  • English language proficiency at level 4
  • To open a new business in this region
  • To invest at least 100 thousand in the enterprise
  • To create at least one job for a Canadian citizen (or PR)


  1. Strategic project

This program is for corporations willing to relocate their company to British Columbia along with their staff for expansion and growth. Through this program, PR applications can be submitted for up to 5 employees who hold senior and top managerial positions in the company.

For this program, you need:

  • Financial assets of 1,000,000 or more
  • Business management experience
  • English language proficiency at level 4
  • To open a new business in this region, or to acquire an existing business for the purpose of expansion and development
  • To invest at least 500 thousand in the company in British Columbia
  • To create at least three jobs for Canadian citizens (or PR)