British Columbia Holds Seventh Entrepreneur Draw of 2026, Issuing 14 Base Stream Invitations as Regional Threshold Falls to Yearly Low
In its June 30 round, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) issued invitations across both of its Entrepreneur Immigration sub-streams, with the number of invitations and the score threshold varying by category and a clear priority given to Base Stream candidates. The Base Stream issued 14 invitations at a minimum score of 118, while the Regional Stream set a minimum of 113 and issued fewer than five invitations.
On timing, the draw was the province's second EI selection of the month, breaking from the roughly once-a-month rhythm British Columbia had maintained through 2026. On scores, and with the exception of the February 10 round, June 30 rewrote two records for the year at once: the Base Stream cut-off was the highest of 2026, while the Regional Stream cut-off was the lowest. Viewed over a longer horizon, the province's entrepreneur thresholds have moved within a narrow band this year: the Base Stream sat at 115 in January, rose to 117 in March, eased back to 115 in May, then climbed to 117 at an early-June round before reaching 118 at month's end; the Regional Stream, meanwhile, has drifted down from a March high of 129 to 113 in this round—underscoring the recent divergence between the two pathways, one rising and the other falling.
For the year as a whole, British Columbia has held 12 EI draws in 2026—seven through the Base Stream and five through the Regional Stream—issuing at least 78 provincial-nomination ITAs in total. By way of comparison, the province issued roughly 132 invitations through entrepreneur draws over the whole of 2025, meaning this year's pace and scale broadly continue British Columbia's steady but selective approach to the entrepreneur categories.
Notably, the province's recent tightening of the draw calendar coincides with a broader federal expansion of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). Canada's 2026 PNP allocation for the provinces rebounded sharply to 91,500 spaces from roughly 55,000 in 2025—an increase of about 66 per cent—with British Columbia's own share rising to 5,254 from 4,000. Analysts broadly read the restored federal allocation as giving provinces room to re-engage with provincial nomination, including keeping entrepreneur draws on a regular footing.
How the two entrepreneur pathways differ
British Columbia's Entrepreneur Immigration offers two sub-streams, each tied to a different way of establishing a business and a different set of thresholds. The Base Stream allows applicants to launch a new business, or to take over and grow an existing one, anywhere in the province; the Regional Stream requires applicants to launch a new business outside the Metro Vancouver Regional District. Their key differences are as follows:
- Business experience: the Base Stream requires three years as a business owner-manager within the past 10 years; the Regional Stream requires three years within the past five.
- Education: both streams require a post-secondary credential; in its absence, an applicant must have spent at least three of the past five years as an active owner-manager with full ownership of the business.
- Language: both require Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4.
- Personal net worth: a minimum of CAD 600,000 for the Base Stream and CAD 300,000 for the Regional Stream.
- Minimum investment: CAD 200,000 for the Base Stream and CAD 100,000 for the Regional Stream.
- Minimum ownership: 31.33 per cent for the Base Stream and 51 per cent for the Regional Stream.
- Community referral and exploratory visit: neither is required for the Base Stream; the Regional Stream requires both a referral from a participating community and an exploratory visit.
- Minimum registration score: 115/200 for the Base Stream and 105/200 for the Regional Stream.
- Co-applicant: the Base Stream permits registration with a BCPNP co-applicant, while the Regional Stream does not.
The pathway to permanent residence
The route to permanent residence (PR) is broadly the same for both streams, with two extra steps applying only to the Regional Stream. The full sequence is: first find a participating community that suits the business (Regional Stream); conduct an exploratory visit to that community and request a referral (Regional Stream); develop a business proposal; register and receive a score based on human capital and economic factors; wait for an ITA in an upcoming draw; submit the nomination application within four months of receiving the ITA; if successful, apply to the federal government for a work permit; establish and operate the business in British Columbia; and receive a nomination for PR once program conditions are met. Once nominated, candidates may apply directly to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence.
Friendly reminder: There are many pathways to immigrate to Canada. We recommend first using UNA AI to generate an objective and neutral immigration plan, so you can gain an initial understanding of the possible immigration pathways and their requirements, and then choose to proceed with one-on-one consultations with a licensed Canadian immigration consultant partnered with UNA.
