Alberta holds biggest PNP draw of 2021

Alberta invited 396 Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination on August 10, the biggest draw of the year.

The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) invited candidates with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores of at least 300, the lowest required to be eligible for a nomination.

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These candidates may now apply for a provincial nomination through the Alberta Express Entry stream.

Compared to the previous Alberta Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw, more candidates were invited in this draw, and the CRS requirement remained the same.

Alberta has now invited 3,157 Express Entry candidates to apply for a provincial nomination since it resumed invitation rounds in January 2021. It had taken a temporary hiatus in the latter months of 2020. Alberta is allowed to issue 6,250 nomination certificates in 2021.

How does the Alberta Express Entry Stream work?

The Alberta Express Entry stream allows the provincial government to search the federal government’s Express Entry pool of candidates for profiles of people who may be eligible for a provincial nomination.

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 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). You get points depending on your age, education, work experience, language ability in English or French, and other factors.

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, people who have lower CRS scores may opt for a PNP. Provincial nominees automatically get 600 points added to their overall score. If the lowest-scoring candidates in the new Alberta draw receive the nomination, their new CRS scores will be 900, more than enough to be invited in a subsequent Express Entry draw.

Alberta Express Entry Stream Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the provincial nomination through the Alberta Express Entry stream, you need to have work experience in an eligible occupation. The AINP does not provide a list of eligible occupations, rather it offers a list of occupations that are not eligible for the stream.

Many who apply under this stream work as food service supervisors, transport truck drivers, and cooks among others.

Your Express Entry profile should indicate that you have an interest in moving to Alberta. Certain factors increase your likelihood of being nominated, like having work experience, or a job offer in Alberta. it also helps your application to have a Canadian education, or if you have a parent, child, or sibling who is a permanent resident or citizen in Alberta.

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