On February 16, 2022 Alberta PNP known as AINP (Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program) was renamed as AAIP (Alberta Advantage Immigration Program). Alberta also launched two new PNP streams; Rural Renewal Stream and the Rural Entrepreneur Stream. These announcements were made at Premier’s Summit on Fairness for Newcomers by Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney. These new streams are aimed for communities having population of less than 100,000 and be outside Edmonton and Calgary Census Metropolitan Areas.
- Alberta Rural Renewal Stream: Click here for eligibility criteria
- Alberta Rural Entrepreneur Stream: Click here for eligibility
Alberta PNP News Release Quick facts:
- The new rural immigration streams are part of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, a federal-provincial program that nominates individuals for permanent residence in Alberta if they have skills to fill job shortages or are planning to buy or start a business in Alberta.
- Alberta’s rural communities are facing challenges with fewer people of working age and population decline.
- Immigration helps to grow the population and labour force, but in 2018, less than a quarter (1,369 of 5,601) of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program nominees settled in rural Alberta.
- The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program issued 6,250 nomination certificates to skilled and semi-skilled immigrants in 2021. This includes all immigration streams, not just the new rural immigration streams.
- According to the Conference Board of Canada, among newcomers, 45 per cent of nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates, 28 per cent of transport truck drivers and 34 per cent of process control and machine operators in food and beverage processing are overqualified. The levels of over-qualification for non-immigrants in the same occupations are respectively 5.6 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 6.9 per cent.
Quotes:
“One of the biggest challenges facing rural communities is population decline, which has caused a succession crisis when a retiring business owner cannot find an interested buyer. We are helping revitalize rural Alberta by removing barriers and setting the building blocks to welcome job-creating immigration to local communities and supporting economic growth throughout the province.”
Premier, Jason Kenney
“We need to make our province the destination of choice for skilled newcomers and entrepreneurs. Identifying ways to encourage more skilled newcomers to come to Alberta is the first step to increasing our competitiveness, growing our economy and restoring the Alberta Advantage.”
Tyler Shandro, Minister of Labour and Immigration
“Many newcomers bring diverse and innovative skills, education, experience and business ideas to Alberta, only to face unnecessary roadblocks that lead them to work below their skill level. Today’s announcement lets us take advantage of untapped talent by making it easier for them to put their ideas to work in communities throughout Alberta.”
Muhammad Yaseen, Associate Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism