Canada-British Columbia Immigration Agreement

Annex D – Schedule A

Provincial Nominee Information Sharing

2021

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1.0  Preamble

1.1  This schedule, along with its Appendices forms an integral part of Annex D pursuant to section 4.0 of that Annex.

2.0  Purpose

2.1  The Permitted Parties will collect, use and disclose Personal Information as agreed in Annex A to the Agreement, “Provincial Nominees”, for the purposes of planning and developing immigration-related policy; delivering, monitoring, and evaluating the PNP and its processes; and ensuring program integrity, investigating program abuses and detecting and deterring fraud and misrepresentation.

2.2  The Permitted Parties shall use the Provincial Nominee Personal Information only for the purposes identified in sub-section 2.1 of this schedule.

3.0  Definition

3.1  For the purposes of this schedule the following definitions apply:

1. “Provincial Nominee” means a person who is a member of the Provincial Nominee Class;
2. “Prospective Nominee” includes any person who has submitted an expression of interest to apply for permanent residence to the British Columbia application intake system, or who has submitted an expression of interest or application to the province’s business streams and received a letter of support from the province supporting their entry as a Temporary Resident under a two-step entrepreneur program;
3. “Permitted Parties” are identified and authorized to collect, retain, use, disclose, and dispose of the information as set out under this schedule;
4. “Provincial Nominee Information” means information about nominees, prospective nominees, along with information about their spouses, common law partners, dependent(s) and/or third party representatives identified in the Appendices to this schedule and collected, used and disclosed by or to the Permitted Parties as described in this schedule relating to the purposes referred to in section 2.0 of this schedule; and
5. “Third Parties” means any person, corporation, entity, or organization other than the Parties.

4.0  Authorities

4.1  For Canada:

1. Canada is authorized to collect the Provincial Nominee Information from British Columbia as it relates directly to the purposes of administering the IRPA and IRPR, as limited by sections 4 and 5 of the Privacy Act.
2. the disclosure of the Provincial Nominee Personal Information to British Columbia as described in this schedule is authorized by sections 8(2)(a) and 8(2)(f) of the Privacy Act.

4.2  For British Columbia:

1. the collection of the Provincial Nominee Personal Information from Canada as described in this schedule is authorized by sections 26(c) and (e) of FOIPPA;
2. the use of the Provincial Nominee Personal Information as described in this schedule is authorized by sections 32(a), (b) and (c) of FOIPPA;
3. the disclosure of the Provincial Nominee Personal Information to Canada as described in this schedule is authorized by sections 33.1(1)(b), 33.2(a), and 33.2(i) of FOIPPA.

4.3  In order to facilitate the exchange of information between Canada and British Columbia, British Columbia will seek to obtain a signed consent for each nominee and their spouse, common-law partner and/or dependent child(ren), allowing British Columbia and Canada to share information regarding the nominee’s application, including the processing thereof, and for the purposes of program monitoring, quality assurance, program integrity and evaluation.

5.0  Parties

5.1  The Parties under this schedule are:

1. British Columbia Ministry of Municipal Affairs and/or any successor ministry with responsibility for the activities described in Annex A of the Agreement; and
2. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canadaand/or any successor department with responsibility for the activities described in Annex A of the Agreement.

6.0  Information to be Provided

6.1  Canada and British Columbia will share accurate, up-to-date and complete relevant case-specific Provincial Nominee Information required for the administration of the Provincial Nominee Program, as described in Appendix A.

6.2    On a monthly basis, Canada will provide the Provincial Nominee Information on the processing and permanent resident admissions of Provincial Nominees nominated by British Columbia, as described in Appendix B.

6.3  On a monthly basis, British Columbia will provide Provincial Nominee Information to Canada, as described in Appendix C.

6.4  On a monthly basis, Canada will provide Provincial Nominee Information on the processing and admission of temporary resident applications supported by British Columbia, as described in Appendix F.

6.5    British Columbia will provide relevant case-specific information as described in Appendix D, if available and with appropriate authorities for disclosure in place, to allow Canada to make informed decisions about the disposition of cases where there is suspected or confirmed fraud or misrepresentation or where it is necessary for program integrity review of the Provincial Nominee Program. This information may include:

1. Provincial Nominee Information and information received from Third Parties;
2. Information regarding spouses, common-law partners, dependent(s) and/or third party representatives of Provincial Nominee applicants; and
3. Information relating to the administration of the Provincial Nominee program.

6.6  Where a case or cases of suspected or confirmed fraud and/or misrepresentation has been identified by either Party, Canada will provide case-specific information, including Provincial Nominee Information to assist British Columbia in assessing provincial nominee applications and rendering nomination dispositions, or where necessary, to assist British Columbia in conducting program integrity reviews, investigating program abuses and the detection and deterrence of fraud and misrepresentation. The information to be provided, where available, is described in Appendix E, as follows:

1. information identified as Tier 1 information in Appendix E will initially be provided; and
2. information identified as Tier 2 information in Appendix E will be provided in response to a specific request from British Columbia.

6.7    Canada and British Columbia recognize that any information shared under this schedule concerning suspected or confirmed fraud or misrepresentation is subject to internal briefings and, thus, may not be shared until such briefings have occurred.

6.8    Canada and British Columbia agree to share information on prospective and actual permanent residents to aid in British Columbia’s evaluation and management of the Provincial Nominee Program.

