On December 3, 2021, British Columbia (BC) announced that the province’s participation in the second phase of the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) as a partner with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Since many refugees are skilled and experienced, the Pilot will allow them to immigrate under the BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). The EMPP helps employers find skilled refugees for positions that can’t be filled domestically and address the province’s labour shortages. In this phase, BC is planning to nominate up to 50 EMPP refugees under the BC PNP Tech category.