When BC scrapped its tech draws, Entry-Level streams, and graduate streams on April 23 and replaced them with a three-pillar "Care, Build, Innovate" framework, the big question for candidates was simple: what does an actual draw look like now? On May 5 and 6, we got the answer. Back-to-back rounds issued 341 invitations to apply total — 333 to skilled workers across four occupational categories, and 8 to entrepreneurs. It's the first real signal of how BC plans to use its new system.
What happened
According to CIC News' reporting on the BC PNP's official invitation page, BC ran two distinct draws this week:
- May 5 — Entrepreneur Immigration (EI): 8 ITAs at minimum score 115 (Base Stream), with fewer than 5 ITAs in the Regional Stream also at 115
- May 6 — Skills Immigration (SI): 333 ITAs across four occupational categories under the new Care and Build pillars
The SI round is the more revealing of the two. Instead of pulling from a single ranked pool, BC issued targeted invitations under specific occupational buckets aligned with its Look West economic strategy.
Skills Immigration: the May 6 breakdown
| Core Objective | Occupational Category | NOCs Targeted | ITAs Issued | Minimum Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care | Health | 31 | 117 | 108 |
| Care | Veterinary | 2 | 9 | 100 |
| Care | Education (ECE) | 1 | 86 | 115 |
| Build | Construction trades | 9 | 121 | 108 |
Three things jump out.
Construction trades got the largest single share. At 121 ITAs (36.3% of the round), trades workers — welders, electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, carpenters, millwrights, heavy-duty mechanics, HVAC mechanics — pulled the biggest allocation. BC's housing crunch is real, and the province is making it operational policy.
Healthcare was a close second at 117 ITAs. The targeted list is broad: 31 NOCs spanning physicians, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, dental hygienists, lab technologists, radiation technologists, sonographers, occupational therapists, social workers, and more. If you work in regulated healthcare in BC, this is the round that was built for you.
Early Childhood Educators got their own bucket. Only one NOC (42202 Early Childhood Educators) under the Care pillar's Education category, and 86 ITAs issued at the highest score threshold of the round — 115. The score reflects that ECE is a small, competitive pool where most candidates already cluster at the top.
Veterinary care was the smallest and lowest-threshold bucket. 9 ITAs at a minimum score of just 100, covering veterinarians (NOC 31103) and animal health technologists (NOC 32104). BC has signaled that vet care is part of "Care" — but the pool is shallow, so the score floor is low.
What's not on the list
Worth noting what BC did NOT invite on May 6:
- No tech occupations. The dedicated tech draws are gone, and the May 6 round didn't loop them back in under another pillar. Software developers, web designers, and IT professionals are now competing for Innovate slots (entrepreneurship, high economic impact) — not Care or Build.
- No general or non-priority NOCs. Hospitality, retail, food service, transport, finance, and general office occupations weren't part of the round. Under the old Skills Immigration framework, these still had a path through Skilled Worker. Under Look West, they don't have a visible one.
- No Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD grad-targeted invitations. Those streams were cancelled in the April 23 overhaul, and the May 6 round confirmed BC has no intention of replacing them with a graduate-focused category-based round.
If you're not in healthcare, ECE, construction trades, or veterinary care, the May 6 draw is a clear signal: BC PNP isn't your fastest route to PR in 2026.
The Skills Immigration pool
As of May 6, the BC PNP Skills Immigration registration pool sits at 9,967 candidates. Score distribution from CIC News:
| Score Range | Registrations |
|---|---|
| 0–59 | 215 |
| 60–69 | 401 |
| 70–79 | 853 |
| 80–89 | 1,353 |
| 90–99 | 1,781 |
| 100–109 | 2,107 |
| 110–119 | 1,550 |
| 120–129 | 1,148 |
| 130–139 | 522 |
| 140–149 | 32 |
| 150+ | 5 |
The score thresholds from May 6 (100, 108, 108, 115) map cleanly onto this distribution. The 100-floor for veterinary care reached deep into the 100–109 band; the 108-floor for health and trades pulled from the top of that same band plus all of 110+; the 115-floor for ECE pulled only from the 110–119 band and above. None of the May 6 categories reached down into the 90s, where roughly 4,000 candidates sit.
