B.C. government forced to drastically reduce number of new immigrant applications
The Government of British Columbia announced updates this week to its B.C. Provincial Nominee Program (B.C. PNP), drastically reducing the number of new immigrant applications it will accept in 2025.
Changes come after the federal government cut B.C.’s nomination allocation spots by 50 per cent compared to 2024 earlier this year.
“The Province is updating the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program to do what it can to best meet its workforce priorities, and provide as much fairness and clarity as possible,” said the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, in a bulletin.
B.C. nominated 8,000 workers and entrepreneurs who support provincial priorities in 2024, fully meeting its allocation. However, while the province sought an increase to 11,000 spots for 2025, it was instead granted only 4,000 by the Canadian government.
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The province explained that it will only accept roughly 1,100 new applications this year, primarily for health-care roles such as doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. The remaining nomination allocation spots will go towards processing previous applicants.
According to the bulletin, the Provincial Nominee Program is the only tool that allows the province to nominate new immigrants in high-demand jobs to stay in B.C.
“The vast majority of applicants already live and work in B.C.,” the Ministry added. “It is intended to help address labour demands in priority sectors, such as health-care, child care, construction and housing.”
The B.C. PNP will also only issue a limited number of targeted invitations to apply (ITA) to “registrants who are likely to create high economic impact” this year.
Out of a registration pool of over 10,000 candidates, only about 100 are anticipated to receive an ITA.
Other updates to the nominee program include international post-graduate applications received between Sept. 1, 2024, and Jan. 7, 2025, being waitlisted until more nominations become available, future targeted ITAs will focus on early childhood educator positions, enhanced guidelines will be created for social workers and community service workers, and plans to launch three new student streams will be paused until the province’s allocation levels are restored.
“B.C. will continue to strongly advocate to the federal government for increased allocation to help the province attract and retain critical workers needed to grow the economy,” the provincial government added.