British Columbia has announced major updates to its Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP), which include stream closures, draw suspensions, and a significant reduction in the number of new applications it will accept. In 2025, the province will accept only 1,100 new applications, with a sharp focus on front-line healthcare workers, entrepreneurs, and skilled professionals who bring a high economic impact.
As part of these changes, the province is placing a moratorium on general and priority occupation draws for the entire year. Out of the more than 10,000 candidates currently in the registration pool, only around 100 individuals with high-impact profiles will be nominated.
Additionally, BC PNP announced that it will not process International Post-Graduate (IPG) applications submitted between September 1, 2024, and January 7, 2025. These applications will be waitlisted for the time being. IPG applications submitted earlier in 2024 or after January 7, 2025, will be processed during 2025.
The launch of three new student streams has also been postponed. The province stated that these new pathways will only be introduced once BC’s nomination allocation levels are restored.
The BC PNP will, however, continue issuing invitations to apply (ITAs) under the entrepreneur stream, which remains active.
Meanwhile, the Health Authority stream will now be restricted to front-line healthcare workers only, whereas it previously accepted applicants from any occupation within a health authority.
In another adjustment, Early Childhood Educator Assistants will no longer be targeted in education-specific draws. Instead, those draws will now focus solely on Early Childhood Educators.
At the start of 2025, the province had 5,200 applications already in its system. However, British Columbia received a provincial nomination allocation of just 4,000 spots for the year. Out of those, 2,900 nominations will be used for already submitted applications.
These program changes were officially announced on April 14, 2025.
Background Context
In October 2024, the federal government announced a dramatic reduction in the total landing allocation for provincial nominee programs across Canada from 110,000 spots in 2024 down to 55,000 in 2025.
Then, in January 2025, each province and territory was formally notified of their 50% cut in allocations, including additional reductions to the Atlantic Immigration Program.
As a result, many provinces, including British Columbia, have made major structural adjustments pausing streams, changing eligibility rules, and limiting the intake of new applications.
