On July 9, 2026, British Columbia held new Skills Immigration invitation rounds under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP), targeting four priority occupation categories: childcare, health care, construction, and veterinary care. The round reflects the province’s continued use of sector specific selection to address labour shortages in essential occupations.

July 9, 2026 Invitation Round Summary

Care: Childcare (Early Childhood Educators only): minimum score 108, 91 invitations
Care: Health (all priority health care occupations): minimum score 96, 116 invitations
Care: Veterinary Care (all priority veterinary care occupations): minimum score 88, fewer than 5 invitations
Build: Construction Trades (all priority construction occupations): minimum score 97, 136 invitations

Category Breakdown

The childcare invitations were restricted to Early Childhood Educators, continuing a pattern of dedicated ECE draws that have appeared consistently throughout 2026. The health care round captured all priority health care occupations rather than a single NOC code, while construction trades again drew the largest invitation volume of the round at 136.

The veterinary care category was open to all priority veterinary care occupations, but candidates working as Animal Health Technologists and Veterinary Technicians (NOC 32104) were required to hold a valid professional designation to be eligible. This distinction is worth flagging for clients in that specific occupation, since it adds an eligibility layer that does not apply to other veterinary care occupations in the same round.

Practitioner Implications

Minimum scores across all four categories in this round were lower than BC PNP’s June 2, 2026 round in the same categories (childcare 111, health care 100, veterinary care 92, construction 101), suggesting somewhat easier entry this round for clients close to the cutoff in prior draws. Practitioners with clients in these four sectors should compare current registration scores against the July 9 thresholds and consider updating registrations where a score improvement could push a client above the relevant minimum before the next round.

Full invitation details are available on the official BC PNP Invitations to Apply page: https://www.welcomebc.ca/immigrate-to-b-c/about-the-bc-provincial-nominee-program/invitations-to-apply

We recently held Your Comprehensive BC PNP Handbook 2026 on July 7, a complete guide to navigating the BC PNP from start to finish, taught by Stanley Leo. Reach out to learn more about accessing the recording at lpen.ca.