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British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the U.S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska.

In 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Victoria became the united colony’s capital. In 1871, British Columbia became the sixth province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu (“Splendour without Diminishment”).

The capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original colonies. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, and the third-largest in the Pacific Northwest. In October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371 (about 2.5 million of whom were in Greater Vancouver).

BC’s economy is diverse, with service producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the province’s GDP. It is the endpoint of transcontinental railways, and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade. Though less than 5% of its vast 944,735 km2 (364,764 sq. mi) land is arable, the province is agriculturally rich, (particularly in the Fraser and Okanagan valleys), because of milder weather near the coast and in certain sheltered southern valleys. Its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the province’s largest city and metropolitan area, also serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies. It also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average. While the coast of British Columbia and certain valleys in the south-central part of the province have mild weather, the majority of its land mass experiences a cold-winter-temperate climate similar to that of the rest of Canada. The Northern Interior region has a subarctic climate with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, with night-time January temperatures averaging above the freezing point.

British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program

British Columbia PNP – Express Entry

  • EEBC – Skilled Worker
  • EEBC – Health Care Professional
  • EEBC – International Graduate
  • EEBC – International Post-Graduate

British Columbia PNP – Skills Immigration

  • Skilled Worker
  • Health Care Professional
  • International Graduate
  • International Post-Graduate
  • Entry Level and Semi-Skilled

British Columbia PNP – Entrepreneur Immigration

  • Entrepreneur Program
  • Strategic Projects