Alberta recently made some changes to their immigrant nominee program. Not only did they change the name, but they also launched two new streams!
New Alberta Immigration Streams
On February 16th of 2022, Alberta made some immigration updates. For one, they changed the name of the program entirely. The reason being that they want to emphasise how serious they are about receiving immigrants. So, they have changed the Alberta Immigration Nominee Program (AINP) to become the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP).
Along with the new name, there are two new streams. One stream is for workers and the other is for entrepreneurs.
Rural Renewal Stream
The Rural Renewal Stream is a stream created to attract newcomers to the more rural parts of Alberta. As Canada is trying to promote economic growth in different areas of Alberta, they send immigrants to establish thriving communities.
In brief, the Rural Renewal Stream (RRS) has two steps, in which you are designated a community then you submit an AAIP application. As simple as this sounds, there are actually some requirements you have to meet before deciding.
- Community residency requirement – You can’t have intention to move cities if you want to choose this immigration stream.
- Community endorsement requirement – Every designated community will have an Economic Development Organisation; they will be the ones to issue a letter that will go along with your application.
- Job offer requirements – The main thing about this is that the job you take on must be full time and must last for at least one year. Your employer also has to be incorporated, or a business in Alberta, among other things.
- Licensing, registration, and certification requirements – This will be required depending on what occupation you’ll be taking on in Alberta. For example, if you’ll be working in childcare, you’ll have to have valid certification for early childhood education.
- Occupation requirements – Not all jobs are eligible under the RRS. Such occupations include writers, athletes, casino occupations, and performers among other kinds of jobs.
- Qualifying work experience requirements – You can’t be very new at your job. For example, you can’t be a new graduate, looking for a job in Alberta. For the RRS, you’ll need to have at least 12 months worth of full-time experience.
- Language requirements – Depending on what level of the NOC your desired occupation is, you’ll need at least a 4 or a 5 score on the CLB.
- Education requirements – You’ll have to have finished at least a high school diploma at the time of your application. You can request an Education Credential Assessment from the IRCC.
- Settlement fund requirements – The minimum amount of funds you have to bring over will depend on how many family members you’ll take with you and how big the community you’ll move into is. Being by yourself will require less settlement funds than if you had a family of four. Your bank will have to provide an official letter demonstrating that you do have enough money.
Rural Entrepreneur Stream
As the title states, this stream is for entrepreneurs who are interested in creating jobs in rural parts of Alberta. Eligible entrepreneurs are people who would like to set up a business, aiming to make a profit. Ultimately, they play an important role in Alberta’s economy because they create jobs and can attract people to settle.
In order to start expanding your business in rural Alberta, you’ll need to meet some requirements:
- Adequate work experience – Have at least three years of experience as a business owner or four years of experience as a senior manager.
- Education requirements – Finish at least a high school equivalent.
- English requirements – Have a score of at least 4 on the CLB.
- Net worth requirements – Your net worth has to be at least $300,000.
- Business investment – Alberta will have to know you’re committed. Invest at least $200,000 in the business. The more you invest, the better.
- Business establishment – You can share your business, but you have to have at least 51% of the ownership and the other shareholders have to be Canadian.
- Job creation – The more jobs you create, the better. The minimum is creating one job, but as your goal is to promote economic growth in the town, more jobs are better.
- Community support letter – a community support letter is an additional document that demonstrates that the rural community would like to have your business present in their city.
Other factors to increase your chances:
- Economic benefit – Alberta will consider how much succession your business builds.
- Age – People ages 21-49 are more likely to get chosen as opposed to anyone outside of that bracket.
- Spouse – If your spouse has at least a Bachelor’s degree or a CLB score of 4, you’re likely to be chosen.
- Alberta relative – It especially helps if your relative is in a rural community as well.
Why the RRS or RES?
Although the requirements seem daunting, it’s probably one of the more easy-going streams. The minimum requirements are at a high school level and the jobs are technically entry-level because you’ll only need to have finished 12 months worth of experience.
It’s also considerably cheaper to settle down in rural towns. Settlement funds for towns less than 10,000 people is only $11,000. Since they are small towns, it’ll also be easier to make connections and grow as a city.
Also if you grew up on the farm and consider yourself comfortable on the farm, then this is the perfect opportunity for you. You’ll feel right at home in a small town while producing crops.
If you’re interested, more information can be found on Alberta’s official site.
Sources: Alberta Advantage Immigration Stream New Alberta Advantage Immigrant Program