BC PNP for Nurses and Health Care Assistants in 2027: Registration, Timelines and the Best Stream

Health care sits at the top of the BC PNP's Care objective. The program's April 23, 2026 announcement reported that it has nominated 3,887 health care professionals since 2022, including 1,228 nurses and nurse practitioners. Registered nurses (NOC 31301), licensed practical nurses (32101) and nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (33102, which includes health care assistants) are all on the 31-occupation Care health list. But the BC PNP will only nominate you for a job you are qualified to do, so the route always starts with your regulator.

Step one for nurses: BCCNM registration

The British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) licenses RNs, LPNs, psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners. If you trained outside Canada, BCCNM's current process looks like this:

Apply to Inspire Global Assessments and to BCCNM at the same time. Inspire confirms your identity, evaluates your English and education credentials, and runs a competency assessment of your nursing knowledge and skills, then sends the results to BCCNM.
Verification. BCCNM confirms your past practice and licences. Employers and regulators must send the forms directly to BCCNM, in English.
Assessment. BCCNM decides whether your education and practice are substantially equivalent to a B.C. graduate. Most applicants are assessed for both LPN and RN licensure in one application.
Any required education. This can range from a single course on the Canadian health system to a full re-entry or bridging program. Long gaps in practice make a bigger requirement more likely; BCCNM says applicants are more likely to succeed if they graduated or practised consistently within the last 10 years.
Exam. The NCLEX-RN for RNs or the REx-PN for LPNs. Optional provisional registration is available once everything except the exam is done.
Practising licence. You may not practise until you appear in BCCNM's online directory.

Faster route for Australia, New Zealand and the UK

RNs (Adult or Child) educated in Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom have an expedited path: Inspire verifies identity, English and education; you complete one of two approved courses (at KPU or BCIT) on nursing in Canada; you then receive a provisional licence and complete 250 hours of transitional practice with one employer within a year; and you write the NCLEX-RN. BCCNM also has a separate route for U.S.-educated nurses.

English, costs and what changed from NNAS

BCCNM's approved English tests and minimums for RNs include CELBAN (reading 8, listening 9, writing 7, speaking 8), IELTS Academic (overall 7.0, with reading 6.5, listening 7.0, writing 6.5, speaking 7.0), OET and PTE Academic. Evidence must be no more than two years old. Note these are different tests from the BC PNP's (which accepts IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General, PTE Core, TEF Canada or TCF Canada), so you may need two tests.

Until 2023, credential checks went through the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS), which the B.C. government said could take up to two years. In January 2023 the province introduced a new pathway, said internationally educated nurses would no longer pay more than $3,700 in application and assessment fees upfront, and estimated the wait for registration would drop from three years to about four to nine months. That estimate is from 2023, so treat it as a guide, not a promise. Today BCCNM says "the majority of fees are available for reimbursement through the Internationally Educated Nurse Bursary Program," and BCCNM warns against paying agencies to submit applications for you. It also recommends having your work permit in place before you apply.

Step one for HCAs: the BC Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry

The Registry says HCAs must be registered to work in public health care settings in B.C., and the BC PNP requires registration for any NOC 33102 job offer, whether the employer is public or private. How you register depends on where you trained:

Your training	Registry category	What to expect
Recognized B.C. HCA program	B.C. graduate	Application review takes 5–10 business days
HCA program in another province	Canadian graduate	Two pathways with different requirements
HCA-equivalent or nursing program abroad	Internationally educated	Credential report, English test, Inspire competency assessment

For internationally educated applicants, the Registry's process is:

Apply online with proof of training, an English test (IELTS Academic, CELBAN, PTE Academic or OET; native English speakers use an exemption form) and an ICES Basic Evaluation Report or an accepted equivalent such as NNAS, WES or IQAS.
The Registry contacts you within 10 business days and, if you qualify, sends a referral consent form.
Inspire Global Assessments emails scheduling and payment instructions in about 15 business days and sends your performance report within 60 days of the assessment.
The Registry reviews the report within 15 business days. You may need remedial education before registration; if all competencies are demonstrated, you are registered.

Which BC PNP stream: Health Authority or Skilled Worker?

	Health Authority stream	Skilled Worker stream (targeted Health draw)
Employer	A B.C. public health authority, as a direct employee	Any eligible B.C. employer, e.g. private long-term care homes or clinics
Registration and draw	None. Apply directly once supported	Register, wait for a Health draw, apply within 30 days
Occupations	Any NOC starting with 3, plus 41300, 41301, 42201	The 31 Care health NOCs for targeted invitations
Work experience	As required by the BC PNP and your health authority	Two years full-time in any TEER 0–3 job within 10 years
Key hurdle	Health authority support, signed only by delegated staff	Reaching the draw's minimum score
EEBC option	Yes	Yes

The health authorities are Provincial Health Services Authority, First Nations Health Authority, Fraser Health, Interior Health, Island Health, Northern Health, Vancouver Coastal Health and Providence Health Care. Each decides for itself which applications to support, and the job must be regular, indeterminate and full-time. The program guide notes that BC Health Careers offers free recruitment help on the health authorities' behalf. Our Health Authority stream guide explains the support process.

Not for nurses or HCAs: the rural/remote initiative

The Temporary Rural/Remote Health Support Initiative, with up to 250 nominations, is only for health authority employees in cleaning and security jobs (NOC 64410, 65310, 65312) in rural or remote areas. Its registration closed October 7, 2026.

Every 2026 targeted Health draw

Date	Minimum score	Invitations
May 6, 2026	108	117
June 2, 2026	100	117
July 9, 2026	96	116
August 6, 2026	84	124
September 10, 2026	76	143
October 8, 2026	76	82

Source: WelcomeBC invitations to apply page. Each draw covered "all priority health care occupations."

