Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) is an economic immigration program that allows qualified candidates to acquire permanent residence status in Alberta. The province nominates certain individuals that can fill up the labour shortages or who are planning to establish or purchase a business in Alberta. This program is operated by Alberta government and federal government, so the whole application is usually divided into two sections; one for Alberta and the other for federal application.
There are a total of 8 major streams under the AAIP: Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS), Alberta Express Entry Stream (AEE), Rural Renewal Stream, Tourism and Hospitality Stream, Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, Rural Entrepreneur Stream, and Farm Stream. The first four are for temporary foreign workers who are living and working in Alberta and are planning to apply for permanent residence. The latter four are for entrepreneurs who are either already living or planning to live in Alberta and establish or acquire a business there.
If the eligible applicant applies for one of the above five streams and his/her work permit expires soon, then the applicant may be allowed to extend their work permits. For instance, if the applicant already has a nomination from Alberta and has already submitted a federal application, then the applicant can use this to apply for a work permit (Nominee-based Work Permit). If the applicant is processing under the Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, and needs to extend their work permit, then the candidate can request for a Letter of Support (205[a]) to AAIP within 90 days of work permit expiry date to apply for the extension.
The eligibility requirements, processing times, required government fees and documents are all different for each stream, so keeping a close attention to the required details are essential for the success of the candidate’s application.
