British Columbia to nominate 1,000 additional healthcare, construction, and cream-of-the-crop provincial immigration candidates

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) has received 1,000 additional nomination spaces for 2026, which will be used to support foreign nationals in care-related occupations, construction trades, and high-earning/scoring roles seeking Canadian permanent residence.

The BCPNP’s total allocation for 2026 now sits at 6,254 nominations, higher than its final 2025 allocation following two increases from the federal government.

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British Columbia follows Alberta and the Northwest Territories as the third jurisdiction to receive additional nominations in 2026.

The province announced this increase on its BCPNP News webpage on August 18, 2026.

How will nominations be distributed moving forward?

Care – healthcare, education, childcare, and veterinary care

Under the aegis of the “care” initiative, the BCPNP is prioritizing for provincial immigration skilled workers in 36 in-demand occupations across the fields of healthcare, education, childcare, and veterinary care:

*Under NOC 24404, candidates must hold either a one- or five-year Early Childhood Educator (ECE) certificate issued by the ECE registry.

**Education-sector workers must be employed in British Columbia’s K-12 system and have a CLB 5 or higher in French.

***Under NOC 33102, targeted invitations are only issued to candidates who are registered with the BC Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry.

Candidates must have a current full-time job or job offer in one of the above eligible occupations to receive a targeted invitation under the care initiative.

Work experience requirements vary by sector and provincial immigration stream.

So far in 2026, the province has invited no fewer than 946 candidates working in occupations designated under the care objective.

Build – construction trades

As part of the “build” initiative, provincial nomination for permanent residence will be prioritized for workers in the following eligible construction trades:

• Carpenters (72310).
• Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics (72400).
• Electricians (except industrial and power system) (72200).
• Heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics (72402).
• Heavy-duty equipment mechanics (72401).
• Industrial electricians (72201).
• Plumbers (72300).
• Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers (72301).
• Welders and related machine operators (72106).

The BCPNP conducts targeted invitation rounds under the build initiative, wherein it issues invitations to apply for provincial nomination to individuals with a current job or job offer in one of the above occupations.

Candidates must have at least two years of full-time equivalent work experience to be considered.

Thus far in 2026, the province has invited a total of 572 trades professionals to apply for provincial nomination under the build initiative.

Innovate – higher earning and/or high-scoring workers

The BCPNP will prioritize high-earning and/or high-scoring candidates under the “innovate” objective.

The innovate objective includes both skilled workers and entrepreneurs across all sectors and occupations.

In support of this objective, the BCPNP periodically holds High Economic Impact invitation rounds, targeting candidates based on one of two selection criteria:

• Wage/salary and TEER 0–3 job offer; or
• Registration score.

For example, the most recent innovate selection round held by the province was on July 16 and required a wage of $58/hour (≈$115,000/year) or a registration score of at least 132.

British Columbia has issued 2,658 High Economic Impact invitations to apply for provincial nomination under its innovate objective in 2026.

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Obtaining permanent residence through the BCPNP

To obtain permanent residence through the BCPNP, a foreign national must

• Meet the minimum eligibility criteria for one of the program’s streams;
• Create and submit an expression of interest through the BCPNP Online User Portal;
• Receive an invitation to apply for provincial nomination in a candidate selection round;
• Submit a complete application for nomination (30 days for skilled workers or 120 days for entrepreneurs);
• Receive a provincial nomination; and
• Apply to the federal government for permanent residence.

As of August 6, British Columbia has issued no fewer than 4,324 invitations to apply for provincial nomination in 2026.

The province has said that it will use its full allocation by the end of the year. Of the 6,254 nominations it now has, at least 35% are expected to go to candidates working in communities outside Metro Vancouver.

The province does not publish data on the number of nominations issued to date.

British Columbia began selecting candidates to apply for provincial nomination based on their alignment with its care, build, and innovate objectives in May of this year.

In mid-August 2026, British Columbia extended the registration deadline for the Temporary Rural/Remote Health Support Initiative (TRHSI), a new time-limited PR pathway it introduced in April of this year alongside its renewed priorities for the year.

The pathway targets cleaners and security staff with a full-time job offer from a B.C. health authority in a rural or remote area, in one of the following three occupations:

• Janitors, caretakers, and heavy-duty cleaners (NOC 65312).
• Light-duty cleaners (NOC 65310).
• Security guards and related security service occupations (NOC 64410).

The BCPNP listed the TRHSI under its care initiative of the BCPNP News webpage, published on April 23, 2026, stating it intends to nominate up to 250 eligible workers through this pathway.

These occupations do not appear on British Columbia’s official program webpage for care-based occupations being prioritized for selection.

On its Invitations to apply webpage, which details candidate selection rounds and the initiative each falls under, the TRHSI has not been labelled as falling under the care initiative.

To date, the BCPNP has issued 60 invitations to apply for provincial nomination under the TRHSI.

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