British Columbia Reserves PR Spots for Healthcare Workers in 2025

Publish Date: 06/05/2025

British Columbia (B.C.) has announced big changes to its Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) for 2025 — and healthcare workers are the biggest winners.

What’s New?

As of April 14, B.C. has decided to limit the number of provincial nominations to 1,100 for the year 2025. Out of these, most spots are being saved for healthcare professionals. A smaller number of spots will go to entrepreneurs and high-impact candidates.

Who Qualifies?

B.C. has updated the rules for its Health Authority stream. Now, only workers who directly provide healthcare services can apply under this stream.

This is a major change from before — earlier, even support staff and admin workers with job offers from B.C. public health authorities could apply. That’s no longer the case.

Eligible Occupations Include:

Some of the job roles that now qualify for permanent residency through this program include:

Occupation	NOC Code
Animal health technologists & veterinary technicians	32104
Audiologists & speech-language pathologists	31112
Cardiology & electrophysiological technologists	32123
Chiropractors	31201
Dental assistants & lab assistants	33100
Dental hygienists & therapists	32111
Dental technologists & technicians	32112
Dentists	31110
Denturists	32110
Dietitians & nutritionists	31121
General practitioners & family physicians	31102
Kinesiologists & therapy professionals	31204
Licensed practical nurses	32101
Managers in healthcare	30010
Massage therapists	32201
Medical lab assistants	33101
Medical lab technologists	32120
Medical radiation technologists	32121
Medical sonographers	32122
Nurse aides, orderlies & patient associates	33102
Nurse practitioners	31302
Nursing coordinators & supervisors	31300
Occupational therapists	31203
Opticians	32100
Optometrists	31111
Other assisting health occupations	33109
Other medical technologists & technicians	32129
Natural healing practitioners	32209
Diagnosing & treating professionals	31209
Technical therapy occupations	32109
Paramedical occupations	32102
Pharmacists	31120
Pharmacy techs & assistants	33103
Pharmacy technicians	32124
Physician assistants, midwives, allied professionals	31303
Physiotherapists	31202
Psychologists	31200
Registered nurses & psychiatric nurses	31301
Respiratory therapists & clinical technologists	32103
Social & community service workers	42201
Social workers	41300
Clinical & laboratory specialists	31100
Surgical specialists	31101
Counselling therapists & related roles	41301
Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners & acupuncturists	32200
Veterinarians	31103