Hundreds protest updated B.C. permanent residency guidelines

Hundreds of people, many of them international master's students, gathered in downtown Vancouver on Saturday toprotesta recent update to a program that offers a pathway to permanent residency.

On Tuesday, the province announcedupdated guidelines for its provincial nominee program (PNP), which sees B.C. invite immigrants to fill certain high priority jobs and become Canadian permanent residents.

Master's students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are no longer automatically eligible for the PNP program, and instead needa year of full-time work experience before registering.

Students at Saturday's protest argued the update came with little notice and hascaused upheaval in their lives, even as the province says the move makes things clearer for prospective applicants.

"We're protesting the sudden implementation of the new B.C. PNP policy, which gives people no buffer zone for current and incoming students, which we think is very much unfair," said Zongwang Wang, a computer science student.

Wang said he gave up his jobas an investment manager in New York City to move to Vancouver, saying he saw PNPrequirements as a stepping stone to helping make Vancouver a technology hub.

"For myself, speaking from preparation to application all the way until graduation, it takes three-plus years," he said. "You can just not change [guidelines]overnight."

The province says the updated guidelines, which willgo into effect in January 2025,will lead to better outcomesby letting prospective applicants know upfront the level of education and language skills needed to have a chance of being nominated.

"This clarity will make it harder for bad actors to take advantage of people by misrepresenting the B.C.PNP as an 'easy pathway'to permanent residency," reads a fact sheet from the province.

For Kexin Hu, a Simon Fraser University philosophy student, the language used by the province evokes xenophobic and racist sentiments.

"Canada needs its skilled immigrants as much as skilled immigrants need Canada," she said. "They're still like painting this picture of immigrants [as] homogeneous, lazy ... I'm furious to see that."

An onlinepetition with more than 2,000 signaturescalls on the province to implement a grace period for master's students already in B.C., and to conduct "meaningful consultations" with students before changing immigration guidelines.

WATCH | Students upset over new PNP guidelines:

Students protest change to B.C. permanent residency guidelines

7 months ago

Duration 2:20

Hundreds of international students converged on downtown Vancouver on Saturday, protesting the provinces changes to permanent residency standards. B.C.'s update to the provincial nominee program won't come into effect until next year, but as Sohrab Sandhu reports, students say it will impact their chances of becoming a permanent resident.

Previous guidelines not accurate: premier

Premier David Ebysaid previous guidelines regarding STEM master's students did not reflectthe reality of who was getting invited to apply forthe PNP program.

"Peoplehave higher qualifications for English language, for example. They have a job offer in hand, for example, and those are the people getting the limited spaces that we have," Eby said.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs said there were more than 62,000 post-graduation work permit holders in B.C., but only 3,000 B.C. PNP spots for the international graduate stream meaning around 4.8 per cent of those immigrants could receive invitations.

"Under recent changes announced by Canada, graduates of master's programs can receive a three-year open work permit, giving them ample time to meet the qualifications for the new PNP Master's graduate stream," the spokesperson wrote.

The updated guidelines come afterthe federal government announced it will capthe number of student permits over the next two years.