Alberta Express Entry Stream – Eligibility

The following minimum assessment requirements apply to all Alberta Express Entry Stream applicants at the time of application and assessment:

• you must have an active Express Entry profile in the federal Express Entry pool
• you meet the criteria of at least one of the federal immigration programs managed by Express Entry:
  • Canadian Experience Class
  • Federal Skilled Trades Program
  • Federal Skilled Worker Program
• you and your Alberta employer must meet all the requirements outlines on Alberta Job Offer and Employment Requirements, if you are invited based on having an Alberta job offer
• you must intend to and be able to live and work permanently in Alberta and have stated an interest in immigrating permanently to Alberta

Ineligible applicants

You are not eligible to apply if:

• you are a refugee claimant or subject to a federal appeal or removal process
  • AAIP cannot intervene in the federal refugee claim, appeal or removal process.
• you have an active nomination under any AAIP stream
  • An active nomination is one that has not expired or is eligible for extension, or both, or a nomination that was used to apply for permanent residence but where a decision has not yet been made on the permanent residence application.
• you are currently identified as ineligible to re-apply to the AAIP due to misrepresentation

Family connection and primary occupation in demand

The following pathways requirements apply to those invited to apply under the Family Connection pathway.

At the time your application is submitted and assessed:

• you must have an eligible Alberta relative defined as your parent, child or sibling
  • Important: Family connection and relative eligibility is evaluated on the basis of the connection to the principal applicant (in-laws of the principal applicant are not eligible). Only connections or relationships that match the AAIP definition with the principal applicant (parent, child or sibling) and are verifiable and apparent through essential supporting documents are considered eligible. In addition, the minimum age of the supporting Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Alberta is 18, and the AAIP reserves the right to request supporting documents that verify the residency and relationship.
• your Alberta relative must be:
  • living in Alberta
  • a Canadian citizens or permanent resident
  • at least 18 years of age
    • Important: the AAIP reserves the right to request supporting documents that verify the residency and relationship.

AAIP is basing ‘occupation in demand in Alberta’ using one or more of the following approaches to select individuals who have experience in:

• in-demand occupations with significant cumulative imbalance on Alberta’s Occupational Outlook or occupations in ‘High’ or ‘Moderately High’ demand in the Short-Term Employment Forecast
• select occupations in the agriculture, construction or health care sectors

Dedicated Health Care Pathway

The Dedicated Health Care Pathway page sets out eligibility requirements for this pathway.

• You must review the Dedicated Health Care Pathway page before submitting an application.

Accelerated Tech Pathway

The following pathway requirements apply to those invited to apply under the Accelerated Tech Pathway. 

At the time your application is submitted and assessed:

• you must be working full-time in Alberta under an employment contract or have a bona fide job offer signed by you and your employer that:
  • meets job offer and current employment contract requirements identified on the Alberta job offer requirements page, and:
    • is in an occupation on the list of eligible Accelerated Tech Pathway occupations
    • is for an Alberta employer whose primary business activities belong to the Alberta tech industry, as defined by the AAIP list of eligible North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes
• you must have valid immigration status (work permit or implied status), if you are working in Alberta for your Alberta employer at the time of AAIP application
• your primary occupation in your Express Entry profile must be the same occupation as your current Alberta employment or job offer

Ineligible applicants

The following individuals are not eligible to apply for or be nominated under the Accelerated Tech Pathway, even if they are working for an eligible Alberta employer in an eligible tech occupation or have a job offer to work 30 hours a week or more in a 12-month or greater period:

• part-time, casual or seasonal employees, regardless of their working hours
• independent contractors or temporary agency workers
• employees who do not work in Alberta, such as those who work online from a location outside Alberta or who work at a premises outside of Alberta

Law Enforcement Pathway

The AAIP will review the information on international recruits, as identified by a member organization of the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police, to determine if requirements are met to receive an invitation to apply.

The following pathway requirements apply to those invited to apply under the Law Enforcement Pathway.

At the time your application is submitted and assessed:

• your primary occupation in your Express Entry profile is the same occupation as your current Alberta employment or job offer
• you have been identified by AACP to AAIP as an internationally recruited police officer and
  • have a valid, verifiable job offer from an Alberta employer in the Alberta police services (based on valid AACP membership) in one of the following eligible police services National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes and titles:
    • 40040 – Commissioned (management) police offers and related occupations in public protection services
    • 41310 – Police investigators and other investigative occupations
    • 42100 – Police officers (except commissioned)
• Important: NOC codes cover many different occupational titles. AAIP will seek additional information from prospective applicants, and the AACP, regarding the occupation identified in the job offer to ensure the individual is eligible under this pathway.

Other Alberta Express Entry Stream selections and other streams’ nominations will complement the selections targeting this specific sector.

Priority sectors

The following pathway requirements apply to those invited to apply under Priority Sector draws.

At the time your application is submitted and assessed:

• your primary occupation in your Express Entry profile must be an eligible agriculture or construction occupation
• if you are invited based on having an Alberta job offer, your job offer occupation must be an eligible agriculture or construction occupation

The AAIP may apply other selection factors when completing selection draws for the Alberta Express Entry Stream.

At the time of application and assessment you must demonstrate you meet all additional selection factors for the draw under which you were invited to apply.

To confirm selection parameters, review information on selection draws completed by the AAIP on AAIP processing information.

You may be less likely to be asked to submit an application if your Express Entry profile expires in 5 months or less. It is recommended you keep your Express Entry profile up to date so that you remain eligible for consideration for Alberta Express Entry Stream in the future.