A 32-point drop in five months is significant. It suggests the pool of registered health workers with job offers was smaller than the invitations B.C. wanted to issue. Remember that Health Authority stream applicants are not in these draws at all, so the draw cutoffs describe only the private-employer side of the sector.

What you will earn and how it scores

Occupation (Job Bank, B.C.)	Low	Median	High	BC PNP wage points at median
Registered nurse (31301)	$35.00	$47.58	$57.00	32
Health care aide (33102)	$22.37	$27.89	$29.83	12

Hourly wages updated by Job Bank on November 19, 2025 (2023–2024 reference period).

One quirk of the scoring grid: the BC PNP's professional designation list gives 5 points to LPNs licensed with BCCNM and to HCAs on the Care Aide Registry, but registered nurses are not on that list. Language also behaves differently: HCA jobs are TEER 3, so you need at least CLB 4; RN jobs are TEER 1, so a test is not mandatory at registration unless you claim language points (and you almost always should).

Example 1: RN at a private care home in Kamloops

Wage of $45.00 an hour (30), five years of nursing experience (20) plus a year in Canada (10) and current employment with the employer (10), a foreign bachelor's degree (15), CLB 8 (25), Area 3 (15) and regional experience (10): 135 points, far above recent cutoffs. For most qualified RNs, the score is not the obstacle; licensing and the job offer are.

Example 2: Registered HCA in Surrey vs Vernon

An HCA in a Surrey private care home earning $27.50 (12), with two years of experience (8), a year in Canada (10), current employment (10), a B.C. HCA certificate (5 + 8), Registry designation (5) and CLB 6 (15) scores 73 in Area 1, just under the 76 cutoff. The same profile working in Vernon for at least a year scores 98 (Area 3 plus regional experience). If the Surrey HCA worked directly for Fraser Health instead, the Health Authority stream would avoid the draw entirely. You can model these trade-offs with our BC PNP calculator.

A realistic timeline

Stage	Published timing
HCA Registry: Inspire performance report	Within 60 days of the assessment
Nurses: BCCNM registration	About 4–9 months (B.C.'s 2023 estimate); longer if bridging is required
BC PNP registration in pool	Up to 12 months; Health draws were roughly monthly from May 2026
BC PNP application after invitation	Submit within 30 days; about 80% decided within 3 months
IRCC permanent residence	Separate federal processing; faster with EEBC

Express Entry as a second door

RNs (31301), LPNs (32101) and nurse aides (33102) are all in IRCC's 2026 healthcare and social services category, which needs 12 months of experience in one eligible occupation within three years. IRCC held three such rounds through October 13, 2026, with cutoffs of 467 to 475. If you qualify for a federal program, using the BC PNP's EEBC option lets you pursue both doors at once. IRCC is reviewing its categories for 2027 and has floated narrowing them, possibly toward TEER 0–2 jobs, which would matter for HCAs. See Express Entry 2027 category changes.

What to expect in 2027 (analysis)

Health care should stay central. It is the largest group on B.C.'s Care list and the Health Authority stream continues. We expect targeted Health draws in 2027, but B.C. has not said so.
Cutoffs depend on the allocation. B.C. used a 2026 allocation of 6,254 after an August top-up. The 2027 number will follow the federal levels plan expected in early November 2026.
Licensing remains the bottleneck. Time spent on BCCNM or Registry requirements now is the most valuable preparation for 2027.

Common mistakes

Registering as an HCA before you are on the Registry. You will not receive a targeted invitation, and a 33102 job offer without registration is ineligible.
Accepting a casual or part-time health authority position. Both streams require full-time, indeterminate employment.
Paying an agency to file your BCCNM application. BCCNM says you must complete and submit your own application.
Using the wrong language test. BCCNM and the Registry accept academic or health-specific tests; the BC PNP accepts general tests. Plan for both if needed.
Claiming RN points with an LPN job offer. Your NOC follows the job you are offered, not your highest licence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do internationally educated nurses still have to go through NNAS to work in B.C.?

No. Since B.C. changed its process in 2023, NNAS is no longer the only route for credential checks. BCCNM's current instructions say internationally educated nurses start with Inspire Global Assessments, which checks identity, English, education and nursing competence, and apply to BCCNM at the same time. BCCNM assesses most applicants for both LPN and RN licensure in a single application.

Should a nurse use the Health Authority stream or wait for a targeted Health draw?

If a B.C. public health authority employs you, or will hire you, in a regular, indeterminate, full-time role and agrees to support you, the Health Authority stream is usually the better route because you apply directly without registering or waiting for a draw. Nurses with offers from private employers, such as private long-term care homes or clinics, use the Skilled Worker stream and compete in targeted Health draws.

Do health care assistants need to be on the BC Care Aide Registry for the BC PNP?

Yes. The BC PNP program guide says anyone with a job offer under NOC 33102 must be on the BC Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry. Registration is also required to receive a targeted Health invitation and earns 5 professional designation points.

What score did health workers need in the 2026 BC PNP draws?

WelcomeBC's invitations page shows six Health draws for all priority health care occupations between May 6 and October 8, 2026. The minimum score fell from 108 in May to 76 in September and October, with 82 to 143 invitations per draw.

Can I work as an LPN while I finish my RN requirements?

BCCNM says that because most internationally educated nurses are assessed for both LPN and RN licensure in one application, you can choose to enter the workforce as an LPN while completing your RN requirements, without reapplying.

Will the BC PNP still prioritize nurses and HCAs in 2027?

B.C. has not announced its 2027 priorities or allocation. As of October 14, 2026, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and registered HCAs are all on the BC PNP's Care health list and the Health Authority stream continues. We expect health care to remain a priority, but invitation numbers and cutoffs in 2027 are not known.

Sources

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