British Columbia axes graduate, tech, and entry-level PR pathways, focuses on healthcare and trades workers
The Government of British Columbia has announced major changes to the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP), including 2026 priorities, the cancelled launch of its student streams, and official immigration pathway closures.
As part of its Program restructuring, British Columbia will be shifting its focus to the prioritization of healthcare and trades workers, with the intention of 35% of all nominations going to candidates working outside Greater Vancouver.
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British Columbia announced these changes via a news release published on April 23, 2026.
The province has also confirmed that it is currently seeking an increase for its 2026 nomination allocation (5,254) from the federal government, as well as for subsequent years.
This is a breaking news story. CIC News will update this article as more details become available.
Launch of student streams cancelled
The long-awaited launch of the student streams intended to replace the International Graduate and International Post-Graduate streams (which closed in November 2025 and January 2025, respectively), has been cancelled.
The province previously stated that it would be replacing these streams with three new ones: a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate stream; however, international student graduates are now urged to pursue alternative BCPNP pathways.
The launch of these streams was announced in June of 2024, with the plan originally having been to do so in January of 2025. In April of last year, it said it would not launch the streams until “BC’s allocation levels are restored.”
Removal of several provincial immigration pathways
In its April 23 announcement, British Columbia said it will be officially closing its Entry Level and Semi-Skilled Stream (ELSS), which provided a pathway to permanent residence for BC-based workers in eligible occupations within the tourism/hospitality and food processing sectors.
The BCPNP has not issued any invitations under this stream since December 10, 2024.
With this change, entry-level workers will have to seek alternative pathways for immigrating to BC, particularly those in previously ELSS-eligible occupations, which included the following:
The province also stated that no more draws targeting specifically targeting workers in priority technology occupations will occur, with the last such draw having taken place on December 3, 2024.
British Columbia does note, however, that it will continue to invite workers in occupations that were on the BCPNP’s now nixed list of priority technology occupations.
Targeted invitations will be sent out to those who are deemed to create “high economic impact” in the province, with the intent of capturing “top talent across all sectors, including technology.”
The BCPNP’s list of priority technology occupations totalled 35, including the following:
This list no longer appears on the BCPNP’s webpage.
The prioritization of healthcare and trades professionals
British Columbia will be prioritizing healthcare (along with other care-based) and trades professionals for provincial nomination.
The list of priority healthcare and construction occupations that British Columbia is targeting has been amended.
Healthcare
The 31 healthcare occupations now being targeted include the following:
While the province will continue to nominate qualified healthcare workers through the BCPNP Health Authority stream, the province notes that it will also target select workers in “the broader health sector”—this includes skilled workers in education, childcare, and veterinary care.
Other care-based workers that will receive priority consideration include those in the following veterinary care and education occupations:
Veterinary care (2):
31103 Veterinarians
32104 Animal health technologists and veterinary technicians
Education (3):
41220 Secondary school teachers (French-speaking only)
41221 Elementary/Kindergarten teachers (French-speaking only)
42202 Early childhood educators and assistants
Of these, certified early childhood educators and veterinarians and veterinary technologists working toward a Canadian certificate will be further prioritized for nomination.
The province is also introducing a temporary time-limited initiative to retain over 200 workers in rural BC-based communities currently working in cleaning or security roles, which will open later this year.
Construction trades
Beyond healthcare, BC will also be prioritizing the nomination of workers in one of nine construction trades occupations (all falling under TEER 2).
You can find the amended list of construction trades occupations deemed to be in high demand below:
Lastly, the BCPNP aims to draw from the 5,000 PR spaces allotted to provinces and territories to increase francophone immigration—specifically by nominating French-speaking teachers working in the provinces across the K–12 school system.
The Government of British Columbia states that its renewed emphasis on attracting highly skilled talent and addressing key labour market needs is organized around three core objectives:
Care—focused on strengthening healthcare and care-related services;
Build—supporting infrastructure delivery and major projects; and
Innovate—encouraging innovation to fuel long-term economic growth.
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