Alberta Reaches Self-Imposed Limit Of 4,000 Immigration Nominations For 2020

The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) has reached its self-imposed limit of 4,000 immigration nominations for 2020.

The province says it reached the limit as of December 21.

Alberta had a federal government allocation of 6,250 nominations but chose to limit its total to 64 percent of that total as part of its economic response to the coronavirus pandemic.

An AINP update says the province continues to process applications, while the issuing of nominations will resume in January.

There are approximately 2,350 Alberta Opportunity Stream applications and 15 expression of interest applications in the Alberta Express Entry pool, the update said.

Two New Alberta Streams

Alberta immigration is launching two new streams designed to get international graduates to open businesses in the province.

The International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream is open as of October 26, 2020, while a new Foreign Graduate Start-Up Visa Stream aimed at graduates from U.S. universities will open in January 2021.

The AINP streams are designed to assist Alberta’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis. The province is hoping the streams will help attract investment and create jobs.

International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream

The new International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream is already open for Expressions of Interest.

It is aimed at international graduates from Alberta post-secondary institutions who want to establish or operate a business in the province.

Candidates must initially establish or operate their business for at least 12 months while in Alberta on a work permit, before being nominated for permanent residence once the terms of a Business Performance Agreement are met.

Colin Singer

Colin Singer is an international acclaimed Canadian immigration lawyer and founder of immigration.ca featured on Wikipedia. Colin Singer is also founding director of the Canadian Citizenship & Immigration Resource Center (CCIRC) Inc. He served as an Associate Editor of ‘Immigration Law Reporter’, the pre-eminent immigration law publication in Canada. He previously served as an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Quebec and National Immigration Law Sections and is currently a member of the Canadian Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Colin has twice appeared as an expert witness before Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. He is frequently recognized as a recommended authority at national conferences sponsored by government and non-government organizations on matters affecting Canada’s immigration and human resource industries. Since 2009, Colin has been a Governor of the Quebec Bar Foundation a non-profit organization committed to the advancement of the profession, and became a lifetime member in 2018.