New option for foreign workers in Alberta

Can nominate themselves for permanent residency

Temporary foreign workers can now nominate themselves for permanent residency under an expanded Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP).

Foreign workers now have a new option to stay in Alberta permanently. The
Alberta Work Experience Category of the AINP lets eligible foreign workers apply to nominate themselves for permanent residency.

They need to have worked in a key, in-demand occupation for two or more years and meet other program and federal government requirements. More than 100 occupations are eligible.

“We have many skilled foreign workers already here working and contributing to our communities and our province,” said Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk. “The Alberta Work Experience Category will have a positive effect on the lives of those foreign workers who will now be able to stay permanently.”

In Alberta, the unemployment rate has been consistently under five per cent for the last year and it has a projected labour gap of 114,000 workers by 2021, said the government. The new category is taking applications until Nov. 28, 2013.

Latest stories