BC PNP 2026 Draws Recap: Every Skills Immigration Draw and What It Signals for 2027

If you only looked at BC PNP draws in 2025, you would have seen three Skills Immigration rounds all year, each aimed at very high earners or very high scorers. 2026 looked completely different. After the April 23, 2026 restructuring around three objectives (Care, Build and Innovate), the program settled into a rhythm of roughly two draw days a month: one for targeted Care and Build occupations, and one for "High Economic Impact" candidates under Innovate. This recap pulls every 2026 Skills Immigration draw from the official WelcomeBC invitations page (last updated October 8, 2026) and explains what the numbers show.

Phase 1 (February to April 2026): High Economic Impact only

There were no Skills Immigration draws in January or March 2026. The first three rounds of the year were all "high economic impact" draws, run before the new priorities were announced. Each used two separate tracks: a wage track (hourly and annual minimums plus a NOC TEER 0 to 3 job offer) and a points track.

These three draws alone (1,373 invitations) already exceeded everything the program issued through Skills Immigration in all of 2025. The 2025 archive on WelcomeBC lists only three Skills Immigration rounds that year: May 8 (94 invitations, $105/hr or 150 points), October 2 (474 invitations, $90/hr and $175,000/yr or 140 points) and December 10 (410 invitations, $84/hr and $170,000/yr or 138 points). That is 978 in total. The difference reflects a larger starting allocation in 2026 (5,254 versus 4,000), which you can read about in our 2026 allocation guide.

Phase 2 (May 2026 onward): targeted Care and Build draws

From May 6, 2026 the program began separate draws for priority occupations. Each Care or Build draw restricts the pool to people whose registration matches a priority occupation (and any extra condition, such as an ECE certificate or a SkilledTradesBC credential), then invites the highest scorers in that group. The full list of priority occupations is on WelcomeBC's selection of workers page; we break it down in our Care occupations guide.

Care and Build draws: minimum score (invitations)

Two additions round out the Care picture. On August 6, 2026 the program ran its only Care: Education draw so far (French-speaking teachers, minimum 68, fewer than five invitations). And the one-time Temporary Rural/Remote Health Support Initiative, for health-authority employees in cleaning and security jobs outside the excluded regional districts, had two draws: July 23 (minimum 50, 60 invitations) and September 17 (minimum 60, 33 invitations). That initiative is capped at up to 250 nominations and its registration window closed on October 7, 2026.

What the Care and Build numbers show

• Health fell fastest. The Care: Health cutoff dropped 32 points in four months, from 108 in May to 76 in September, and held at 76 in October. That is consistent with a fairly small pool of registrants in the 31 priority health occupations who also meet the program's conditions.
• Childcare eased slowly. ECE cutoffs slid from 115 to 99. The two biggest ECE rounds (183 and 182 invitations in August and September) came after the August 18 allocation increase.
• Construction bounced. Trades fell from 108 to 88 by August, then rose to 94 in September and October. A rising cutoff usually means the program reached deeper into the pool and is now waiting for new registrations to accumulate. Note that the May 6 Build draw explicitly included workers with apprenticeships registered with SkilledTradesBC, not only certified journeypersons.
• Veterinary is tiny and volatile. With fewer than 10 invitations per round, a single high or low scorer moves the cutoff, which is why it swung from 72 to 90.

Innovate: High Economic Impact draws

Innovate draws have no occupation list. They kept the same two-track design as the February to April rounds, and both thresholds drifted down through the year.

Two details matter here. First, the wage track needs both numbers. Someone earning $52 an hour on a 37.5-hour week makes about $101,400 a year, which would miss the $105,000 annual minimum used on September 24. Second, the points cutoff barely moved (138 in February, 131 in September) while the wage cutoff fell by $18 an hour. The pool is thin at the top: on October 6, only 203 registrations scored 130 or more. Each points round therefore reaches only a few points deeper. For a closer look at this route, see our Innovate High Economic Impact guide.

2026 by the numbers

Adding every published Skills Immigration figure from February 4 to October 8 gives the totals below. Four rows were reported only as "<5", so the real totals are slightly higher.

Two cautions before you draw conclusions. Invitations are not nominations: some invited people never apply, and some applications are refused. And the table leaves out the Health Authority stream, where eligible applicants apply directly without registering or receiving an invitation, as well as Entrepreneur Immigration. The table measures where invitations went, not the full use of the 6,254 nominations. Still, the split is clear. Roughly 63% of 2026 Skills Immigration invitations went through the Innovate tracks, which have no occupation list. Targeted Care and Build draws made up most of the rest.