If your SI registration score is in the 90s, the May 6 draw passed you by. Either improve your score (most efficient lever: a higher language test result or a higher-wage job offer) or accept that BC is unlikely to pull at your level in the new framework.
Entrepreneur Immigration: the May 5 round
The May 5 EI draw is smaller and quieter, but worth understanding because it confirmed two things.
Both EI streams now run at the same score. Base Stream and Regional Stream both invited at a minimum score of 115. This is the first 2026 EI round where the two streams matched — historically the Regional Stream has invited at slightly lower scores to incentivize candidates outside Metro Vancouver. The fact that BC has equalized them suggests applicant supply is now strong enough province-wide that Regional doesn't need a discount.
The volume is tiny. 8 ITAs in Base, fewer than 5 in Regional. Across all 2026 to date, BC has issued only 49 EI invitations in 8 draws — averaging 6 per round. EI is a low-volume, high-bar program, and that's not changing under Look West.
The Base Stream is for foreign nationals who want to establish a new business or take over an existing one anywhere in BC. The Regional Stream is for those starting a new business outside the Metro Vancouver Regional District, with extra requirements: a community referral letter, an exploratory visit, and stricter location commitments. Both streams require minimum personal net worth and a defined investment threshold — see the BC PNP guide for the current dollar figures.
What the May 5–6 draws tell us about Look West
Three patterns are now visible in how BC plans to operate under the new framework.
1. Targeted, not ranked. Old BC PNP Skills Immigration draws invited the top of the pool by score. The May 6 round inverted that: BC chose four occupational buckets first, then set a separate score floor for each. The implication for candidates is that your raw SI score matters less than whether your NOC is on the priority list.
2. Per-category score thresholds, not a single cutoff. The May 6 round used four different minimum scores (100, 108, 108, 115) for four different occupation groups. Expect this pattern to continue — and expect the floor to shift draw-to-draw based on how many candidates BC needs in each bucket.
3. Pillar share, not pool depth, drives volume. Construction got 121 ITAs not because trades workers have the highest scores in the pool, but because Build is a high-priority pillar in BC's economic strategy. Education got 86 ITAs because there's a known shortage of ECEs in regulated childcare settings, even though the score threshold was the highest. The new system is fundamentally about labour-market signal, not pool rank.
What's next for BC PNP
BC has not published a draw calendar, and the new framework is too fresh to read patterns from. But based on the May 5–6 rounds and BC's stated priorities, the most likely cadence for the next few months:
- Skills Immigration draws every 2–4 weeks, with similar splits across Care (Health + ECE + Vet) and Build (trades) pillars.
- Occasional Innovate draws for high economic impact candidates and tech entrepreneurs — likely small (50–150 ITAs) and at higher score thresholds.
- Entrepreneur Immigration draws monthly, with 5–10 ITAs per stream.
- No dedicated tech, graduate, or general-skilled draws — those streams are closed.
If you got an ITA on May 5 or 6, you have 30 days under SI rules (or up to 60 days under EI's case-specific timelines) to submit a complete provincial nomination application. The required documentation is standard for BC PNP: language test results, ECA if your credentials are foreign, a current employment letter on company letterhead with job duties and salary, proof of qualifications and licensing where applicable, and any sector-specific documents (e.g., SkilledTradesBC apprenticeship confirmation for trades workers).
If you missed the May 6 round because your NOC wasn't on the list — but you're working in BC in a closely related occupation — check whether your job duties actually match a priority NOC even if your title doesn't. BC PNP officers assess the NOC by the duties you perform on the job, not the title in your offer letter. A "Site Supervisor" who actually performs the duties of NOC 72310 Carpenter, or a "Care Coordinator" whose duties match NOC 31301 Registered Nurses, may qualify under the priority list. Get a job-duties letter from your employer that mirrors the official NOC description language, not your internal job title.
CRS check and next steps
If you're a BC-based candidate weighing Express Entry against BC PNP under the new framework, the CRS Calculator and Draw Tracker will tell you whether your federal score is competitive enough to skip the provincial route. With CEC cutoffs running between 508 and 515 in recent draws, candidates above 510 may not need a PNP boost at all.
Useful next reads: BC PNP 'Look West' Overhaul | BC PNP 2026 Guide | PNP Guide | Express Entry Pool Update May 2026 | Healthcare Workers Canada Immigration | Skilled Trades Immigration