Alberta invites rural immigration candidates and workers in health and tech sectors in latest series of draws

Over the past three weeks, the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) has held six provincial immigration draws between February 26 and March.

Over 1,400 invitations were issued to candidates through the following streams and pathways:

• Alberta Opportunity Stream;
• Rural Renewal Stream;
• Alberta Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors pathway (Health Care);
• Alberta Express Entry Stream – Accelerated Tech pathway; and
• Dedicated Health Care pathway – non-Express Entry.

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As of the time of this writing, the AAIP has conducted a total of 18 draws in 2026—with the bulk of invitations issued through the Alberta Opportunity Stream.

Draw details (February 26–March 16)

All but one of the six draws published retroactively by the AAIP occurred in March, with the province prioritizing rural immigration and foreign nationals in tech and health care sectors, among others.

Cutoff scores and number of invitations extended varied by draw, with about 57.5% of the total 1,447 invitations issued being through the Alberta Opportunity Stream:

Draw date	Stream/pathway	Minimum score	Invitations issued
March 16, 2026	Alberta Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors (Health Care)	63	50
March 13, 2026	Rural Renewal Stream	51	349
March 12, 2026	Dedicated Health Care Pathway – non-Express Entry	47	47
March 6, 2026	Alberta Express Entry Stream – Accelerated Tech Pathway	56	139
March 5, 2026	Alberta Opportunity Stream	61	832
February 26, 2026	Rural Renewal Stream	55	30

The AAIP’s March 16 draw represents the province’s first Express Entry stream draw focusing on health care as a priority sector in 2026.

Provincial nomination figures

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) granted Alberta a total of 6,403 nomination spaces for 2026.

As of March 17, the province has issued 1,127 nominations—leaving 5,276 nomination spaces remaining.

There are 1,253 applications awaiting processing in the AAIP’s inventory, across all streams and pathways.

To date, the province has issued no less than 3,956 invitations to apply for provincial nomination, across 18 draws.

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Nomination distribution by stream

The AAIP publishes data on how its total nomination allocation (2026: 6,403) is distributed across its various streams and pathways, as well as the number of nominations already issued and still remaining.

The table below includes the most figures as of March 17, 2026—the date of the AAIP’s most recent data update.

Stream/pathway	2026 nomination allocation	Nominations issued	Remaining nomination slots
Alberta Opportunity Stream	3,425	718	2,707
Rural Renewal Stream	1,000	99	901
Tourism and Hospitality Stream	150	33	117
Dedicated Health Care Pathways (EE + non-EE)	500	71	429
Alberta Express Entry – Accelerated Tech Pathway	600	101	499
Alberta Express Entry – Law Enforcement Pathway	38	<10	N/A
Alberta Express Entry – Priority sector draws/initiatives	600	98	502
Entrepreneur streams	90	<10	N/A

The majority of nominations to be issued this year will be through the Alberta Opportunity Stream: 53.5%.

Expressions of Interest and applications awaiting processing

Alberta publishes stream-by-stream data on the number of candidates in its selection pools, as well as applications in its inventory awaiting processing (which it updates regularly)—the only province to do so.

There were 43,871 worker Expressions of Interest (EOIs) in the candidate selection pool as of March 17, which excludes the AAIP’s entrepreneur streams. Of these EOIs, 63.7% are submitted under the Alberta Opportunity Stream.

In its inventory, the province has no less than 1,251 applications awaiting processing across all streams, pathways, and initiatives—with the Alberta Opportunity Stream accounting for most submissions.

Stream/pathway	EOIs in the pool	Applications awaiting processing
Alberta Opportunity Stream	27,949	590
Rural Renewal Stream	1,569	156
Tourism and Hospitality Stream	2,585	12
Dedicated Health Care Pathways (EE + non-EE)	4,481	23
Alberta Express Entry – Accelerated Tech Pathway	2,486	149
Alberta Express Entry – Family connection and occupation in demand	37	N/A
Alberta Express Entry – Law Enforcement Pathway	87	<10
Alberta Express Entry – Priority sector draws/initiatives	4,677	55
Entrepreneur streams	N/A	266

Alberta announced in January that it will be prioritizing occupations in sectors such as healthcare, technology, construction, manufacturing, aviation, and agriculture in 2026.

Rural immigration is also one of Alberta’s focus areas this year—with individuals with qualifying job offers in communities designated under the Rural Renewal Stream being targeted to fill this demand.

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