The guide below takes a deep look into one of the streams of the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP), the Health Authority (HA) 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.
BC Health Authority – Overview
There are two Health Authority (HA) streams under British Columbia’s PNP:
- one that is aligned with Express Entry (Express Entry BC category), which means that a candidate needs a valid Express Entry profile to be eligible to the stream, and
- one that is not aligned with Express Entry (Skills Immigration category), meaning that the candidate cannot enjoy the faster processing times of Express Entry.
Both streams have virtually the same eligibility requirements.
The HA 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.
BC Health Authority – Eligibility
There are 4 categories of eligibility requirements to be able to apply under the Health Authority (HA) stream, summarized below.
Job Offer
You must hold an offer of indeterminate, full-time employment with a BC public health authority:
- Provincial Health Services Authority
- First Nations Health Authority
- Fraser Health
- Interior Health
- Island Health
- Northern Health
- Vancouver Coastal Health
- Providence Health Care
Your job offer may be in any occupation, at any NOC TEER category.
If you are working in an occupation that is eligible under BCPNP Tech, your job offer does not have to be indeterminate.
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).
If you are a physician, nurse practitioner or midwife, your application must include a recommendation letter and supporting documentation from the health authority or midwife practice group that confirms:
- your qualifications,
- that you are or will soon be working as a physician, nurse practitioner or midwife in BC,
- your work location, and
- that the health authority or midwife practice group supports your BCPNP application.
Depending on the NOC code, additional qualification requirements may apply.
Work experience
You must meet the education, training, experience, and qualifications outlined by the public health authority.
Language
If the Job Offer’s NOC code is of TEER Category 0 or 1, 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 TEER Category 2, 3, 4 or 5, you will need to have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of at least 4 to be eligible.
Minimum income
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.
There are discrepancies between the minimum requirements under the federal programs and the HA 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.
BC Health Authority – Application Process
For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the two Health Authority (HA) streams.
(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 HA stream eligibility requirements.
- Apply to the HA 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.
You can check out our 10-step guide for Express Entry for more detailed information and advice.
(ii) For the Skills Immigration category (not aligned with Express Entry), candidates must:
- Qualify for the minimum HA stream eligibility requirements.
- Apply to the HA 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.
BC Health Authority – 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.
BC Health Authority – Processing Times
BC Health Authority – Latest News & Data
BC Health Authority – In-Demand Occupations?
In the case of the Health Authority stream, it is a special case. Indeed, under BCPNP Tech, if your job offer is in one of the NOC Tech codes, your application can enjoy faster processing times. You can find out about the other provinces’ targeted jobs in our in-demand NOC codes article.
