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BCPNP - British Columbia PNP - Healthcare Professional (HP) Stream
One of the PNP streams of British Columbia that can be both aligned or not with Express Entry
Home > Permanent Residence > Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) > British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) > BCPNP - Healthcare Professional (HP) Stream
The guide below takes a deep look into one of the streams of the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP), the Healthcare Professional (HP) stream. The guide will go through an overview of the stream, its eligibility requirements, how it works, the documentation needed, its cost and processing times.
Overview of the Healthcare Professional (HP) stream
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There are two Healthcare Professional (HP) streams under British Columbia's PNP:
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The HP streams have minimum eligibility requirements, and satisfying all those requirements allows a candidate to apply.
If nominated under the Express Entry category, a candidate will receive an additional 600 CRS points in their Express Entry profile, thus guaranteeing an Invitation to Apply.
If nominated under the Express Entry category, a candidate will receive an additional 600 CRS points in their Express Entry profile, thus guaranteeing an Invitation to Apply.
Eligibility Requirements
There are 4 categories of eligibility requirements to be able to apply under the Healthcare Professional (HP) stream, summarized below:
1. Job Offer
You must hold an offer of indeterminate, full-time employment with a public health authority as a:
The wage stated on your Job Offer must be at market rate and comparable to the rate paid to workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs in BC (bonuses, commissions, tips, housing allowance, etc. are not considered part of your wage).
In the five years preceding your application, and throughout the BC PNP application process, you and your spouse/partner must not have held a combined ownership/equity stake of more than 10% in the BC company that has offered you employment.
2. Work experience
You need at least 2 years of directly related full-time (or full-time equivalent) work experience in the skilled occupation that has been offered to you, and, if applicable, the credentials and qualification requirements of the position. This experience can be obtained from within Canada or abroad.
Directly related work experience is in an NOC code related to the one in the Job Offer, and its Skill Type/Level must be equal or above the one of the Job Offer's NOC code (example: work experience as a senior manager in the financial service field (NOC 0013) and the Job Offer is for a financial sales representative (NOC 6235)).
If the offered position requires mandatory certification, licensing or registration you must provide documentation showing that you meet these requirements, or how these requirements will shortly be met.
3. Language
If the Job Offer's NOC code is of Skill Type/Level 0 or A, you do not need language results to be eligible (BCPNP can still ask you to pass a language test, at their own discretion).
If the Job Offer's NOC code is of Skill Level B, you will need to have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of at least 4 to be eligible.
4. Minimum income requirements
You must demonstrate that you meet minimum income requirements according to your (i) gross annual wage in the Job Offer, (ii) location of residence in BC, and (iii) number of dependants.
You can include your spouse/partner's gross annual wage if they work in BC.
Bonuses, commissions, tips, housing allowance, etc. are not included when calculating your wage.
The annual wage is calculated as: (hourly rate) x (hours worked per week (max 40h)) x (52 weeks a year).
The minimum income requirements as set by BCPNP are presented in the table below:
1. Job Offer
You must hold an offer of indeterminate, full-time employment with a public health authority as a:
- Physician
- Specialist physician
- Registered nurse
- Registered psychiatric nurse
- Nurse practitioner
- An allied health professional such as:
- Diagnostic medical sonographer
- Clinical pharmacist
- Medical laboratory technologist
- Medical radiation technologist
- Occupational therapist
- Physiotherapist
- Midwife:
- You must have a letter of confirmation from an established practice group in British Columbia confirming your acceptance into the group as an affiliated midwife for a period of at least six months. This letter must be on the practice group's official letterhead, and must be signed by you and the head of the practice group, and
- You must be registered, or eligible to be registered, with the College of Midwives of British Columbia.
The wage stated on your Job Offer must be at market rate and comparable to the rate paid to workers with a similar level of experience and training for equivalent jobs in BC (bonuses, commissions, tips, housing allowance, etc. are not considered part of your wage).
In the five years preceding your application, and throughout the BC PNP application process, you and your spouse/partner must not have held a combined ownership/equity stake of more than 10% in the BC company that has offered you employment.
2. Work experience
You need at least 2 years of directly related full-time (or full-time equivalent) work experience in the skilled occupation that has been offered to you, and, if applicable, the credentials and qualification requirements of the position. This experience can be obtained from within Canada or abroad.
Directly related work experience is in an NOC code related to the one in the Job Offer, and its Skill Type/Level must be equal or above the one of the Job Offer's NOC code (example: work experience as a senior manager in the financial service field (NOC 0013) and the Job Offer is for a financial sales representative (NOC 6235)).
