British Columbia invites 33 workers to apply for provincial nomination under time-limited PR pathway

On September 17, British Columbia held its second-ever draw for candidates eligible under its Temporary Rural/Remote Health Support Initiative (TRHSI) introduced earlier this year.

A total of 33 cleaners and security staff, employed by a B.C. health authority in a remote area, received invitations to apply for provincial nomination.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation

Foreign nationals who are nominated by British Columbia become provincial nominees and can apply to the federal government for permanent residence (PR). After submitting their PR application, in-Canada applicants can apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP).

As of June 9, 2026, nominees applying for PR through the base PNP can apply for a BOWP month faster, under a federal temporary measure waiving the requirement to have already received an Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR) for their PR application.

Candidates in the September 17 TRHSI draw required a minimum score of 60, up 10 points from British Columbia’s first selection under the time-limited PR pathway:

Date of TRHSI draw	Cutoff score	Invitations issued
September 17	60	33
July 23	50	60

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) has not disclosed which occupations were represented among the invited candidates in either of its TRHSI rounds.

To date, the BCPNP has issued a total of 93 invitations under the TRHSI.

The province announced in April 2026 that it intends to nominate up to 250 workers under the initiative, which will remain open to new registrations until 11:59 p.m. on October 7, 2026.

The registration deadline was initially set for midnight on August 31 but was extended on account of "wildfire-related impacts” in mid-August.

British Columbia has not published the number of workers it has nominated under the TRHSI since the PR pathway’s official launch on June 15, 2026.

The province’s 2026 nomination allocation currently stands at 6,254, after it recently received 1,000 additional spaces from the federal government.

About the Temporary Rural/Remote Health Support Initiative

The TRHSI is open to foreign nationals with a “regular, indeterminate, full-time" job in a qualifying rural or remote region, from a B.C. public health authority, in one of the following three occupations:

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

Workers must have at least nine months of continuous full-time employment in an eligible occupation, with the same employer and in the same region, before submitting a registration under the TRHSI.

Health authority cleaners and security staff possessing job offers in certain regional districts will not be eligible for consideration under this initiative, including in:

The Central Okanagan Regional District;
The Metro Vancouver Regional District; and
The Capital Regional District.
- Exceptions include: Galiano Island, Mayne Island, Pender Island, Salt Spring Island, and Saturna Island.

The job offer must remain valid through both the registration and application stages, and the worker must continue in the position on a full-time basis for the entirety of the application process.

The BCPNP’s complete TRHSI job offer requirements can be found in sections 3.5 and 6.6 of the BCPNP’s Skills Immigration (SI) guide.

Certain periods of employment do not count toward the initiative’s nine-month work requirement, including work completed while on a study permit or as part of a study program (e.g. co-op placement), as well as any leave lasting more than two weeks.

The BCPNP notes eight public health authorities that workers may be employed by for consideration under the TRHSI, each of which has its own process to determine which applications it will support:

First Nations Health Authority.
Fraser Health.
Interior Health.
Island Health.
Northern Health.
Providence Health Care.
Provincial Health Services Authority.
Vancouver Coastal Health.

BCPNP applications must be supported by an authorized representative of the relevant health authority.

Candidates are also required to hold a high school diploma, demonstrate that they met the minimum income requirement for the full nine-month period leading up to registration and application submission, and meet the broader eligibility requirements for all SI candidates.

Earlier this year, the BCPNP set out three overarching objectives for its 2026 efforts to attract skilled workers and respond to workforce needs as part of program restructuring, with the TRHSI included under the “care” pillar: