A new report has found that the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program has substantially benefited the province in terms of increased revenues, jobs, skilled labour and investment.
The report, released by accounting and business advisory firm Grant Thornton LLP, looked at the specific cases of entrepreneurs, skilled workers and students who arrived in B.C. between 2005 and 2010 through the PNP, which allows for the province to select individuals for nomination based on skills, assets, experience, etc. Their applications for permanent residency are then “fast-tracked” at the federal stage.
Between all 203 entrepreneurs who arrived in the province during this period, approximately $423 million was invested into the economy and over 1,000 jobs were created. Of the investors who came, 93 percent are still in B.C. and three-quarters have purchased homes in the province.
During that same time, another 10,000 workers arrived in B.C. through the PNP and contributed their skills to 4,600 businesses in Canada.
Almost all of the skilled workers and students who were nominated through the PNP are still in the province today.
“With only about 650,000 young people in our K-12 education system today, [the] projected growth in job openings will significantly outpace the growth in the number of available workers over the next decade,” writes Pat Bell, B.C.’s Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation in an article for the Vancouver Sun.
“The B.C. Provincial Nominee Program helps ensure we are better able to meet these needs and creates greater prosperity and jobs, meeting the demand for workers and entrepreneurs in key sectors of our economy and in all regions of the province.”
Source: Vancouver Sun