The Background
The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) is a program whereby the province of Alberta nominates candidates to become permanent residents of Canada.
There are a number of AINP streams including:
- The Employer Driven Stream whereby foreign workers in Alberta (and in some cases, not yet in Alberta) may seek nomination for permanent residence; as well as
- The Strategic Recruitment Stream, with subcategories for:
- Compulsory and Optional Trade Categories
- Engineering Occupations, and
- Post-Graduate Workers
The program has been popular, and has received numerous applications. Indeed, in an attempt to reduce their backlog, the Alberta Provincial Nominee Program (AINP) put a pause on accepting applications in 2015.
What’s New
The AINP has just announced that, effective immediately, it is again accepting applications in all streams.
[Applicants whose applications had previously been accepted for processing before the pause, need not take any further action; their applications will continue to be processed in due course.]
Current Considerations
It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the AINP will again see an upswing in applications, and that a further pause would therefore be implemented. As such, anyone contemplating use of the AINP would be well-advised to take action now to avoid the possibility that their application not be processed due to a further pause in the future.