BC PNP 2025 Report Reveals Major Shift Toward Healthcare and High-Wage Workers

The 2025 provincial nominee annual report points to a major change in how economic immigration is being managed. The most important story is not simply that fewer nominations were available. It is that limited nomination spaces were deliberately redirected toward healthcare, higher-wage workers, regional communities and applicants considered capable of producing immediate economic impact. The province began 2025 with only 4,000 nomination spaces, just 50% of the 8,000 allocation in 2024, while already holding approximately 5,200 applications. A later federal increase brought the final allocation to 6,214, all of which was used.

This makes 2025 an important reference point for understanding where provincial economic immigration may be heading. Since the program began in 2001, it has selected more than 93,000 workers and entrepreneurs, including almost 67,000 nominations from 2016 to 2025. Including accompanying family members, more than 155,000 people have obtained permanent residence through the program. The report also indicates strong retention: 97% of nominees remained in the province one year after permanent residence and 92% remained after five years. Their median income was also $13,600 higher than nominees nationally for the most recent comparable cohort.

90% of nominees were already living and working in the province

The allocation reduction forced the program to move away from broad invitation activity. New intake was largely restricted to healthcare professionals and workers considered to have high economic impact through high wages or strong registration scores.

Approximately 90% of nominees were already living and working in the province, showing that the program increasingly functioned as a pathway for existing temporary residents rather than primarily as an overseas recruitment mechanism.

Skills Immigration accounted for 6,195 nominations, while Entrepreneur Immigration accounted for only 19, producing the total 6,214 nominations. Skills Immigration normally represents about 99% of nominations, although the federal-provincial agreement allows up to 5% to be used for entrepreneurs.

Among Skills Immigration nominees, approximately 41% came through International Post-Graduate cases, 27% through Health Authority, 22% through Skilled Worker, 9% through International Graduate and about 1% through Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled. Overall, 50% were from the two graduate categories, while 59% were in streams requiring employment that addressed a labour market need.

The province issued only 978 invitations to apply during 2025. Of these, 748 converted into applications, representing a 76.5% conversion rate. The program completed 6,553 Skills Immigration decisions, down 25.4% from 8,784 in 2024. Nevertheless, 6,195 decisions resulted in nomination, giving an unusually high 94.5% approval rate.

From an immigration planning perspective, that approval rate should not be interpreted as meaning nomination became easier. The opposite is more accurate. Far fewer applicants were invited, but those selected were more closely aligned with identified priorities.

Healthcare, Higher Wages and Regional Immigration Dominated

Healthcare produced the clearest policy shift. The report records 1,435 nominees in prioritized healthcare occupations and 409 early childhood educator nominees. Healthcare professionals working for public health authorities increased from 675 in 2024 to 1,241 in 2025, an 84% increase, representing approximately 27% of the annual allocation.

Using the report’s narrower clinical-health classification, 1,374 clinical health nominees were selected, including 1,180 working for health authorities and 194 for other employers. This represented 22.2% of Skills Immigration nominees. The cohort included 218 physicians and 652 registered nurses and nurse practitioners. The different healthcare totals reflect different occupational definitions used in separate sections of the report.

Targeted international recruitment also produced significant changes. Across two major recruitment markets, physician nominations increased by 139% and 290%, while registered nurse nominations increased by 17% and 208%. Together, those markets produced 335 physicians, registered nurses and nurse practitioners.

Other priorities moved in the opposite direction. Childcare nominations fell from 1,279 to 409, veterinary nominations declined to 25, and construction nominations reached 266. Technology nominations also continued declining, from 2,490 in 2023, or 30.4% of Skills Immigration nominees, to 1,302 in 2024, or 16.3%, and only 607 in 2025, or 9.8%. Since technology prioritization began in 2017, however, the program has nominated 13,868 technology workers.

Higher wages became another defining feature. The median hourly wage of Skills Immigration nominees reached $41.42, which was $12.42 higher than 2024 and $8.93 above the provincial median of $32.49 per hour. More than 99% of nominees with job offers earned above the provincial minimum wage.

Median annual salaries were $105,000 for Skilled Workers, $80,769 for Health Authority nominees, $57,200 for International Graduates and $42,685 for Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled nominees. Across streams where salary information was available, the median was $80,769 and the average was $110,236.

Regional immigration also remained strong. 38% of Skills Immigration nominees settled outside Metro Vancouver, exceeding the program’s 35% target, while 100% of Entrepreneur Immigration nominees were outside Metro Vancouver, compared with a 60% target. The report says 64.9%, or 4,018 nominees, settled in the Mainland/Southwest region, 15.6% or 964 in Vancouver Island/Coast, 12.2% or 756 in the southeast regions, and 7.4% or 457 in northern regions.

What Applicants Should Take From the Report

In 2025, only the Skilled Worker and Health Authority streams accepted applications throughout the year. The International Graduate stream had already closed, the International Post-Graduate stream closed in early January 2025, and Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled remained inactive before its later closure.

For streams using the registration system, candidates should understand the main selection factors:

• level of education
• work experience
• official-language proficiency
• hourly wage offered by the employer
• job location

Registration itself carries no fee, remains active for up to one year, and invited candidates normally have 30 days to submit the application and pay the applicable application fee. The annual report does not state the application fee amount, so applicants should verify the current government fee schedule before filing.

Entrepreneur Immigration also showed renewed interest. From 2016 to 2025, entrepreneur nominees established 394 businesses, created 1,306 jobs and invested $186 million. In 2025, the Base stream received 191 registrations, up 71% from 112 in 2024. 106, or 55%, qualified for the pool and 95, or 50%, received invitations. The Regional stream received 11 registrations, with 9, or 82%, qualifying and receiving invitations. There were 65 entrepreneur applications, including 56 Base and 9 Regional, compared with 42 applications in 2024. The program approved 39 entrepreneurs at the work-permit stage and ultimately nominated 19, down from 28 in 2024 and 32 in 2023. Those 19 entrepreneurs created 42 jobs and invested almost $5 million.

The larger policy message is clear. Provincial nomination is becoming less about simply meeting minimum eligibility and more about demonstrating measurable economic or public-service value. For 2026, the program has set targets of 1,620 to 2,015 healthcare nominees, 360 to 440 early childhood education nominees, at least 35% regional Skills Immigration nominations, and at least 60% regional Entrepreneur Immigration nominations.

With nomination space tighter, closed graduate pathways, higher competition and increased anti-fraud scrutiny, including more than 2,000 case reviews or investigations by the end of 2025, applicants should assess eligibility before assuming that previous selection patterns will continue. Careful occupational classification, wage evidence, employer documentation, regional strategy and accurate disclosure are increasingly important. Where eligibility or strategy is uncertain, professional support can assist with preparing, advising and representation of immigration applications through an immigration consultant.