Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program

You can migrate to Alberta through a variety of immigration programs and routes. Each one has its own set of application and eligibility conditions. You can move freely inside Canada if you become a permanent resident or a Canadian citizen. Whether you are new to Canada or thinking of making Alberta your permanent home, this guide will show all the options for the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.

What are the options for getting into the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP)?

The three categories for Alberta are as follows:

Alberta Opportunity Stream - Immigrants who are already employed in Alberta and have received an official job offer from their company in Alberta.

Alberta Express Entry - It enables the province to nominate candidates who have active profiles in the federal Express Entry system for provincial nominations.

Alberta Self-Employed Farmer - Foreign nationals with substantial expertise owning and maintaining a farm and the financial means to start a new farming operation in Alberta.

Streams for Workers

AINP Alberta Opportunity Stream

To apply under this scheme you must be currently authorized to work in Canada as a temporary resident. You must be a resident of Alberta and work there as well. Applicants must have a valid work permit for an eligible occupation based on one of the below options.

The first possible one is an LMIA; or a valid LMIA exemption. For a post graduate work permit, the applicant’s job must relate to what they studied in Alberta.

The applicant must be working in an eligible occupation in Alberta that matches their previous work experience at the time an application is sent to AINP and at the time the application is assessed.

There are also requirements as to the type of job. Several types of occupations are ineligible, and you should check your potential application doesn’t fall under these exceptions.

Some of the job titles include harvesting labourers, service support applications, taxi drivers, elementary school assistants, and all casino occupations. There is also a number of high and low-wage jobs that will automatically qualify as not valid for an LMIA. This list, however, only applies to those on a post-graduate work permit.

AINP Express Entry

Foreign nationals cannot apply directly to this program because it is by invitation only. When they submit their Express Entry profile, all individuals in the Express Entry pool are automatically considered for the program. The province will send a notification to those candidates who have been invited to apply through Express Entry.

The procedure is, candidates are chosen from the federal Express Entry pool and invited to submit for nomination by the province in the Alberta Express Entry stream. The program's exact selection criteria have not been made public, however, all Express Entry applicants will be considered. Candidates with strong ties to Alberta and the ability to assist regional economic development and diversification will be considered, according to the AINP.

The AINP draw happens regularly since there are regular reviews of available candidates. Approximately one month after the day of the draw, information on the results will be posted.

Streams for Entrepreneurs

Self-Employed Farmer

This stream is aimed at experienced farm owners and operators who want to buy and run a farm in Alberta. This program necessitates a highly customized application dependent on the type of farm someone wishes to start.

All applicants must demonstrate that they possess the farm management skills required to operate a farm successfully in Alberta. To do so, all applicants must submit financial papers from their current agricultural business, as well as proof of education, training, and job experience in farm management.

This plan must provide confirmation that the planned farming enterprise can be funded by a Canadian financial institution.

All applicants must be able to invest at least 500,000 CAD in a primary production farming operation in Alberta. Candidates must present financial records proving that they have a minimum net worth of 500,000 CAD or that they have access to funds from other sources to demonstrate this.

Processing times

Wondering how to calculate application processing times? On the Alberta province’s website, the organization maintains a page to share current processing times for different streams. The AINP processing time depends on the stream but can be around five months.

To manage expectations, be aware of the number of applications in total and that the number of nominations that Alberta can issue is limited. An annual cap is put on the numbers. For example, the limit for 2020 was 6,250 in total.

Another variable is the fact that Alberta’s Economic Recovery Plan further limited the maximum amount of nominations for that year, reducing them to 4,000. For Express Entry candidates, the lowest CRS score for any recent draw is also provided, along with information on how many notifications of interest letters were sent.