Of late, British Columbia’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) proves to be a big success among prospective immigrant applicants. The program has been known for facilitating increased immigration for skilled workers, experienced entrepreneurs, post-secondary students and the families of aforementioned to the province with its speedy processing procedure. The PNP nominated people and their families can apply for a permanent resident visa under the Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

PNP’s business investor category started off slowly at its inception nine years back, but recently, it is noticed that the category is doing well. There is an increase in the number of accepted applicants over the last two years. In 2009-10, the program accepted a total of 122 applicants in the business stream, while the immigration department set a target of 120. For 2010-11, the country’s advanced education and labor market department is targeting 160 applicants and the business category is most likely to meet the target.

Over the last eight years, British Columbia has nominated 571 candidates, and they have been a vital part of the economy who have brought in $603 million in new investment and generated a total of 2,550 jobs. When British Columbia’s PNP was incepted, it set a very high bar for the entrepreneurs- that they should have at least $2 million of net worth and a minimum $1 million to invest. With the higher limits, the program initially attracted fewer applicants than what it expected. But, now as the financial bar has been lowered, the number of business applicants is also growing in number. Reportedly, China, Korea and United Kingdom are the largest sources of PNP nominated candidates in British Columbia!