On February 16, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced the province’s immigration department would be changing its name and adding two new immigration programs. Two days later, Alberta announced its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) draw results from earlier this month.

On February 1, Alberta invited 400 Express Entry candidates to apply for the Alberta Express Entry stream. Express Entry candidates needed a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 340 in order to be invited to apply for a provincial nomination. If they receive the nomination, they will get 600 points added to their score and be eligible for an Express Entry PNP round of invitations.

The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program will now be called the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), and the two new streams are called the Rural Renewal Stream and the Rural Entrepreneur Stream.

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Alberta is also changing the name of three existing entrepreneur streams:

• The International Graduate Entrepreneur Immigration Stream is now the Graduate Entrepreneur Stream.
• The Foreign Graduate Start-Up Visa Stream is now the Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream.
• The Self-Employed Farmer Stream is now the Farm Stream.

The eligibility criteria is not changing for these existing streams.

The Alberta government says candidates who need to request a nomination extension must do so using Alberta’s online portal. If you submitted your application through the online portal and then wish to request an extension, you now must also submit the extension request via the portal. If you submitted a paper application, you can still submit an extension application via paper. All other post-decision processes are unchanged.

The new program and stream names will be updated on the Alberta website in the coming weeks.

Premier Kenney, a former federal minister of immigration, made the announcement at the inaugural Premier’s Summit on Fairness for Newcomers. Immigration stakeholders from across Alberta met on to discuss actions to support newcomer success and drive economic growth in the province.

A government media release stated the new name is intended “to help promote Alberta’s reputation and benefits as an attractive place when choosing where to work and raise a family.”

The new Rural Renewal Stream and the Rural Entrepreneur Stream are intended to encourage skilled and talented professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world to settle in rural Alberta communities communities. Eligible rural communities have to be outside the Calgary and Edmonton metropolitan areas, and have less than 100,000 people as per the 2016 census.

The Rural Renewal Stream is for people who have a job offer from an Alberta employer to work in a designated rural Alberta community. Alberta is currently accepting applications from rural communities to participate in the Rural Renewal Stream. A limited number of communities will be selected to participate as a designated community in this program.

The Rural Entrepreneur Stream is for entrepreneurs who want to start or buy an existing business in a rural Alberta community. Eligible candidates can submit an expression of interest and visit the community where they wish to start their business.

In 2021, Alberta nominated 6,250 newcomers to apply for permanent residence.

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