Alberta announced some changes in its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) on February 15, 2022. The former Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) will now be known as the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program or AAIP. Moreover, two new streams were launched – Rural Renewal and Rural Entrepreneur stream, along with a change in the name of three existing streams.
The Rural Renewal Stream
The Rural Renewal Stream is a community-driven program that addresses current labour needs and skill shortages in rural Alberta communities. It helps newcomers settle into the community. This stream requires interested communities to apply for community designation by filling out its form. Once a community is designated, they will attract, recruit and retain newcomers using this stream. A candidate must be endorsed by a designated community (through a community support letter) and meet all criteria for the Rural Renewal Stream to receive a nomination.
The Rural Renewal Stream has a 2-step process:
- A community designation process in which the community recruits newcomers to meet labour market needs and provides an Endorsement of Candidate letter.
- The candidate submits the AAIP application.
To apply through this stream, a candidate must have a valid Endorsement of Candidate Letter issued by the Economic Development Organization (EDO) of your designated rural community in Alberta. A full-time job offer for at least one year in an eligible occupation. Whereas the licensing, registration or certification required for the occupation of a job offer in Alberta. A minimum one-year full-time work experience in an eligible occupation, Language proficiency in English or French with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score 5 for a job offer in NOC 0, A and B and CLB score 4 for a job offer in NOC C and D, an ECA and sufficient settlement funds to settle in the designated community.
The Rural Entrepreneur Stream
The Rural Entrepreneur Stream is an economic immigration program. It allows Alberta to nominate capable entrepreneurs to start a new or buy an existing business in a rural Alberta community.
Entrepreneurs interested in a specific rural Alberta community can connect with the community contact person to discuss their business proposal and schedule an exploratory visit accordingly. After the exploratory visit, candidates are required to provide a copy of the complete Rural Entrepreneur Stream Business Proposal Summary to the community contact person.
The community will issue a Community Support Letter and endorse the Business Proposal Summary once it approves the proposal as beneficial to the community. After receiving the support letter and proposal summary, a candidate can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to the AAIP.
To apply through this stream, a candidate must have a minimum of 3 years of experience as an active business owner/manager or a minimum of 4 years of experience as a senior manager within the past 10 years. An ECA and language proficiency in English or French with CLB score 4 in all skills, a Community Support Letter from a participating rural Alberta community, the minimum net worth of $300,000 (candidate’s assets and/or spouse/common-law partner’s), minimum investment of $200,000 from candidate’s own (and/or spouse/common-law partner) equity, minimum ownership of 51% for a new business. Business Partners must be Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents OR 100% ownership for business succession and must create at least one full-time job for Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents through their business.
Three entrepreneur streams renamed
- Graduate Entrepreneur Stream (formerly called the International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream). This stream allows international graduates of approved Alberta post-secondary institutions to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) if they want to start a business or buy an existing business in Alberta.
- Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream (formerly called the Foreign Graduate Start-Up Visa Stream). Qualified foreign-educated graduates from outside of Canada who want to launch start-up enterprises and innovative businesses in Alberta can apply through this stream.
- Farm Stream (formerly called the Self-Employed Farmer Stream). Entrepreneurs who have financial resources and farm management experience to establish a new or purchase an existing farm in Alberta can submit their application and business proposal plan through this stream.
Program eligibility criteria and other processes to be followed after receiving the nomination remains the same for all streams and pathways. The new changes will be updated in the portal in a few weeks.
Immigration Representative Essentials
A candidate is not required to use an immigration representative for submission of application or Expression of Interest (EOI) under AAIP. There are sufficient instructions online to help candidates complete the submission on their own. The application or EOI submitted using a representative will not be given special attention or guaranteed approval. But if a candidate still chooses to go for a representative, here are a few important points which could be useful:
- If a candidate decides to use a representative for AAIP or apply to IRCC for permanent residence, they must fill out the AAIP Use of a Representative form and the IRCC Use of a Representative form.
- Only authorized representatives can charge a fee for their services. Before you pay anyone a fee, check their credentials to make sure they are authorized.
- The representatives must be a member of the following: Citizenship or immigration consultants of College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CCIC); Lawyers or notaries of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, or the Chambre des notaires du Québec; and Paralegals (Ontario only) of the Law Society of Ontario.
Thus, anyone who charges a fee to provide Canadian immigration or citizenship advice or representation must be a licensee in good standing with government-authorized organizations.
In order to find an authorized representative, a candidate can visit CICC’s online Public Register of RCICs and RISIAs. They can also check and verify whether their representative is licensed or not.
The CICC licenses and regulates the practice of Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) and Regulated International Student Immigration Advisors (RISIAs) in the public interest.
If you use an immigration representative, the AAIP and the Government of Canada will still contact you directly about your application or EOI. Beware of scams and false websites regarding immigration representatives.
