Author: Azadeh Haidari-Garmash, RCIC
BC PNP Prioritizes Healthcare Workers in 2025
BC PNP to focus on healthcare workers in 2025 immigration plan.
On This Page You Will Find:
- B.C.'s New Licensing Reforms
- Requirements for BC PNP
The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) has introduced major changes to address critical shortages in healthcare. In 2025, the province reserved the majority of its PNP nomination spots for healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and dental hygienists. This shift means that B.C. is prioritizing immigrants in healthcare occupations through its Skills Immigration stream. In fact, the program now focuses on candidates who “contribute directly to the delivery of health-care services, such as doctors, nurses and allied-health professionals”.
Under the updated system, foreign-trained healthcare workers with valid job offers in B.C. are more likely to receive invitations for permanent residence. Those employed by a B.C. public health authority (e.g. hospitals or health regions) can apply via the dedicated Health Authority stream without going through the regular points-based registration queue. This stream fast-tracks nominations for physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and midwives working in B.C.’s health authorities, provided the employer supports the application. For example, a foreign doctor hired by a B.C. regional health authority can directly seek a nomination once they are ready to practice, with the health authority’s endorsement.
Even internationally educated healthcare professionals not employed by health authorities benefit from these changes. B.C. now conducts targeted invitation rounds for priority healthcare occupations under the general Skills Immigration stream. Occupations on the priority list include general practitioners and family physicians (NOC 31102), dentists (NOC 31110), pharmacists (NOC 31120), registered nurses (NOC 31301), dental hygienists (NOC 32111), and many other health roles. By identifying these professions as priority, the BC PNP is effectively “saving PR spots” for internationally trained healthcare workers, making it easier for them to settle in B.C.
These immigration-focused changes aim to attract more doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and dental hygienists from abroad to fill vacancies in B.C.’s healthcare system. Importantly, candidates still need to meet basic BC PNP criteria – including having a full-time, indeterminate job offer and the qualifications to perform the job – but the competition for nominations is now tilted in favor of healthcare workers. The Province has explicitly stated that in 2025 it will accept around 1,100 new PNP applications “mainly for positions that contribute directly to the delivery of health-care services”. By reallocating its limited nomination slots toward health professionals, B.C. is loosening immigration bottlenecks and offering a more assured path to permanent residency for much-needed foreign-trained medical staff. Visavio Inc. recognizes that this policy shift is a welcome development for internationally educated health professionals hoping to build their careers in British Columbia.
New Licensing Reforms Remove Barriers for International Healthcare Workers
British Columbia isn’t just easing immigration pathways – it is also dismantling regulatory barriers that have historically slowed down the licensing of internationally educated health workers. In July 2024, the province brought into force the new International Credentials Recognition Act, which compels professional regulators to make their registration processes faster, fairer, and more transparent. A key reform under this act is the elimination of unnecessary “Canadian experience” requirements for licensing. Previously, many foreign-trained professionals faced a catch-22: they couldn’t get licensed without Canadian work experience, but couldn’t gain Canadian experience without a license. B.C. has moved to ban such requirements, ensuring that qualified doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other experts aren’t unfairly kept out of their fields due to lack of local experience.
Alongside the new law, B.C. has launched specific initiatives targeting the five healthcare professions most in demand. Internationally trained doctors (often called International Medical Graduates, or IMGs) now have expanded pathways to practice. The province tripled the seats in its Practice Ready Assessment program – from 32 positions annually to 96 – by March 2024. This program allows eligible IMGs (such as family physicians educated in India, Sri Lanka, Iran or elsewhere) to undergo a supervised assessment in B.C. and quickly qualify to work as family doctors. B.C.’s medical regulator has also created a new “associate physician” class of registration, which lets IMGs who aren’t yet fully licensed as independent physicians work under supervision in hospitals and team-based settings. This innovative license type gives foreign-trained doctors an opportunity to contribute their skills (for example, in acute care settings) while they work toward full licensure. Moreover, B.C. introduced a fast-track licensure pathway for U.S.-trained physicians in certain specialties (pediatrics, internal medicine, emergency medicine) so that American board-certified doctors can start practicing in B.C. much sooner. These steps lower barriers and accelerate the timeline for foreign physicians to serve patients in B.C.
Internationally educated nurses (IENs) are seeing accelerated and more accessible registration as well. The B.C. College of Nurses & Midwives, with government support, launched a streamlined process that can deliver registration decisions in as fast as 4-9 months, whereas in the past it often took years. IENs can now take advantage of multiple credential assessment services (not just a single provider), a change that has cut waiting times for document evaluation by up to two years. A novel “triple-track” assessment process allows nurses to be evaluated for multiple levels simultaneously – as a health care assistant, licensed practical nurse, and registered nurse – rather than going through separate sequential assessments. This means, for example, a nurse trained in Sri Lanka or India could potentially qualify to work as an LPN or health care aide in the interim if they don’t immediately meet RN requirements. B.C. is also funding supports like zero-cost registration pathways for nurses who agree to work in the province (return-of-service agreements), and providing navigation support through agencies like Health Match BC. Thanks to these efforts, more than a thousand international nurses have already become licensed in B.C. through the new pathway, and thousands more are in the pipeline (with many receiving bursaries for any additional training).
Other health professionals are benefiting from barrier reductions too. Internationally trained pharmacists no longer face duplicative hurdles in the licensing process. Like all provinces, B.C.’s College of Pharmacists requires foreign pharmacy graduates to complete the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) certification process (document evaluation and exams). The key change is that B.C. has aligned its requirements to avoid any extra provincial red tape. As an example, all international pharmacy graduates must pass the PEBC Evaluating Exam and have their credentials verified before starting the provincial registration steps – a standardized requirement. After that, B.C.’s registration process includes a practical training component and an English proficiency test, but the province provides financial support (through bursaries) to offset exam and training costs for internationally educated allied health professionals, which can include pharmacists. English language exams are now accepted from multiple providers, and regulators are charging fair, similar fees for both international and domestic applicants. Internationally trained dentists and dental hygienists are also seeing streamlined credential recognition. Dentists educated outside Canada now follow a clearer path: if they graduated from a non-accredited dental program (for instance, in India or Iran), they can either complete a two-year dental bridging program at a Canadian university or pass the National Dental Examining Board’s Equivalency Process exams. Once they obtain NDEB certification, they can apply for licensure with the B.C. College of Oral Health Professionals with no additional arbitrary hurdles. The provincial government has ensured that licensing fees and processing times for internationally trained dentists are kept reasonable and transparent. For dental hygienists, B.C. relies on the national evaluating agency to assess foreign qualifications. Internationally educated dental hygienists from countries like India or Iran must undergo an equivalency assessment with the Federation of Dental Hygiene Regulators of Canada to verify their education and experience. If deemed equivalent, they can then take the National Dental Hygiene Certification Exam and a clinical exam to become certified in B.C. – and the new provincial policies help ensure this process is as efficient as possible, with no redundant testing or experience requirements.
Overall, British Columbia’s regulatory changes “reduce red tape and remove barriers” for internationally educated professionals. The province’s message to foreign-trained doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists and others is clear: your skills are needed, and we’re fixing the system to welcome you. By loosening previously restrictive rules – from immigration criteria to licensing requirements – B.C. is making it faster and easier for internationally educated healthcare professionals to move, settle, and practice in the province. As a firm that closely follows immigration and licensing developments, Visavio Inc. views these changes as a positive opportunity for our clients: the road to working in B.C. as a healthcare professional has never been more navigable.
