Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP): Your Path To Permanent Residency

Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP): Your Path to Permanent Residency

If you’re looking to live and work in Alberta permanently, and you have the required education and work experience, the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) may be your pathway to obtaining permanent residency in Canada. The AAIP is part of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), designed to help skilled workers settle in Alberta.

AAIP Streams for WorkerThe AAIP offers two main types of worker streams:

1. Non-Express Entry Process
   • Alberta Opportunity Stream: For qualified candidates who live and work in Alberta and have a valid job offer from an Alberta employer.
2. New Worker Stream Expression of Interest (EOI)
   • Candidates are scored and ranked based on the Worker Stream EOI points grid and placed in a pool for selection based on their scores.

Eligible applicants

Valid work permits are based on one of the following:

• a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)
• an LMIA exemption for workers based on one of the following exemptions as determine by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC):
  • international trade agreements
  • workers transferred within a company
  • International Experience Canada
  • Mobilité Francophone
  • R205(d) for religious work
  • an open work permit issued by IRCC to:
    • vulnerable workers who have demonstrated they are experiencing abuse or are at risk of abuse in the context of their employment in Canada, including under the Vulnerable Workers Open Work Permit (VWOWP) exemption, or
    • the family members of a vulnerable worker under the VWOWP exemption
• a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) held by a graduate of an Alberta Advanced Education publicly funded post-secondary institution
  • PGWP holders must also meet specific occupation, education and work experience requirements as set out below.
• an open work permit issued under one of IRCC’s open work permit public policies:
  • 2022 temporary policy changes to the PGWP Program or ​2023 temporary policy changes to the PGWP Program
    • Permit must beheld by a graduate of an Alberta Advanced Education publicly funded post-secondary institution.
    • Holders of these open work permit must also meet the same specific occupation, education and work experience requirements as PGWP holders as set out below
  • an open work permit issued under the public policy for Hong Kong recent graduates
  • an open work permit issued under IRCC’s Ukraine immigration measures (also known as the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET)).

If your work permit type is not included in the list above, you are not eligible to apply.

Ineligible applicants

• refugee claimants or individuals involved in a federal appeal or removal process 
• temporary residents living or working in a province or territory of Canada other than Alberta, or
• foreign nationals living or working in Canada who do not have valid temporary resident status

Occupation requirements

Eligible occupations

Most occupations under NOC TEER Categories 0, 1, 2, 3 4 and 5 are eligible under the AAIP.

Ineligible occupations

Table 1. List of ineligible occupations

*This National Occupation Classification (NOC) code consists of both eligible occupations and ineligible occupations. The ‘Occupation’ column specifies which occupations are ineligible for each NOC Code listed.

Table 1. NOC code (2021) / NOC TEER category / Occupation

00010, 0, Legislators

40021, 0, School principals and administrators of elementary and secondary education

40030, 0, Managers in social, community and correctional services

40041, 0, Fire chiefs and senior firefighting officers

60040*, 0, Escort agency managers, massage parlour managers

41100, 1, Judges

41220, 1, Secondary school teachers

41221, 1, Elementary school and kindergarten teachers

51111, 1, Authors and writers (except technical)

51122, 1, Musicians and singers

42200*, 2, Justices of the peace

42202*, 2, Early childhood educators who do not have certification through Alberta Children’s Services – Child Care Staff Certification Office or who have been certified as Level 1 Early Childhood Educator (formerly Child Development Assistant)

43100, 3, Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants

43109, 3, Other instructors

53121, 3, Actors, comedians and circus performers

53122, 3, Painters, sculptors and other visual artists

53124, 3, Artisans and craftspersons

53200, 3, Athletes

63101, 3, Real estate agents and salespersons

33100*, 3, Dental laboratory assistants/bench workers

44100, 4, Home child care providers

44101, 4, Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations

64321, 4, Casino occupations

55109, 5, Other performers

65109, 5, Other sales related occupations

65211, 5, Operators and attendants in amusement, recreation and sport

65229, 5, Other support occupations in personal services

65329, 5, Other service support occupations

75200, 5, Taxi and limousine drivers and chauffeurs

85101, 5, Harvesting labourers

85102, 5, Aquaculture and marine harvest labourers

85104, 5, Trappers and hunters

85110, 5, Mine labourers

85121, 5, Landscaping and grounds maintenance labourers

Post-Graduation Work Permit holders

If you are a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) holder, your occupation must also be related to your field of study in Alberta. 

