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Navigating the Evolving Landscape: Alberta Immigration Nominee program (AINP) 2024

Alberta is a Prairie province located in Western Canada and blessed with a diversity of natural landscapes such as Rocky Mountains, Waterfalls, Grasslands, Lakes etc. Many people flock to Alberta to enjoy the rich natural beauty of the province and visit its national parks such as Banff, Jasper, Waterton etc. or experience the vibrant cities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer etc. But what truly sets it apart is the warmth and pride of its people.

With its diverse landscapes and natural beauty, it is the perfect destination for newcomers to Canada. From cultural diversity, low costs of living, along with a 5% tax rate, the province has so much to offer newcomers to settle into their new life in this country. Canada is known for its cold, harsh winters, but the province of Alberta enjoys sunlight 312 days out of 365 days each year, making the Canadian winters

For individuals seeking to settle permanently in Canada, Alberta offers promising opportunities across both skilled and non-skilled occupations. Out of all provinces, Alberta is one of the easiest provinces to obtain permanent residency through its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The Alberta PNP has different streams tailored to fit the specific situation of each individual, making the whole immigration process smoother and faster, ensuring that newcomers can seamlessly integrate into Alberta's diverse community.

What is Alberta PNP?
The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) formerly known as Alberta Immigration Nominee program (AINP) is an immigration program designed by the province of Alberta to nominate individuals who have the skills and experience needed in the province for permanent residency in Canada.

AAIP application streams:
 Under the Alberta PNP, there are various streams through which individuals can apply for nomination, including:

1. Tourism and Hospitality Stream
This stream is for individuals who are currently working in Alberta or have a job offer from an Alberta employer in tourism and hospitality sector. Some examples of businesses in this sector include Restaurants, Hotels, Resorts, Museums, etc.

2. Alberta Opportunity Stream:
This stream is for individuals who are currently working full-time with their employer in Alberta for a minimum of 12 months within the last 18 months or possess a minimum of 24 months of full-time work experience in their current occupation in Canada or abroad within the last 30 months. To be considered for this stream, candidates need to fulfill a variety of eligibility criteria pertaining to work experience, job offer, language proficiency, and education.

3. Alberta Express Entry Stream:
This stream is aligned with the federal Express Entry system and allows Alberta to nominate candidates from the federal Express Entry pool who have the skills and experience needed in the province. The qualified candidates are invited to apply, and this stream does not allow the candidates to apply for a nomination without an invitation. The province has set some priorities for this stream as following:

o Accelerated Tech Pathway
This offers a streamlined process for Express Entry candidates with a job offer in healthcare occupation to apply for nomination.

o Dedicated Health Care Pathway
This stream offers a smooth process for Express Entry candidates with a job offer in Alberta's technology industry or in an eligible tech role to apply for nomination.

o Priority sectors such as agriculture, construction, etc.

4. Rural Renewal Stream
This stream aims to attract newcomers to rural Alberta and allows rural communities or employers to hire and retain foreign workers to work and settle in the rural communities. The candidates interested in this stream must possess an Endorsement of Candidate letter from their designated community. This letter must be issued by Economic Development Organization (EDO) and outlines the candidates’ name, address, details of the job being offered etc.

The candidates may only have one AAIP application in process at any times for all the streams, if you’d like to change your stream and apply for a new one, you must withdraw your existing application.

• Tourism and Hospitality Stream: The applications for this stream are only accepted online. The candidates must complete and submit the application online on their AAIP portal account. The candidates have to complete the online application form step-by-step, submit their documents and pay the application fee.
• Alberta Opportunity Stream: The applications for this stream are only accepted online. The candidates must complete and submit the application online on their AAIP portal account. The candidates have to complete the online application form step-by-step, submit their documents and pay the application fee.

• Alberta Express Entry Stream: To apply under this stream, the candidate must possess a Notification of Interest (NOI) from Alberta. After receiving a NOI, the candidate must email a copy of the letter to AAIP at albertaexpressentry@gov.ab.ca within 2 weeks of receipt and provide their express entry profile number and email address to receive correspondences from AAIP. Upon receiving an AAIP portal link, the candidate has to complete the online application, submit their documents, and pay the application fee.
• Rural Renewal Stream:: The applications for this stream are only accepted online. The candidates must complete and submit the application online on their AAIP portal account. The candidates have to complete the online application form step-by-step, submit their documents and pay the application fee.

New Guidelines for AAIP applications:
Alberta is facing a high demand for immigration, and they can only accommodate a controlled number of people each year based on allocations from the federal government. To manage this better, the province has introduced changes for the 2024 Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) streams such as Alberta Opportunity Steam, Rural Renewal Stream and Tourism and Hospitality Stream. Instead of accepting applications continuously, they'll now accept a set number of applications each month on a specific date, starting June 11. The applications will be accepted on the following dates for the remainder of this year - July 9, August 13, September 10, October 8, November 5, and December 10. It's important to note that the eligibility criteria for all the streams remain the same as before.

Problem with application submission:
Recently, on June 11, 2024, the province of Alberta opened their AAIP applications for all the streams i.e. Alberta Opportunity Steam, Rural Renewal Stream and Tourism and Hospitality Stream. Since this is a new implementation and they are still testing out the system, the AAIP portal server crashed due to the high volume of applicants, causing havoc among the applicants as the system wasn’t well equipped to handle this much traffic. The AAIP tech team did their best to provide updates via X (formerly known as twitter) regarding the server state and tried to solve this issue, but still many of the interested and eligible candidates were not able to submit their applications, leaving them dissatisfied. It costed people resources and labour without yielding any results.

The AAIP should implement Expression of Interest (EOI) where the eligible candidates will receive the Notification of Interest/ Nomination from the province and will be invited to apply in the eligible stream. This will help them manage the provincial nomination allocations better and will save a lot of time and resources.

Pushpinderjeet Singh

• Conclusion : In conclusion, Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) formerly known as Alberta Immigration Nominee program (AINP) is still one of the best immigration programs there is to acquire the permanent residency. The province of Alberta has been allocated 9,750 nominations for the year of 2024. The AAIP aims to build a strong, diverse, and skilled workforce that can drive Alberta's growth in the coming years, enhancing its appeal to the newcomers and maintaining its economical strength.