Which jobs qualify for the North Okanagan-Shuswap RCIP in 2026?

The community publishes a fixed list for 2026. Each occupation sits in one of three categories, and the category sets the job offer points. If your job's NOC code is not on the list, the offer does not qualify unless the community approves it as a secondary NOC, covered below.

Category 1, 20 points: accounting technicians and bookkeepers (NOC 12200), legal administrative assistants (13111), industrial and manufacturing engineers (21321), pharmacy technicians (32124), dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants (33100), medical laboratory assistants (33101), nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (33102), social and community service workers (42201) and early childhood educators (42202).

Category 2, 15 points: accounting and related clerks (14200), insurance agents and brokers (63100), carpenters (72310), heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics (72402), automotive service technicians (72410), transport truck drivers (73300), manufacturing managers (90010) and process control and machine operators in food and beverage processing (94140).

Category 3, 10 points: administrative officers (13100), restaurant and food service managers (60030), retail sales supervisors (62010), executive housekeepers (62021), bakers (63202), light duty cleaners (65310), construction trades helpers and labourers (75110) and plastic products assemblers, finishers and inspectors (94212).

Two details change the picture. Early childhood educator assistants share code 42202 but are considered as a secondary NOC, which scores 10 points. Administrative officers need a degree or diploma in business or public administration. Finding your NOC and TEER explains how to match a job to a code by its duties, not its title.

The offer must be for at least 30 hours a week and pay at least $22 an hour, unless the occupation sets a higher minimum. Those are $23 for nurse aides, $23.99 for medical laboratory assistants, $24.64 for administrative officers, $25 for restaurant and food service managers and executive housekeepers, $26 for carpenters, $29 for dental assistants, $30 for heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics, $32.92 for industrial and manufacturing engineers and $35.54 for manufacturing managers.

A wage above the minimum adds points: 3 for an offer $2 an hour above it and 5 for an offer $5 above it. The job offer factor is worth 25 at most, so a Category 1 job paying $5 above its minimum reaches the full 25. The North Okanagan-Shuswap calculator applies the grid to your answers and shows the other four factors.

Some occupations are capped. Per employer, per year: 10 for social and community service workers, 2 for bakers and for construction trades helpers and labourers, and 1 for accounting and related clerks, restaurant and food service managers and retail sales supervisors. Community-wide for 2026: 50 recommendations for social and community service workers, 15 for restaurant and food service managers, 15 for construction trades helpers and labourers, 10 for retail sales supervisors and 10 for executive housekeepers. The community's page showed how many were left on August 7, 2026.

The employer's sector comes first. The community says a priority occupation with an employer outside its six priority sectors is not eligible. Six kinds of business are excluded even inside a priority sector: gasoline stations, food service contractors, mobile food services, fast food outlets, cafeterias and buffets, and snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars.

If the job is not on the list, a designated employer can ask the RCIP team to approve a secondary NOC for a specific hire. It needs written approval before the employer files anything, and it scores 10 job offer points.

An application needs 50 points to enter the pool, but the pool is ranked and only the highest scores go to each recommendation meeting. The lowest scores recommended at the four 2026 meetings published so far were 91, 93, 94 and 96, rising each time. The fifth intake closed on November 10, 2026, and its meeting is set for December 9.

No intake windows remain in 2026; the community has not yet published its 2027 calendar. An application that is not recommended stays in the pool for six months, and a recommendation is valid for six months.

IRCC's requirements sit underneath the community's list: at least one year (1,560 hours) of related work experience in the past three years, a language test at the level set by the job offer's TEER, a Canadian credential or an assessed foreign equivalent, and settlement funds unless you already work in Canada on a valid permit. Our RCIP page sets them out, and the North Okanagan-Shuswap calculator checks them before it scores you.

Your employer files the recommendation application, not you. The community says its employer list is not to be used by candidates or immigration consultants to solicit job offers, and that an unsolicited request for a job offer may be treated as a breach of its guidelines.

The pilot becomes a permanent program on January 1, 2027. The community had not published a 2027 occupation list when we checked on November 11, 2026, so this guide describes the 2026 list.

Whether the NOC on the offer matches the duties, whether the wage clears the occupation's own minimum and by how much, whether a cap for that occupation is already used up, and your total against the last published cut-off of 96, not the 50 floor. The dates and scores in this guide come from the community's published schedule as we last checked it on November 1, 2026.