Alberta Express Entry

Alberta Express Entry is a stream of the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP), a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) operated by the province of Alberta. The Alberta Express Entry stream selects candidates from the federal Express Entry pool and invites them to apply for nomination by the province. The exact selection criteria for the program have not been made public; all Express Entry candidates will be considered.

Candidates who are successfully nominated through the Alberta Express Entry stream will be invited to submit an official application for Canadian permanent residence. This stream is aligned with the federal Express Entry immigration system. In order to be eligible for the stream, a candidate must have an active profile in one of the following three Express Entry programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), or
• Federal Skilled Trades (FST), or
• Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

The program is by invitation only and foreign nationals cannot apply to the program directly. All candidates in the Express Entry pool are automatically considered for the program when they submit their Express Entry profile. The province will send a notification directly to the Express Entry accounts of those candidates it invites to apply.

While the exact selection criteria is unknown, AINP states that it will seek candidates who demonstrate strong ties to Alberta and who can support regional economic development and diversification.

Eligibility Requirements

Alberta Express Entry is aligned with the federal Express Entry system. In order to be considered, candidates must have an active Express Entry profile in either Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Canadian Experience Class (CEC), or Federal Skilled Trades (FST) programs:

• Federal Skilled Worker requires candidates to have, at minimum, a high school diploma, as well as at least one year of continuous full-time, skilled work experience. Work experience is considered skilled if obtained in a position at National Occupational Classification (NOC) Skill Level 0, A, or B. Candidates must also demonstrate language proficiency in English or French consistent with Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7.
• Canadian Experience Class has no minimum education requirement. CEC candidates must have a minimum of one year of full-time Canadian skilled work experience. This work experience does not have to be continuous, but it must have been obtained within the three years prior to application. Work experience is considered skilled if obtained in a position at NOC Skill Level 0, A, or B. Candidates must also demonstrate language proficiency in English or French consistent with CLB level 7 for work experience obtained at NOC Skill Level 0 or A and CLB 5 for work experience obtained at NOC Skill Level B.
• Federal Skilled Trades requires candidates to have licensing or certification to practice their trade in a province or territory in Canada or an offer for full-time employment in a position lasting at least 12-months. As well, all FST candidates must demonstrate language proficiency equal to at least CLB 4 in either English or French.

All candidates must demonstrate language proficiency in English or French consistent with the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) for their program. A CLB 7 test score is required for Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience Class candidates. A CLB 4 test score is required for Federal Skilled Trades candidates.

Application Procedure

The Alberta Express Entry stream operates on an invitation only basis. To apply to the stream, candidates who meet the minimum eligibility requirements must create an Express Entry profile. They must then wait to be issued a Notification of Interest (NOI) from the province of Alberta.

Note that simply meeting the minimum eligibility requirements does not guarantee that a candidate will receive an invitation from Alberta. The province of Alberta reviews Express Entry profiles and contacts only those candidates the province may be interested in nominating. Only candidates who are contacted by Alberta are eligible to submit an application to the AINP for provincial nomination.

Once a candidate receives an NOI, they will be given a strict deadline for submitting a complete application to AINP. If the province approves the application, Alberta will notify the applicant they have been selected for provincial nomination. This notification will be sent to the applicant’s IRCC online account. After accepting the provincial nomination, the applicant’s CRS score will increase by 600 points, virtually guaranteeing they will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in the next Express Entry draw.

After receiving an ITA, the applicant must prepare and submit an official application for Canadian permanent residence within the designated time frame. Applications for permanent residence submitted through Express Entry are generally processed within six months.