VICTORIA, B.C. - British Columbia invited 772 candidates to apply for provincial nomination in its latest Skills Immigration draw on Thursday, October 29, 2026, all of them under the Innovate: High Economic Impact category.
The draw, published on the province’s WelcomeBC invitations page, was split into two selection groups. In the first, 524 invitations went to candidates with a job offer paying a minimum wage of $49 per hour and $99,000 per year, in a National Occupational Classification (NOC) Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation. In the second, 248 invitations went to candidates selected on points, with a minimum score of 131.
An invitation to apply is not a nomination and not permanent residence. It means the candidate has been invited to submit a full application to the BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). Invitations go to qualified registrations received before the date of the draw, according to the province’s program information.
In plain terms, TEER 0, 1, 2 and 3 cover management roles and occupations that usually require a university degree, a college diploma or apprenticeship training, or several years of experience. The Innovate: High Economic Impact stream is aimed at candidates expected to create high economic impact in British Columbia, either through a high-wage job offer or a strong registration score.
The October 29 result continues a pattern visible in the province’s own table. The points cutoff held steady at 131, the same minimum score used in the September 24 Innovate draw, which invited 288 candidates on points. The wage threshold, however, eased: September 24 invited 426 candidates at a minimum of $52 per hour and $105,000 per year, while October 29 invited 524 candidates at $49 per hour and $99,000 per year. A lower wage bar with more invitations suggests the province widened that selection group this round, though the province’s table does not state a reason for the change, and this article does not invent one.
The draw follows a different set of October selections earlier in the month. On October 8, the province invited candidates in priority occupations: 86 early childhood educators at a minimum score of 99, 82 priority health care workers at 76, 115 priority construction trades workers at 94, and fewer than five veterinary care workers at 86. On October 15, it invited 16 candidates under the Temporary Rural/Remote Health Support Initiative at a minimum score of 54. Those were separate draws with separate criteria, and their cutoffs should not be compared directly with the October 29 Innovate cutoffs.
For Surrey readers, this draw matters because Surrey is home to one of the largest immigrant communities in the province, and many local employers and workers follow the BC PNP closely. High-wage job offers in management, professional and technical roles are common in Surrey’s health, construction, technology and business services sectors, and a provincial nomination can be a decisive step toward permanent residence for a worker already employed here. Anyone invited in this round should work from the date on their own invitation and the current program guide, not from headlines: program criteria, fees and deadlines change, and the province warns that past cutoffs are not a guarantee of future results.
Candidates who were not invited remain in the registration pool. The province’s published pool breakdown, as of October 6, 2026, shows 7,695 registrations, with the largest groups scoring between 80 and 119 points. That pool figure predates the October 29 draw and will change as new registrations arrive and new draws are held.
(Source: WelcomeBC invitations to apply table, Government of British Columbia, October 29, 2026)