The pool on October 6, 2026

Most registrants (about 71%) score below 110. The 131-point Innovate cutoff is out of reach for them, but a sub-100 score can still win an invitation if the person is in a priority Care or Build occupation. That is the single most important fact about the 2026 system. Your occupation and credentials now decide which contest you are in, and your score decides your rank within it. You can check where you would land with our BC PNP points calculator.

Seven lessons from 2026 for 2027 applicants

1. Expect a slow first quarter. In 2025 the first Skills Immigration draw came on May 8. In 2026 it came on February 4, with nothing in January or March. Both years, BC was waiting to confirm its federal allocation and set priorities. If that pattern holds, early 2027 may be quiet too.
2. Credentials are the gate, not a bonus. Targeted draws invite only people who meet the condition, such as an ECE One Year or Five Year certificate, Care Aide Registry registration for NOC 33102, or a SkilledTradesBC certificate or registered apprenticeship. Under section 7.3 of the Skills Immigration Program Guide, if you are invited on a factor you did not actually meet, your application will be refused.
3. Thresholds eased as the year went on. Cutoffs and wage minimums drifted down through 2026, and the largest rounds (August 20: 602; September 24: 714) came right after the August 18 increase of 1,000 nominations. Applicants who registered early and kept their registration accurate benefited.
4. Mind the 12-month clock. Under the program guide, a registration that is not invited within 12 months is removed from the pool automatically. A registration filed in late 2026 could expire before the 2027 rhythm settles. Note the date and plan to re-register if needed.
5. The wage track is a two-part test. Hourly and annual minimums both apply, and bonuses, overtime and allowances do not count toward the hourly wage in the program guide.
6. Regional work matters twice. A job outside Metro Vancouver earns up to 25 area points (15 for Area 3, 5 for Area 2, plus 10 for regional experience or regional alumni), and the program aims for at least 35% of nominations outside Metro Vancouver. See our Look West regional guide.
7. Thirty days, no extensions. After an invitation you have 30 calendar days to submit a complete application, and that period cannot be extended. Prepare documents before you are invited; our documents checklist helps.

2027 forecast: what we expect (analysis, not official)

Draw structure

We expect the Care, Build and Innovate framework to continue into 2027. It is written into the current program guide and the selection of workers page, and BC tied it to its Look West economic strategy. Nothing official says it will end on December 31. The program guide also says the BC PNP can change selection factors, scoring and draw frequency at any time. A change in the priority lists (for example, adding or removing an occupation) is more likely than a return to general points-only draws.

Cutoff direction

If early 2027 has a lull like early 2025 and 2026, registrations will build up in the pool. When draws restart, we expect first-round cutoffs in each category to open higher than the autumn 2026 levels, then ease as the year goes on. That is what happened in 2026. How far they fall will depend mostly on the size of BC's 2027 allocation. We are not publishing predicted cutoff numbers. A single policy decision, such as a new priority occupation or a mid-year allocation increase, can move a category by 10 to 20 points in one round, as Health and Veterinary did in 2026.

Category-by-category expectations

Who should act differently because of this recap

• Priority-occupation workers without the credential: start the certification now (ECE Registry, SkilledTradesBC, Care Aide Registry or your licensing body). That paperwork is what decides whether you are in a 76-point contest or a 131-point one.
• Non-priority workers scoring under 120: 2026 offered no realistic BC PNP points route for you. Look at wage growth, a regional job offer, a higher language score, or other options in our Express Entry BC guide.
• High earners: the 2026 wage track went as low as $52/hr and $105,000/yr. Keep your registration current and accurate. Note that a wage raised only to hit a threshold can lead to refusal under the program guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• WelcomeBC: Invitations to apply (2026 draws and pool, updated Oct 8, 2026)
• WelcomeBC: Skills Immigration invitations to apply, 2025 archive (PDF)
• WelcomeBC: BC PNP news (April 23 and August 18, 2026 updates)
• WelcomeBC: BC PNP archived news 2025 (allocation history, PDF)
• WelcomeBC: BC PNP program objectives and selection of workers
• BC PNP Skills Immigration Program Guide (effective June 10, 2026, PDF)

Information current as of October 14, 2026. Program rules change often; confirm on WelcomeBC or IRCC before applying.