Language requirements

National Occupational Classification (NOC) TEER category / Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) test score required / Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) test score required

If you are working in a NOC 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation / Minimum of 5 for each English language skill / Minimum of 5 for each French language skill

If you are working in a NOC 4 or 5 occupation / Minimum of 4 for each English language skill / Minimum of 4 for each French language skill

Official test results must be less than 2 years old at the time your application was submitted.

Education requirements

All applicants except Post-Graduation Work Permit holders

You must provide a copy of an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) issued by an organization designated by IRCC for your highest level of education. If your ECA report shows that your credential is not equal to completion of Canadian high school or the ECA states your foreign educational institution is not recognized, you do not meet the education requirement.

You do not need to provide an ECA if:

• you have a Canadian degree, diploma or certificate from a Canadian post-secondary, technical college or secondary institution listed as:
  • a recognized institution in the Directory of Educational Institutions in Canada, or
  • an authorized, registered, or licensed institution in the Directory of Educational Institutions in Canada, and the institution was authorized by Advanced Education to grant your degree, diploma or certificate. Contact your educational institution or Advanced Education to confirm if your institution had the authority to grant your credential.
• you have a valid Alberta Qualification Certificate or a trade certificate recognized by Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training (AIT).

The AAIP reserves the right to request an ECA from any candidate and/or to seek an internal educational assessment from the International Qualification Assessment Service (IQAS) or Advanced Education to confirm a candidate meets the minimum Canadian high school equivalent requirement.

Post-Graduation Work Permit holders

Approved Alberta institutions

Your credential must be issued by an Alberta Advanced Education publicly funded post-secondary institution.

Eligible Alberta credentials

Eligible Alberta Advanced Education approved credentials:

• post-diploma certificate or post-baccalaureate certificate (minimum 1 year in length)
• diploma program (minimum 2 years in length)
• undergraduate bachelor’s degree
• graduate level degree
• graduate level certificate
• graduate level diploma

Work experience requirements

Eligible work experience

• a minimum of 12 months full-time work experience in your current occupation in Alberta within the last 18 months, or
• a minimum of 24 months of full-time work experience in your current occupation in Canada or abroad within the last 30 months or both – this work experience can be a combination of experience gained in Alberta, in Canada (outside Alberta) or abroad.

Post-Graduation Work Permit holders require a minimum of 6 months full-time work experience in your current occupation in Alberta within the last 18 months.

For all applicants, including Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) holders, work experience in the qualifying period:

• must have been full-time, for a minimum of 30 hours a week
• must be for the same occupation as your current occupation
• must have been authorized by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and with valid temporary resident status if completed in Alberta or Canada
• cannot have been gained while studying in Canada and doing co-op work placements or internships as part of a study program, unless you are a PGWP holder who completed during paid co-op work terms as a part of your program of study at an Alberta post-secondary institution. To qualify, the work terms must have been:
  • paid and full-time (minimum 30 hours per week)
  • for work experience directly related to your current occupation, and
  • for work experience all gained in Alberta

All applicants, including PGWP holders, must meet the following licensing, registration and certification requirements at the time your application is submitted and the time the AAIP assesses your application:

• You must have the required licensing, registration or certification to work in your current occupation in Alberta.
• If you are working in a compulsory trade in Alberta, you must have a valid Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Trade (AIT) recognized trade certificate.
• If you are working as childcare worker, you must have valid certification as a Level 2 Early Childhood Educator (formerly Child Development Worker) or Level 3 Early Childhood Educator (formerly Child Development Supervisor).

Eligible job offers

All applicants, including PGWP holders, must have a full-time job offer or employment contract from an Alberta employer to work in their current occupation in Alberta when the application is submitted and when we assess it.

Ineligible applicants based on job offer

The following individuals are not eligible to apply for or be nominated under the Alberta Opportunity Stream, even if they have a job offer to work 30 hours a week or more in a 12-month period:

• part-time, casual or seasonal employees, regardless of their working hours
• independent contractors, business owners or temporary agency workers, including individuals listed as directors, shareholders or agents of the Alberta employer on the Corporate Registry System (CORES)
• employees who work in Alberta in a place of employment that is not zoned for commercial or industrial operations, such as a home-based business
• employees who do not work on premises in Alberta, such as those who work in a ‘virtual’ location or serve the employer by telecommuting from a location outside Alberta

Interested in receiving Canadian PR through the AAIP?

Book a 1:1 consultation with our certified immigration consultant, Yana Tasheva, RCIC, to explore your options through the different AAIP streams.