The BC Provincial Nominee Program Tech Pilot had been extended to June, but MLA Brenda Bailey announced the news during a panel appearance Friday. (BetaKit)

Talking point: The program allows people hired for one of 29 job titles in the tech industry, such as chemical engineers and web designers, to come live and work in the province, and apply to become permanent residents. The Council for Canadian Innovators has called for making the program permanent, and expressed concern after it wasn’t addressed in the recent provincial budget. CCI and the CEOs of several local companies, including biotech firm AbCellera, sent a letter last week to the minister of municipal affairs saying the sector and province’s prosperity would “suffer” if the program expired. Tessa Seager, the CCI’s director of government affairs, called the decision “very good news…. This program is an efficient and effective way to address the province’s skilled-talent shortage and support homegrown companies as they scale up globally.”