BC's program priority occupations

BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Skills Immigration pathway allows skilled workers and recent graduates who possess the qualifications and experience sought by B.C. employers to permanently settle in British Columbia.

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Skills Immigration includes five distinct streams, each tailored to various skill levels, experiences, and educational backgrounds. Additionally, four of these streams offer an Express Entry BC option.

1. Skilled Worker
2. Health Authority
3. Entry Level and Semi-Skilled (ELSS)
4. International Graduate
5. International Post-Graduate

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1. Skilled Worker Stream

The Skilled Worker stream helps experienced professionals, managers, and tradespeople gain permanent residence in B.C.

Eligibility:

• Job Offer: You need a full-time, permanent job offer from a B.C. employer in NOC TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
• Experience: You must be qualified for the job and have at least two years of related work experience.
• Language: Meet minimum language requirements.
• Wage: The offered wage must align with B.C. standards.
• Support: Show you can support yourself and your dependents.
• Employer: Your employer must support your application and meet specific criteria (see the Employer page for details).

Note: For priority tech occupations or NOC 41200 (university professors and lecturers), the job offer does not need to be permanent.

An Express Entry BC (EEBC) option is available for this stream.

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2. Health Authority

This stream provides a pathway to permanent residence for individuals working for a health authority in B.C., including physicians, midwives, and nurse practitioners.

Eligibility:

• Job Offer or Letter: You need:
  • A full-time, permanent job offer from a B.C. public health authority, or
  • A confirmation letter from a health authority or midwife practice group if you are a physician, nurse practitioner, or midwife.
• Requirements: Meet the education, training, and qualification standards set by the health authority.
• Support: The health authority must support your application.

No registration required; you can apply directly to the BC PNP.

An Express Entry BC (EEBC) option is available for this stream.

Note: The job offer does not need to be permanent for priority technology occupations.

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B.C.’s public health authorities‍

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

Read more

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3. Entry Level and Semi-Skilled (ELSS)

This stream allows workers in specific tourism, hospitality, or food processing jobs to gain permanent residence in B.C.

Eligibility:

• Job Offer: You need a full-time, permanent job offer from a B.C. employer.
• Occupation: Your job must be on the eligible list and classified as NOC TEER 4 or 5.
  For the Northeast Development Region, you can apply with any NOC TEER 4 or 5 occupation (excluding live-in caregivers).

• Experience: Must have worked full-time with your employer for at least nine consecutive months.
• Qualifications: Be qualified for the job and meet any certification or registration requirements in B.C.
• Language & Education: Meet minimum language and education standards.
• Wage: The offered wage must align with B.C. standards.
• Support: Show you can support yourself and your dependents. Your employer must support your application and meet specific criteria (see the Employer page for details).

Note: This stream does not have the Express Entry BC option.

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Eligible ELSS occupations

‍Occupations in travel and accommodation

‍64314 Hotel front desk clerks

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Tour and recreational guides and casino occupations‍

64320 Tour and travel guides

64321 Casino workers

64322 Outdoor sport and recreational guides

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Occupations in food and beverage service‍

64300 Maîtres d’hotel and hosts/hostesses

64301 Bartenders

65200 Food and beverage servers

65201 Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations

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Cleaners (employed directly by hotels/resorts*)‍

65210 Support occupations in accommodation, travel and facilities set-up services

65310 Light duty cleaners

65311 Specialized cleaners

65312 Janitors, caretakers and heavy-duty cleaners

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Other service occupations (employed directly by hotels/resorts*)‍

65320 Dry cleaning, laundry and related occupations

65329 Other service support occupations

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Food processing‍

94140 Process control and machine operators, food and beverage processing

94141 Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers

94142 Fish and seafood plant workers

94143 Testers and graders, food and beverage processing

95106 Labourers in food and beverage processing

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4. International Graduate Stream

This stream allows recent graduates from eligible Canadian post-secondary institutions to gain permanent residence and stay in B.C.

Eligibility:

• Education: Completed a degree, diploma, or certificate from an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution within the past three years.
• Job Offer: Must have a full-time, permanent job offer from a B.C. employer in NOC TEER 1, 2, or 3. Management positions (NOC TEER 0) are not eligible.
• Qualifications: Be qualified to work in your occupation in B.C.
• Language & Wage: Meet minimum language requirements and have a wage offer aligned with B.C. standards.
• Support: Show you can support yourself and your dependents. Your employer must support your application and meet certain criteria (see the Employer page for details).

Note: This stream includes the Express Entry BC option. For priority technology occupations, the job offer does not need to be permanent.

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5. International Post-Graduate Stream

This stream is for recent graduates with eligible master’s or doctoral degrees from B.C. post-secondary institutions, including PhD candidates.

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Eligibility:

• Education:
  • Master’s degree in natural, applied, or health sciences from an eligible B.C. institution.
  • Doctoral degree from a public B.C. institution.
  • PhD students who have been admitted to candidacy at a public B.C. institution.
• Application: No job offer required. Apply directly to the BC PNP if you meet the eligibility criteria.
• Intent: Show you have the ability and intent to live, work, and establish yourself economically in B.C.

