Alberta invites 250 PNP immigration candidates

Alberta invited 250 Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination on May 18.

The province announced the draw on its website last night, on May 25.

Invited candidates must have a valid Express Entry profile with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) requirement of at least 301.

It was the 10th draw of the year held through the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP).

Alberta has now invited 1,909 Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination since it resumed issuing nomination certificates in January 2021 after a temporary hiatus.

If the invited candidates are eligible for the nomination through the Alberta Express Entry stream, they will automatically get an additional 600 CRS points toward their overall score in the Express Entry system. Once that happens, they will likely be invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

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The AINP operates the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) for immigrants who wish to settle in Alberta.

The Alberta Express Entry stream is an enhanced PNP, which means it pulls from the pool of Express Entry candidates. The first step to being eligible for this program is to create a profile in the Express Entry system.

What is Express Entry?

Express Entry is the application management system for the three Federal High Skilled programs: Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program, and Federal Skilled Trades Program.

If you are eligible for Express Entry, you will get a score based on the CRS, which awards points for a candidate’s age, education, work experience, language ability in English or French, and others.

Canada’s immigration department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) regularly holds Express Entry draws, inviting the highest-scoring candidates to apply for permanent residence.

It is possible to immigrate through the Express Entry system without a provincial nomination, however, provincial nominees automatically get 600 points added to their overall score when they are nominated by a Canadian province. This means, for instance, that the lowest-scoring candidates invited through the new Alberta draw receive a nomination, their new Express Entry CRS scores will be 900, which is more than enough to be invited to apply for permanent residence in a subsequent federal draw.

Alberta Express Entry Stream

The Alberta Express Entry Stream is for Express Entry candidates who have strong ties to Alberta. The provincial government uses it to support its economic development and diversification priorities.

Currently and as a result of the pandemic, Alberta is only considering candidates who are already living and working in the province.

Candidates need to have work experience in an eligible occupation and a minimum score of 300 to receive an invitation from Alberta.

Alberta was allowed to issue 6,250 nomination certificates in 2020. For 2021, the Government of Canada has allocated 6,250 nomination certificates to Alberta, a government official confirmed to CIC News by email.

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