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

This year, Kelowna, situated in south-central British Columbia on the east shore of the Okanagan Valley, has introduced an additional priority sector and eight new in-demand occupations.

To be eligible for permanent residence (PR) through the FCIP, foreign nationals must demonstrate qualifying French language skills and secure a job offer from a designated employer.

This article will outline Kelowna’s 2026 priority sectors and occupations, along with recommendation intakes.

Kelowna’s 2026 Priority Sectors

This year, Kelowna is focusing on six sectors under the FCIP, all currently categorized as ‘open’ by the British Columbia Economic Development Corporation (SDECB), which manages recommendations and designations:

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

These sectors align with Kelowna’s 2025 priorities, with the only change this year being the addition of the ‘Business, finance and administration’ sector.

Note: The SDECB will issue a maximum of 10 community recommendation certificates for the sales and services sector, with a limit of two referrals per National Occupational Classification (NOC) code.

For the trades sector, each occupation is restricted to a maximum of three recommendations.

Kelowna’s 2026 Priority Occupations

The largest city in the Okanagan Valley has identified 25 occupations, along with their associated NOC codes, as in-demand for 2026.

Eight of these occupations are newly prioritized for 2026, while the rest were also targeted in 2025.

Occupation	NOC code
Accounting technicians and bookkeepers	12200
Administrative officers	13100
Automotive s