6.9  British Columbia will keep written or electronic records of its assessments of Provincial Nominees for a minimum of six years from the date of nomination. British Columbia will share those records with Canada on request.

6.10     British Columbia will keep written or electronic records of its assessments of due diligence related to letters of support for work permits for a minimum of six years from the date of nomination. British Columbia will share those records with Canada on request.

6.11     The Parties agree that aggregate data is equally important to planning and developing immigration-related policy; and, in delivering monitoring and evaluating Provincial Nominee Programs. As such, Participants agree to work together outside this schedule to establish a list, process and timelines for sharing aggregate information of interest to both parties, such as:

1. processing time information for British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program applications for permanent residency.

6.12     The Parties will make every reasonable effort to verify that personal information to be disclosed is accurate, up-to-date and complete.

7.0  Requests for Information

7.1  The Permitted Parties may, in accordance with the provisions of this schedule and Annex D:

1. Request and provide any information identified in the Appendices to this schedule on a case-by-case basis; and
2. Request and provide additional information not provided for in the Appendices to this schedule but consistent with the purposes specified in section 2.1 of this schedule on a case-by-case basis

7.2  Requests for additional information will be made in writing between Schedule Focal Points.

7.3  Recurring requests for information not provided for in the Appendices may require this schedule to be amended. Schedule amendments are subject to the amendment provisions in section 12.7 of the Agreement General Provisions.

8.0  Secondary Disclosure

8.1  The Permitted Parties will not disclose the Provincial Nominee Information referred to in this schedule to Third Parties except as described in the Annex or as authorized or required by law.

8.2    Canada reserves the right to share British Columbia’s PNP information (provided under Appendix A and C) with Statistics Canada to be integrated into the Statistics Canada linkage environment.

9.0  Schedule Focal Points

9.1  The Schedule Focal Points are:

• For Canada:
  Director General, Immigration Branch,
  Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• Chief Data Officer, Chief Data Officer Branch
  Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada
  For British Columbia:
  Executive Director, Immigration Programs Branch,
  Ministry of Municipal Affairs

9.2  Either Party may designate a new Schedule Focal Point notifying the other Participant’s Schedule Focal Point in writing.

10.0  Dispute Prevention and Resolution

10.1  The Parties agree to make every reasonable effort to prevent Disputes arising under this schedule. In the case of a Dispute or disagreement under this schedule, the Schedule Focal Points shall undertake verbal and/or written dialogue in an attempt to resolve the questions, Disputes or issues. Where the Schedule Focal Points are unable to come to a resolution, Canada and British Columbia agree to follow the Dispute Management and Resolution Procedures provided for in section 12.3 of the General Provisions of this Agreement.

11.0  General

11.1  This schedule comes into force when the Agreement is signed by the last of the Parties to do so and remains in effect for 5 years or until it is terminated or replaced by another agreement between the Parties.

11.2  In the event of termination of this Agreement, Annex D or this schedule by one of the Parties, each of the Parties acknowledges it is not absolved of its responsibilities in connection with the management of the Provincial Nominee Information.

Appendix A: Case-specific information shared between Canada and British Columbia

• Canada and British Columbia may share any case-specific information on temporary residence applicants, prospective nominees, and nominees required to deliver the Provincial Nominee Program, including, but not limited to:
  • Canada and British Columbia will share any Provincial Nominee Information required for Canada to assess the eligibility of a nominee and render a decision pursuant to section 87 of IRPR and for temporary residence applicants supported by the province, including post-Confirmation of Permanent Residence/visa and permit issuance.
    • Subject to privacy limitations, Canada will share with British Columbia its decision for all applications for work visas.
    • This information will be shared on an ad hoc basis until a permanent and regular sharing channel is established as described in Appendix F of this Schedule.
  • If Canada is considering refusal for permanent residence based on an applicant's inability to meet the requirements of the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program or the requirements of membership in the Provincial Nominee class, Canada will consult with British Columbia on the reasons for refusal prior to its decision.
  • Subject to privacy limitations, Canada will share with British Columbia its reasons for refusal for all refused applications for permanent residence. Canada may also, upon request from British Columbia, share reasons for its refusal of a Provincial Nominee at landing.

Appendix B: Nomination Information provided by Canada to British Columbia

The following information is provided by Canada to British Columbia on a monthly basis for British Columbia nominated applicants, as required for the delivery of the Provincial Nominee Program and described in paragraph 6.2 of this Schedule.

Appendix C: Nomination Information provided by British Columbia to Canada

The following information is provided by British Columbia to Canada on a monthly basis within the first 10 business days of the month following its collection, as described in paragraph 6.3 of this Schedule.

Appendix D: Information provided by British Columbia to Canada
Anti-fraud or program integrity

The following information will be provided by British Columbia on an ad hoc basis, where available and where relevant to the suspected or confirmed fraud and/or misrepresentation or to the program integrity review, as described below, and as described in paragraph 6.5 of this Schedule.

Appendix E: Information provided by Canada to British Columbia

Anti-fraud or Program Integrity

The following information to be provided by Canada where available, described below, and as described in paragraph 6.6 of this Schedule.

Appendix F: Information provided by Canada to British Columbia

Issuance of Work Permits

The following information will be provided by Canada to British Columbia on a monthly basis for temporary resident applicants provided a Work Permit Support Letter by the province of British Columbia as described in paragraph 6.4. This would include nominees with employment offers and entrepreneurs intending to operate businesses.