Canada holds permanent residence at 380,000 while opening 200,000 in-Canada spaces for 2027
On November 5, 2026, the federal government released Budget 2026 and the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan together, announcing up to 200,000 additional spaces in 2027 to move temporary residents already in Canada to permanent residence, on top of the regular admission targets. Half of that room—100,000 places—is earmarked for skilled workers through Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) in partnership with the provinces and territories; the other 100,000 is meant to clear the remaining applications in the Hong Kong permanent residence pathways and the Ukraine family reunification pathway, applications from people already approved in principle on humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds, and pending applications from spouses, common-law partners and children of Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Regular permanent residence targets are frozen at 380,000 a year (range 352,500–422,000) for 2027, 2028 and 2029, with the economic class holding steady at 64.4%; adding the 200,000 in-Canada spaces to the 422,000 top of the range produces the widely cited 622,000 figure. Temporary resident arrivals are fixed at 370,000 a year—220,000 workers and 150,000 students—for all three years. Ottawa also confirmed it will finish the 148,000 admissions promised under the two 2026–2027 one-time initiatives, but neither document says whether the roughly 100,000 admissions still outstanding are counted inside the 200,000 or stacked on top of the 622,000.
11/07/2026
Eight Canadian Immigration Rules Change in Under a Month, From Express Entry Scoring to Land Border Hours
Eight adjustments to Canadian immigration are packed into less than 30 days of November 2026. The federal budget, due on November 5, is to carry the 2027-2029 Immigration Levels Plan, which will set a permanent resident target for 2029 for the first time; the plan is already past the November 1 deadline set by the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. On November 3 the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) gained a Labour Market Integration Factor, sending all 228,000 profiles in the pool into recalculation, with draws paused for up to two weeks, and job offers stopped needing a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) the same day. Administrative penalties for immigration representatives, in force since late October, set fines of $5,000 per violation for paid work by unlicensed agents and $15,000 for wilful misrepresentation, capped at $1.5 million. At the border, 26 Canada-US land crossings have new hours from November 1 and Remote Area Border Crossing (RABC) permits lapse late on November 30, to be replaced from December 1 by in-person or telephone reporting. In addition, work permit applications awaiting an LMIA decision are no longer bound by a 90-day limit, and temporary measures covering the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan expire on November 27.
11/05/2026
High-wage points go live: 186 occupations now earn bonus CRS points, LMIA requirement dropped, Express Entry draws paused for rescoring
The changes Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced on Oct. 16 took effect on Nov. 3, 2026: Express Entry candidates can now earn bonus Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for a job offer or Canadian work experience in any of 186 high-wage occupations, and a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is no longer required for a qualifying job offer. The new section is called the Labour Market Integration Factor (LMIF). Candidates are scored on one of two routes — up to 100 points for a qualifying high-wage job offer, or up to 150 points for Canadian work experience (140 with a spouse or common-law partner), combining existing work-length points with up to 70 points for high-wage experience — and receive whichever total is higher; the two are never added together. Occupations are grouped at 1.3, 1.5 and 2 times the Canada-wide median wage, with 66, 89 and 31 occupations in each tier respectively. Because every profile in the pool must be rescored, IRCC paused all invitation rounds on Nov. 3; the recalculation "may take up to two weeks," putting the restart around Nov. 17. Before the pause the pool held 228,724 candidates, IRCC had issued 149,409 invitations in 2026, and the most recent Canadian Experience Class cutoff stood at 519.
11/04/2026
New Brunswick selects 203 candidates in three October draws, lifting 2026 AIP total to 898
In October 2026, New Brunswick held three Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) selection rounds, on Oct. 2, Oct. 9 and Oct. 29, advancing 203 workers to the processing stage of endorsement applications across eight occupational categories: construction, health care, manufacturing, education and social services, other technical trades, professional and information technology, sales and services, and transportation. It was the largest single round of the province's nine rounds this year and lifted the 2026 cumulative total to 898. Under the program design, candidates approved by the province receive an endorsement certificate and can then apply to the federal government for permanent residence (PR); endorsement also opens a second route, a two-year employer-specific work permit issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and those who apply before their existing permit expires may keep working under maintained status. The expansion has unfolded alongside a policy overhaul stretching back half a year: since February, New Brunswick has moved AIP to a candidate pool model, paused new employer designation applications and cut its restricted occupation list from eight to four, while Ottawa raised 2026 provincial allocations by about a third (31%). AIP permanent residence processing still runs 26 months, and AIP applicants cannot apply for a bridging open work permit.
11/03/2026
Newfoundland and Labrador issues 205 invitations across two draws, with NLPNP accounting for about 95%
Newfoundland and Labrador held two provincial selection rounds on October 23 and October 29, 2026, issuing 205 invitations in total, of which 195 went to candidates through the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP) and 10 through the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), leaving NLPNP with about 95% of the invitations. Invited candidates must file a complete nomination or endorsement application with the province within 30 days, down from 60 days previously, and only after a nomination or endorsement certificate is issued can they apply to the federal government for permanent residence (PR). On work permit continuity, a federal temporary measure in force from June 9, 2026 until December 31, 2026 allows eligible in-Canada base-stream PNP applicants to apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) without first obtaining an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR); AIP endorsees fall outside that measure but may apply for an employer-specific work permit valid for up to two years. As of October 29 the province had held 20 draws this year and issued 3,157 invitations, 2,750 through NLPNP and 407 through AIP, already above its full-year allocation of 2,854 nominations, while AIP's share of invitations fell from 26.7% for all of 2025 to 12.9%.
