BC PNP Entrepreneur Immigration: Base Stream
British Columbia's main entrepreneur route to permanent residence, open to businesses anywhere in the province including Metro Vancouver.
If you have run your own business and want to build the next one in British Columbia, including in Metro Vancouver, the Base stream is the province’s main entrepreneur pathway to permanent residence. It is also a long one. Registration to nomination commonly takes two years or more, and there are several points along the way where a file can stall.
What follows is the practical shape of the stream: what you need before you register, how selection works, and where applications tend to run into difficulty.
Who the Base stream is for
The stream suits an experienced owner-manager with substantial verifiable capital who is prepared to move to British Columbia and run the business day to day. It is not a passive investment route. Absentee ownership does not qualify, and you are expected to be physically present in the province for most of the work permit period.
Two features distinguish it from the Regional stream. The business can be located anywhere in the province, and you may either establish something new or take over and grow an existing operation. The Regional stream permits neither Metro Vancouver nor a purchase.
Core requirements
| Requirement | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Personal net worth | CAD $600,000 minimum, legally obtained and fully disclosed. Verified by a BC PNP-authorized accounting firm after an invitation to apply. |
| Personal investment | CAD $200,000 minimum of eligible investment in the business. Property purchases generally do not count. |
| Business experience | Three years as a business owner-manager within the last ten. An eligible post-secondary credential may be accepted instead. |
| Job creation | At least one new full-time position for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. |
| Language | CLB 4 in English or French, from an approved test. |
| Community referral | Not required. This is a Base stream distinction. |
How the process works
- Build the business proposal. Concept, location, viability, and how the business serves the province’s economic priorities. An exploratory visit is not required here, but it materially strengthens the market research behind the proposal.
- Register online. A $300 registration through the BC PNP portal. Your registration is scored, and the business concept is assessed separately by program staff, typically within about six weeks. Eligible registrations sit in a pool for up to six months.
- Invitation to apply. The province holds periodic draws and invites the highest-scoring registrants. Recent Base stream draws have been modest in size, so the score matters.
- Application. Four months from the invitation to submit, with the net worth verification report from an authorized firm, a full business plan, and the $3,500 fee.
- Performance Agreement and work permit. On approval you sign an agreement tailored to your plan, apply to IRCC within 90 days, and arrive within 12 months of the permit being issued.
- Operate, then nominate. Up to 20 months to implement the plan, with a final report due between 18 and 20 months after arrival. Nomination follows if the province is satisfied the agreement has been met.
Where files run into trouble
- Unexplained wealth. You must disclose your entire net worth, not merely enough to clear $600,000, and the source of every significant asset has to be traceable. This is one of the most common reasons a file fails.
- Registering too early. A thin concept, or one targeting an ineligible business type, burns a registration and six months.
- Budgeting to the minimum. The $200,000 floor is a program threshold, not a business plan. Start-up losses and family settlement funds sit on top of it.
- Financial drift. The net worth documented at registration has to hold through the application stage.
Not sure if this is the right program?
Every program rewards a different profile. Net worth, experience, sector, and where you want to live all shape the right strategy. Book a consultation and we will assess your options across all of them.