In January of 2018, Alberta is set to join the other provinces and launch the Express Entry initiative as the IRCC Express Entry economic program will step on its third anniversary next year.
The new AINP will allow the province to use a portion of its allocation for the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) to nominate candidates in Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC’s) Express Entry pool.
Currently, the AINP consists of three streams:
- The Strategic Recruitment Stream for tradespersons, engineers, and post-graduate workers;
- The Employer-Driven Stream which comprises of three categories for skilled workers, international graduates, and semi-skilled workers, and
- The Self-Employed Farmer Stream for individuals to purchase and develop a farm in Alberta.
In January of 2018, the Government of Alberta will reduce the number of streams available to applicants looking to apply for permanent residency under the AINP categories. The AINP will be implementing a new Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS) which will replace two of the current streams (the Employer-Driven stream and the Strategic Recruitment stream) while the Self-Employed Farmer stream may remain in effect.
In January 2018, the AINP will be updating its website to reflect the changes and will provide more nomination guidelines, including the maximum number of applications accepted and nominations issued each year.
For more information on the AINP streams and upcoming changes here is the link: https://www.albertacanada.com/opportunity/programs-and-forms/ainp.aspx
Source: CIC News and AINP website
