Why this is different
Two features make this the most valuable stream in the province, and both are structural rather than a matter of scoring well.
- It reaches below TEER 3, but only on the eligible list. This is the correction that matters most on this page. The occupation must be a Health Authority-eligible occupation, on a list the province publishes. Within that list the stream does reach work below TEER 3, which is excluded everywhere else in the programme, so a support role can qualify here where it could not under the Skilled Worker stream. What is not true, and what an earlier version of this page said, is that any occupation qualifies.
- No registration, no pool, no draw. The application goes directly to the province rather than sitting in the pool waiting to be selected. There is no score to reach and no draw to wait for, which removes the single biggest uncertainty in British Columbia immigration.
- Physicians, nurse practitioners and midwives do not need to be employed. They can qualify with the support of a health authority or a midwife practice group while working, or about to work, in the province independently. The province has said there is no cap on physician nominations.
This is the answer to the question the rest of the programme creates. British Columbia has closed the entry level stream, both graduate streams and the technology pilot, and now draws only from priority categories. A health authority offer sidesteps all of it. Where a client has any plausible route into a health authority, in any role, that is worth pursuing before anything else.
Who qualifies
Two routes in, and the second is easy to miss.
- Employed by an authority. A full time indeterminate offer, meaning no end date, from one of the eight public health authorities, in an occupation on the Health Authority-eligible list.
- Supported but not employed. Physicians, nurse practitioners and midwives working or about to work in British Columbia with the support of a health authority or a midwife practice group, without being directly employed by one.
- The general requirements still apply. Language at the level required for the occupation, a wage within the published range, and the province's employer requirements. What does not apply is the registration score.
- The federal route stays open. Candidates with an active federal Express Entry profile can be nominated through the Express Entry variant, which adds 600 points to the federal ranking score. That option is limited to offers at TEER 0 to 3, so a TEER 4 or 5 health authority offer takes the paper based route instead.
The eligible occupations, and the list people confuse it with
British Columbia publishes two health occupation lists a short scroll apart on the same page, under headings that look parallel and are not. Getting them the wrong way round is the most common error about this province, and it was ours.
- This list, of 46 codes, is who may apply. It is the Health Authority eligible occupation list, and the job offer must be in one of these occupations. It was added in around April 2025; before that the stream took any occupation from a health authority, which is what a good deal of older material still says.
- A separate list of 31 codes is who gets invited. That is the Care category health list, used for targeted invitations under the programme's 2026 restructuring. It is narrower, and it is not the same question.
- Fifteen occupations are on this list and not on that one. Veterinarians, optometrists, opticians, veterinary technicians, denturists, pharmacy technicians, massage therapists, dental assistants, pharmacy assistants, counselling therapists, social and community service workers and three other groups. Someone in one of those roles at a health authority can apply through this stream, and would not receive a targeted Care invitation. Since this stream needs no invitation at all, that distinction costs them nothing.
- Thirty-six is a third number, and it is neither. The province's own announcement of 23 April 2026 says 36 in-demand Care occupations. That is the whole Care category, being 31 health plus one childcare plus two education plus two veterinary. It is not a count of health occupations at all.
| Code and occupation | Code and occupation |
|---|---|
| 30010 Managers in health care | 32103 Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists |
| 31100 Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine | 32104 Animal health technologists and veterinary technicians |
| 31101 Specialists in surgery | 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment |
| 31102 General practitioners and family physicians | 32110 Denturists |
| 31103 Veterinarians | 32111 Dental hygienists and dental therapists |
| 31110 Dentists | 32112 Dental technologists and technicians |
| 31111 Optometrists | 32120 Medical laboratory technologists |
| 31112 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists | 32121 Medical radiation technologists |
| 31120 Pharmacists | 32122 Medical sonographers |
| 31121 Dietitians and nutritionists | 32123 Cardiology and electrophysiological diagnostic technologists |
| 31200 Psychologists | 32124 Pharmacy technicians |
| 31201 Chiropractors | 32129 Other medical technologists and technicians |
| 31202 Physiotherapists | 32200 Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and acupuncturists |
| 31203 Occupational therapists | 32201 Massage therapists |
| 31204 Kinesiologists and other professionals in therapy and assessment | 32209 Other practitioners of healing |
| 31209 Other professionals in health diagnosing and treating | 33100 Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants * |
| 31300 Nursing coordinators and supervisors | 33101 Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations |
| 31301 Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses | 33102 Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates ** |
| 31302 Nurse practitioners | 33103 Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants |
| 31303 Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals | 33109 Other assisting occupations in support of health services |
| 32100 Opticians | 41300 Social workers |
| 32101 Licensed practical nurses | 41301 Therapists in counselling and related specialised therapies |
| 32102 Paramedical occupations | 42201 Social and community service workers *** |
Three carry conditions. Dental assistants at 33100 must hold the British Columbia licence, so an unlicensed chairside assistant is not eligible. Nurse aides at 33102 must be registered with the Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry. Social and community service workers at 42201 must hold a diploma or degree in social services or community health services. Note also that 33102 sits at TEER 4, which is how this stream reaches below the TEER 3 floor that governs the Skilled Worker stream.
Requirements checker
A structured way to see where you stand against the published criteria. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction that you will be invited.
Your situation
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