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BC prioritizing health-care sector in response to federal immigration cap

The B.C. nominee program is focused on meeting workforce priorities.

April 14, 2025

Monday April 14, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC

by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends

The Province is updating their BC Provincial Nominee Program to” do what it can to best meet its workforce priorities”, it was stated in a news release today from the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills.

The Ministry says it wants to provide as much fairness and clarity as possible, following the federal government’s decision to reduce the nomination allocation spots.

Numbers met in 2024, short for 2025:

BC had fully met its allocation for 2024 to nominate 8,000 workers and entrepreneurs who support provincial priorities.

BC had already requested an allocation of 11,000 for 2025.

In January 2025, BC’s 2025 allocation was cut to 4,000 by the federal government, The Province indicates that the 50% drop in available nominees will “significantly affect the Province’s ability to meet its workforce needs”, as stated in a news release today.

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Focus on health-care:

“As part of the updated approach, the Province will process the majority of its application inventory and accept approximately 1,100 new applications this year, mainly for positions that contribute directly to the delivery of health-care services, such as doctors, nurses and allied-health professionals.

nurses — Training of health-care professionals is being given high-priority in BC.

Nominee program:

Skills immigration information is posted online.

“The nominee program is the only tool that allows B.C. to nominate new immigrants in high-demand jobs to stay in the province. The vast majority of applicants already live and work in B.C. It is intended to help address labour demands in priority sectors, such as health care, child care, construction and housing.”

“The Province will continue to advocate for the federal government to restore the BC Provincial Nominee Program allocation to previous levels, to support B.C.’s efforts to attract and retain in demand professionals.”

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2025-2027 plan takes a whole of society approach:

The federal government’s 2025 to 2027 Immigration Levels Plan takes “a whole of society approach to be responsive to needs of newcomers and Canadians, including through consultations with federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories, municipalities, Indigenous Peoples, stakeholders, communities and Canadians”.

Last fall, then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his immigration minister Marc Miller admitted that they essentially ‘got it wrong’, in terms of welcoming more immigrants to Canada than physical and social infrastructure could sustain (e.g. housing, medical, schools and social support services).

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Immigration needs:

BC’s natural population replacement is expected to be net zero by 2030. This province and the country overall relies on welcoming newcomers to Canada in order to support the economy and deliver the range of functions and services that our society presently needs.