Note: This stream includes the Express Entry BC option.

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Program priorities

It is part of BC PNP’s strategic initiatives in which they invites candidates based on Priority occupations.

• Childcare
• Construction
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Veterinary care

Childcare

• 42202 Early childhood educators and assistants

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Construction

The job offer must be for a full-time, permanent position in a priority construction occupation.

You must also have a valid trade certificate or registered apprenticeship with Skilled Trades BC.

• 22114 Landscape and horticulture technicians and specialists
• 72102 Sheet metal workers
• 72103 Boilermakers
• 72104 Structural metal and plate work fabricators and fitters
• 72105 Ironworkers
• 72106 Welders and related machine operators
• 72200 Electricians (except industrial and power system)
• 72201 Industrial electricians
• 72300 Plumbers
• 72301 Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers
• 72302 Gas fitters
• 72310 Carpenters
• 72311 Cabinetmakers
• 72320 Bricklayers
• 72400 Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics
• 72401 Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
• 72402 Heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics
• 72500 Crane operators
• 73100 Concrete finishers
• 73101 Tile setters
• 73102 Plasterers, drywall installers and finishers and lathers
• 73110 Roofers and shinglers
• 73111 Glaziers
• 73112 Painters and decorators (except interior decorators)
• 73113 Floor covering installers

Healthcare

If you work directly for a provincial health authority or are a physician, nurse practitioner, or midwife with their support, you can apply directly to the Health Authority stream.

If you’re not with a health authority but have a job offer in these occupations, you might get a targeted invitation to apply through another stream.

• 30010 Managers in health care
• 31100 Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
• 31101 Specialists in surgery
• 31102 General practitioners and family physicians
• 31110 Dentists
• 31112 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists
• 31120 Pharmacists
• 31121 Dietitians and nutritionists
• 31200 Psychologists
• 31201 Chiropractors
• 31202 Physiotherapists
• 31203 Occupational therapists
• 31204 Kinesiologists and other professional occupations in therapy and assessment
• 31209 Other professional occupations in health diagnosing and treating
• 31300 Nursing coordinators and supervisors
• 31301 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
• 31302 Nurse practitioners
• 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals
• 32101 Licensed practical nurses
• 32102 Paramedical occupations
• 32103 Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
• 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
• 32110 Denturists
• 32111 Dental hygienists and dental therapists
• 32112 Dental technologists and technicians
• 32120 Medical laboratory technologists
• 32121 Medical radiation technologists
• 32122 Medical sonographers
• 32123 Cardiology technologists and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists
• 32124 Pharmacy technicians
• 32129 Other medical technologists and technicians
• 32200 Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists
• 33100 Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
• 33101 Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations
• 33102 Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
• 33103 Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
• 41300 Social workers
• 41301 Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies
• 42201 Social and community service workers

*For the purposes of the BC PNP, only health care assistants / health care aides are eligible under NOC 33102.

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Technology

The BC PNP provides a pathway to permanent residence for skilled workers in in-demand technology occupations. For these priority technology jobs, a permanent job offer is not required.

To receive a targeted invitation, you must:

• Have a job offer in one of the priority technology occupations
• Have a job offer lasting at least one year (365 days)
• Have at least 120 days remaining on the job offer when you apply

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• 10030 Telecommunication carriers managers
• 20012 Computer and information systems managers
• 21100 Physicists and astronomers
• 21210 Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries
• 21211 Data scientists
• 21220 Cybersecurity specialists
• 21221 Business systems specialists
• 21222 Information systems specialists
• 21223 Database analysts and data administrators
• 21230 Computer systems developers and programmers
• 21231 Software engineers and designers
• 21232 Software developers and programmers
• 21233 Web designers
• 21234 Web developers and programmers
• 21300 Civil engineers
• 21301 Mechanical engineers
• 21310 Electrical and electronics engineers
• 21311 Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
• 21320 Chemical engineers
• 21399 Other professional engineers
• 22110 Biological technologists and technicians
• 22220 Computer network and web technicians
• 22221 User support technicians
• 22222 Information systems testing technicians
• 22310 Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
• 22312 Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
• 50011 Managers – publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting and performing arts
• 51111 Authors and writers (except technical)
• 51112 Technical writers
• 51120 Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations
• 52119 Other technical and coordinating occupations in motion pictures, broadcasting and the performing arts
• 52112 Broadcast technicians
• 52113 Audio and video recording technicians
• 52120 Graphic designers and illustrators
• 53111 Motion pictures, broadcasting, photography and performing arts assistants and operators

Veterinary care

• 31103 Veterinarians
• 32104 Animal health technologists and veterinary technicians

Occupations listed here are not the only ones eligible for the BC PNP. Priority occupations may receive a targeted invitation once a registration is submitted.

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Check for more details: BC PNP