Kelowna announces priority sectors for the 2026 FCIP

The City of Kelowna has announced the priority sectors and occupations targeted under the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP) for 2026.

This year, Kelowna – a city located in south-central British Columbia, on the eastern shore of the Okanagan Valley – has added one priority sector and eight new in-demand occupations.

To be considered for permanent residence (PR) nomination through the FCIP, foreign nationals must have qualified French language proficiency and a job offer from a designated employer.

Kelowna’s 2026 priority sectors

This year, Kelowna is prioritising six sectors under the FCIP – all of which are currently listed as “open” by the Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique (SDECB), the entity overseeing referrals and designations:

• Sales and service
• Trades, transport and equipment operators
• Education, law and social, community and government services
• Healthcare
• Natural and applied sciences
• Business, finance and administration

In general, these sectors reflect Kelowna’s 2025 priorities, with the only change this year being the addition of the “business, finance and administration” sector.

Note: Specifically for the sales and service sector, the SDECB will not issue more than 10 community recommendation certificates (or “referrals”) – and a maximum of two referrals per code National Occupational Classification (NOC) system. For the trades sector, each trade is limited to a maximum of three recommendations.

Kelowna’s 2026 priority occupations

The largest city in the Okanagan Valley has identified the following 25 occupations – along with their corresponding NOC codes – as high-demand professions in 2026.

Occupations in bold are newly prioritised in 2026 (a total of eight occupations), while all remaining occupations were also targeted in 2025.

Occupations	NOC code
Accounting technicians and bookkeepers	12200
Administrative officers	13100
Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics	72410
Bakers	63202
Cabinetmakers	72311
Carpenters	72310
Cleaning supervisors	62024
Cooks	63200
Corporate sales managers	60010
Early childhood educators and assistants	42202
Electricians (except industrial and power system)	72200
Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants	43100
Forestry technicians	22112
Home child care providers and related occupations	44101
Hotel front desk clerks	64314
Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations	33101
Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates	33102
Other assisting occupations in support of health services	33109
Other repairers and servicers	73209
Painters and decorators (except interior designers)	73112
Plasterers, drywall installers and finishers	73102
Roofer	73110
Social and community service workers	42201
Financial and insurance clerks	12011
Office and administrative support supervisors	12010

There are currently 40 employers designated by the SDECB to participate in the FCIP, though most are not currently hiring. The full list can be found on the SDECB website.

The City of Kelowna notes that “fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations, vape shops, and cannabis stores are not eligible to participate in the programme”.

The minimum wage for the aforementioned occupations ranges from CA$21 to CA$28 per hour.

FCIP intake periods and referral information in Kelowna for 2026

Kelowna will have seven intake periods in 2026, with the first opening in June.

Each intake period will be open from the 15th to the 30th of each month, during which designated employers may submit candidate proposals to the SDECB for review. Each employer may not submit more than three proposals for consideration.

The SDECB notes that at the time of writing, there is one proposal certificate available for NOC code 60010 (corporate sales manager) and two certificates remaining for the following occupations: baker (63202), cleaning supervisor (62024), cook (63200), and hotel front desk clerk (64314).

Introduction to the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot

The FCIP is a five-year pilot programme launched in 2025 alongside Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP), designed to promote immigration to Francophone minority communities outside Quebec.

To be eligible, applicants must have a job offer from an employer designated by the community (e.g., the SDECB in Kelowna) and demonstrate language proficiency at level 5 on the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) scale across all four language skills.

Once the foreign national is granted a job offer, the employer will propose them to the community for participation in the FCIP. Only those with job offers in priority sectors and occupations will be proposed.

If the proposal is approved by the designated community, the foreign national may apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence.

In addition to the job offer and language requirements, French-speaking candidates must also have:

• One year of relevant work experience in the last three years (depending on the job offer): TEER 0/1 offer: experience in TEER 0-3; TEER 2 offer: experience in TEER 1-4; TEER 3/4 offer: experience in TEER 2-4; TEER 5 offer: experience in the same 5-digit NOC code.
• At least a Canadian high school diploma (or foreign equivalent, accompanied by Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)).
• Sufficient funds to support themselves (and their family, if applicable), with a minimum of CA$10,507 for a single applicant. Those currently working in Canada with a valid work permit are exempt from this requirement.

Note: Foreign nationals may be eligible for a special two-year work permit, allowing them to begin working for the designated employer under the FCIP while their permanent residence application is being processed.