If the offered position requires mandatory certification, licensing or registration you must provide documentation showing that you meet these requirements, or how these requirements will shortly be met.
3. Language
If the Job Offer's NOC code is of Skill Type/Level 0 or A, you do not need language results to be eligible (BCPNP can still ask you to pass a language test, at their own discretion).
If the Job Offer's NOC code is of Skill Level B, you will need to have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of at least 4 to be eligible.
4. Minimum income requirements
You must demonstrate that you meet minimum income requirements according to your (i) gross annual wage in the Job Offer, (ii) location of residence in BC, and (iii) number of dependants.
You can include your spouse/partner's gross annual wage if they work in BC.
Bonuses, commissions, tips, housing allowance, etc. are not included when calculating your wage.
The annual wage is calculated as: (hourly rate) x (hours worked per week (max 40h)) x (52 weeks a year).
The minimum income requirements as set by BCPNP are presented in the table below:
| # of dependants | Greater Vancouver Regional District | Rest of British Columbia |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22,804 CAD | 19,006 CAD |
| 2 | 28,390 CAD | 23,659 CAD |
| 3 | 34,902 CAD | 29,087 CAD |
| 4 | 42,376 CAD | 35,316 CAD |
| 5 | 48,062 CAD | 40,054 CAD |
| 6 | 54,205 CAD | 45,175 CAD |
| 7 or more | 60,350 CAD | 50,296 CAD |
Specific requirements for the Express Entry category:
You need to qualify to one of the three federal programs to be eligible to the HP streams. To understand the eligibility criteria of these three programs, click either on FSW, FST or CEC.
There are discrepancies between the minimum requirements under the federal programs and the HP streams, so you need to satisfy to the strictest of the two. Language proficiency and level of education requirements are examples of such discrepancies.
If you need to understand how the Express Entry system works, you can follow our 10-step guide.
Application Process Summary
For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the two Healthcare Professional (HP) streams.
(i) For the Express Entry category, candidates must:
(ii) For the Skills Immigration category (not aligned with Express Entry), candidates must:
(i) For the Express Entry category, candidates must:
- Meet the eligibility requirements of the federal FSW, FST or CEC programs.
- Generate their Express Entry profile, and specify their interest in the province by selecting "British Columbia" or “All Provinces and Territories”.
- Qualify for the minimum HP stream eligibility requirements.
- Apply to the HP stream by submitting their application through BCPNP Online (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Accept the British Columbia provincial nomination (after the BCPNP processes their application) within 30 days of receiving it on their Express Entry profile.
- Obtain an additional 600 CRS points in the Express Entry profile to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
- Apply for Permanent Residence within 60 days of receiving the ITA.
(ii) For the Skills Immigration category (not aligned with Express Entry), candidates must:
- Qualify for the minimum HP stream eligibility requirements.
- Apply to the HP stream by submitting their application through BCPNP Online (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Apply for Permanent Residence to the federal government (IRCC) within 6 months of receiving the provincial nomination. Candidates need to apply on paper to IRCC, and include the nomination documents received from BCPNP.
Required Supporting Documents
All required documents must be uploaded on BCPNP Online when applying for the Healthcare Professional stream. Specific requirements for documents are explained in detail here.
Application Fees
The fee for this stream is set at 1,150 CAD. It can only be paid by a credit or debit card.
Application fees can only be refunded if the applicant withdraws his/her application before processing starts.
Application fees can only be refunded if the applicant withdraws his/her application before processing starts.
Processing Times
Based on 80% of cases, the processing times for a Healthcare Professional stream application are estimated to be between 60 to 90 days. However, some applications may need more time to be processed if more complex or necessitate more documents and/or information.
Draw History
There are no draws for this stream but you can check out our awesome Live PNP Monitor to see the latest news and draw history on all the other PNP streams.
Do I have to stay in the Province?
This is a tricky question and there are multiple situations that can happen. You can learn more about this subject on our dedicated article: Can I move to another province?
Does the Stream have In-Demand jobs?
Some streams target specific NOC codes, meaning that if you have experience in those in-demand jobs, you either (i) have more chances to be invited or (ii) that you can be eligible to the stream.
In the case of the Healthcare Professional stream, there is a specific list of healthcare occupations that are eligible (see Eligibility Requirements sections of this guide). You can find out about the other provinces' targeted jobs in our in-demand NOC codes article.
In the case of the Healthcare Professional stream, there is a specific list of healthcare occupations that are eligible (see Eligibility Requirements sections of this guide). You can find out about the other provinces' targeted jobs in our in-demand NOC codes article.
