Alberta receives increased provincial nomination allocation

Alberta will now be able to nominate more newcomers to settle in the province this year.

The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) has received an increased provincial nomination allocation from Canada's federal government, raising the number of newcomers the province can nominate for permanent residence (PR) in 2025.

The AAIP allocation now stands at 6,403 provincial nominations. This represents an increase of 1,528 nomination spots, from the previous limit of 4,875.

With this increased allocation, the AAIP has recovered 65% of its 2024 provincial nomination allocation of 9,750 spots.

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What does this new change mean for AAIP candidates?

The AAIP had promised to update details of the change to its "processing page" soon, with updates on how the allocation will impact each of its individual streams.

In particular, the AAIP acknowledged that this increased allocation would "strengthen our ability to support regional labour market needs and advance key provincial priorities". While this may indicate that the province will focus the additional 1,500+ nomination spots towards candidates with in-demand occupational experience, it is too early to discern exactly where the increased nominations will be dedicated.

Under its previous allocation (4,875 nominations), the AAIP dedicated 2,592 nominations (53%) of its allocation solely to the Alberta Opportunity Stream.

Why was the AAIP allocation initially reduced?

In late 2024, the previous liberal administration decided to reduce immigration levels for the coming three years (2025-2027), in response to growing pressures around housing supply shortages and affordability issues.

As part of this reduction, the federal government reduced the overall landings allocation (the number of immigrants who would physically arrive in Canada through an immigration pathway) to Canada's Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) by 50%—from the previous 110,000 landings to just 55,000.

This reduced allocation through the Immigration Levels Plan directly impacts the number of nominations that each province is allotted from the federal government, and (as a consequence) the number of newcomers that each province can welcome.

As a result of the reduction, all of Canada's PNPs saw a 50% decrease in their nomination allocations for 2025. This change has prompted a reorientation among the provinces to inviting candidates who most directly align with their local labor market needs and provincial priorities.

A new wave of increases

Alberta is not alone in having been granted an increased provincial nomination allocation.

In light of the aforementioned landings reduction, Canada's provincial and territorial immigration authorities have continued to lobby the federal government for an increase in their allocations to better support the needs of their provinces and territories.

The following provinces and territories have also seen increases in their provincial nomination allocation:

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