10/31/2026
Express Entry draw #453: 150 invitations for transport occupations as the cut-off climbs to CRS 477
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held Express Entry draw #453 on October 28, 2026, issuing 150 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent residence to candidates in the Transport Occupations, 2026-Version 2 category at a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 477. It was the transport category's second round of 2026 and its second since the category returned in February with a rebuilt occupation list: against the 300 invitations issued on August 7, the round was half the size and the cut-off rose 7 points from 470. The draw takes IRCC to 65 rounds and 149,409 invitations for the year, of which transport accounts for 450, or 0.3%, and it is the last round to be issued before a revised CRS takes effect on November 3, when draws pause for up to two weeks while every profile in the pool is rescored.
10/29/2026
Canada issues 5,792 Express Entry invitations in two days: 792 PNP candidates at CRS 761, 5,000 French speakers at CRS 407
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) held Express Entry draws #451 and #452 on October 26 and 27, 2026, issuing a combined 5,792 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) for permanent resident (PR) status. The October 26 Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw issued 792 invitations at a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 761, 11 points below the previous round 13 days earlier and the second-largest round of 2026, while the October 27 French-language proficiency draw issued 5,000 invitations at CRS 407, 28 points below the round held 11 days earlier and equal to 86.3% of the two-day total. IRCC has now held 64 draws and issued 149,259 invitations in 2026, with the French-language category accounting for 40.5% of the year's volume on 12 rounds and 60,500 invitations, ahead of the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) at 38.7% and the PNP at 7.2%. Both rounds were the last to be issued before IRCC switches to a revised CRS on November 3 and pauses draws for up to two weeks to recalculate scores.
10/28/2026
Manitoba issues 1,304 nomination invitations in one draw, with provincial graduates taking nearly 60%
Manitoba's Provincial Nominee Program issued 1,304 Letters of Advice to Apply in Expression of Interest draw #282 on October 22, 2026, the province's 21st round of the year and roughly 3.8 times the size of the 340 invitations sent two weeks earlier, with only July 16's 2,146 larger. Of the total, 734 went to candidates and spouses who completed post-secondary education in Manitoba, 513 to high-scoring candidates living in the province and 57 to workers invited through strategic recruitment; the two score-based cut-offs were 816 and 846, and 353 invitees declared valid Express Entry profiles. Invitees have 60 days to file a complete application. Manitoba has now held 21 rounds and issued 8,527 invitations in 2026 against an allocation of 6,239 nominations, unchanged from 2025 even as the national provincial nominee target rose to 91,500. The province continues to concentrate invitations on people already studying and working there, while the Manitoba Workforce Transition Bridge offers a work permit route for pool candidates who have not yet been invited.
10/27/2026
Newfoundland and Labrador Issues 257 Invitations in Two Immigration Draws
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, held two immigration draws on October 9 and 16, 2026, issuing a combined 257 invitations to apply: 255 through its Provincial Nominee Program and two through the Atlantic Immigration Program. Based on the published figures for individual rounds, the province had conducted 18 draws and issued 2,952 invitations this year as of October 16. Invited candidates must still complete the provincial application and approval process and obtain a nomination or endorsement before applying to the federal government for permanent residence.
10/23/2026
PEI Issues 254 Invitations in Two October Draws, Lifting 2026 Total to 1,483
Prince Edward Island (PEI) departed noticeably from its published 2026 draw schedule in October: the province added an unscheduled round on October 7 that issued 90 invitations, then held a second round on October 16, a day after the published October 15 date, issuing 164. The two rounds totaled 254 invitations, all issued through the Labour Impact (base) and PEI Express Entry (enhanced) streams, with priority given to people already employed in priority sectors such as health care, skilled trades and manufacturing, and to graduates of the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), Holland College and Collège de l'Île. Invitees have 30 calendar days to submit a provincial nomination application, after which they can apply to the federal government for permanent residence (PR); eligible nominees already in Canada may also apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP). With these two rounds, PEI has held 11 draws in 2026 and issued 1,483 invitations, making October the busiest single month so far this year. Two rounds remain on the schedule the province published earlier this year, on November 19 and December 17, though officials stress the dates are for reference only. With PEI yet to publish its 2026 nomination allocation and Ottawa having raised the national PNP admissions target to 91,500, the province's "stick to the calendar, occasionally add a round" approach offers a window into how quickly its allocation is being used.
10/22/2026
