B.C. PNP Gains More Nominations, To Process Waitlisted Post-Grads

British Columbia has received a welcome boost to its immigration program. The province confirmed an increase of 1,254 nominations under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). The total allocation for 2025 now stands at 5,254 spots, compared to 4,000 earlier this year.

This rise allows B.C. to recover close to 69% of the 8,000 provincial nomination slots it held in 2024. The announcement came on October 2, 2025, and has already brought relief to many hopeful applicants.

Impact on Waitlisted Applications
The province said it will use these new allocations to process part of the 2,240 International Post-Graduate (IPG) Stream applications submitted in 2024. These applications had been waitlisted earlier this year after B.C. paused the intake between September 2024 and January 2025 due to a shortage of nomination spaces.

Officials explained that the extra slots will help move some of these delayed files forward. The province also confirmed that healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, and other high-impact workers remain a top priority for the BC PNP.

Federal Reductions Spark Provincial Pressure
The increase comes after the federal government reduced overall immigration targets in response to housing pressures and rising demand for social services.

In its 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, Ottawa set the permanent resident admissions target for 2025 at 395,000, down from 485,000 in 2024. Provincial Nominee Programs were hit hard, with allocations cut by half. Only 55,000 landings are expected across all provinces this year, compared to 110,000 the year before.

B.C. and other provinces continue to ask for more spaces to meet their economic needs. Officials said the province will not expand its immigration priorities further until it receives more nomination slots.

Draws in 2025 So Far
So far this year, B.C. has concentrated on inviting entrepreneurs through its immigration draws. Most of its nine draws focused on Entrepreneur Immigration, though the Skills Immigration category has still issued the majority of invitations.

Through Skills Immigration, the province invited 94 candidates on May 8, 2025, and 474 on October 2, 2025. This brings the total to 568 invitations this year under that category.

Entrepreneur Immigration has seen smaller numbers. Seven draws throughout the year brought in no more than 86 entrepreneurs in total, with the latest draw on October 2 issuing 11 invitations.

Other Provinces Also See Increases
British Columbia is not the only province receiving more nominations. Several others, including Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories, have also announced increases this year.

The additional spaces are meant to help provinces deal with worker shortages while balancing national immigration levels. For B.C., this means a chance to move ahead with long-delayed applications and support sectors most in need of skilled talent.