BC's First 2025 Immigration Draw Invites 94 Skilled Workers
British Columbia held its first provincial immigration draw of 2025 under its skills immigration program on May 8. The draw invited 94 candidates to apply for provincial nomination, with invitations evenly split between two criteria.
Candidates were eligible if they earned a minimum wage of $105/hour in a skilled job at NOC TEER level 0, or scored a minimum of 150 points on the BC PNP's candidate scoring system. However, recent draws have shown broader eligibility, including those with recognized education, professional designations, language proficiency, work experience in in-demand occupations, and a genuine intent to reside in specific regions of B.C., especially if they meet strategic provincial labor market priorities. Recent draws have also added nominations in healthcare, entrepreneur, and student categories.
The BC PNP plans to nominate approximately 100 candidates through its high-economic skills immigration pathway in 2025, due to reduced provincial nomination allocations. This is a significant reduction from previous years, with the BC PNP planning to accept only 1,100 net new applications for provincial nomination in 2025. The province has also announced major changes to multiple immigration streams, including pausing general and priority occupations draws, waitlisting IPG Stream applications, postponing new student immigration streams, limiting the Health Authority Stream, and excluding Early Childhood Educator Assistants from education draws.
The remainder of the BC PNP's provincial nominations will be allocated to front-line healthcare workers and managers in healthcare, and entrepreneurs. Future high economic impact skills immigration draws may consider factors such as education, professional designation, language skills, occupation, work experience, wage, intent to live in a specific region, and strategic priorities. These changes aim to ensure that British Columbia's immigration programs align with its labor market needs and economic goals.
