VANCOUVER: In a move that could open the doors for skilled professionals in Canada ’s technology sector, the province of British Columbia is looking at India in a big way to rope in talent under its provincial nominee programme.The programme enables the provincial government to nominate over 6,000 people every year to the federal government for permanent residency in British Columbia, based on an online points system that assesses the applicant’s work experience, language skills and education, among other factors.“There is clearly a gap in demand and supply of technology professionals in BC, considering the large number of startups that exist here,” said Fazil Mihlar, deputy minister in the ministry of jobs , trade and technology in BC.Mihlar, who addressed media from the US, the UK, India and China ahead of the fourth BCTech Summit , 2018, said the province would need over 80,000 jobs in the next 10 years across sectors.“India with its huge talent pool of required skill sets can be a big source of professionals and skilled personnel for our companies in BC,” Mihlar added.The top countries for the citizenship for nominees programme in 2017 were India, China, South Korea, Australia and the UK. Those with jobs in the tech sector represented 16% of all nominees last year.While the minimum application processing time for immigrants under this programme could be two to four months, for the tech-pilot programme it could be two to three weeks, Mihlar said.“In the fourth digital revolution, jobs find people if you have talent and skilled work force,” said Anthony Salcito, vice president of Worldwide Education at Microsoft.The BCTech Summit is the largest technology conference in western Canada showcasing the province’s technology and innovation sectors.It is jointly organised by the BC Innovation Council and the government of BC.The writer is in Canada on the invitation of the British Columbia government