Your responsibility
For applicants who are required to have a job offer in Alberta to qualify for the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), you are responsible to work with your Alberta employer to ensure:
- the employer and job offer or employment contract requirements set out below are met
- all required employer and job offer or employment documents are submitted with your application
Your application will be declined if these requirements are not met. Note: application fees are not refunded when an application has been declined.
Candidates must demonstrate an ability to become economically established in Alberta.
Applications to the AAIP are treated as an expression of interest, and as such, will be processed according to:
- quality of the application (completeness, eligibility)
- labour market information
- occupational supply and demand forecasting
- AAIP application volumes or any other factors at the AAIP’s discretion
By applying to the AAIP, you acknowledge and agree that your application may not be processed in the order received, or at all. Further, the decision to assess or process any particular application, and the outcome of any such assessment or processing, is at the AAIP’s sole discretion.
Employer requirements
The employer who is providing your Alberta job offer must demonstrate to the AAIP’s satisfaction that:
- the business is legitimate
- they are providing a good or service in Alberta
- you are being offered employment consistent with their business activities or needs
- they can fulfill all of the terms of the job offer or employment contract, based on the following employer requirements, which must be verifiable by the AAIP
The Alberta employer must:
- be incorporated or registered by or under an act of the legislature of a province, territory or the Parliament of Canada and that is operating an established production capacity, plant or a place of business in Alberta
- have been in continuous and active operation in Alberta for a minimum of 2 complete fiscal years (the year used for tax or accounting purposes) prior to application submission
- have a place of doing business in Alberta where employees can report to work regularly as needed and where work assignments are issued
- demonstrate the need for the position, by providing:
- a valid work permit issued under the federal Temporary Foreign Worker or International Mobility programs, or
- evidence the employer made reasonable efforts to fill the position with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, as demonstrated by recruitment outcomes (federal recruitment and advertising requirements of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program will be used as a broad guideline when a nominee applicant is not already living and working in Alberta), or as pre-existing stream or pathway criteria already stipulates.
- have a minimum total gross annual revenue of $400,000 for the most recent fiscal year (the year used for tax or accounting purposes) and employment of a minimum of 3 full-time (or full-time equivalent) employees in Alberta –
- Independent contractors are not considered as indeterminate employees and do not count.
- Two part-time employees may be considered as 1 full-time equivalent position, as long as the total hours add up to at least an average of 30 hours per week.
Note: If an employer cannot demonstrate a gross annual revenue of $400,000 for the most recent tax year and a minimum of 3 full-time employees, the employer can qualify for the program but will be restricted in the number of nominee applicants they can support, based on the number of years the employer has been operating in Alberta:
- 2 years of operation in Alberta: a total of 1 nominee.
- 3 years of operation in Alberta: a total 2 nominees.
- For each additional year of operation, 1 additional nominee can be supported.
- Indigenous, municipal, provincial, and federal government employers do not need to meet revenue and minimum employee requirements.
- Caps on number of nominees an employer can support will be applied to applications received on or after March 18, 2024. Note, if a nominee leaves the employer, the nomination will continue to be counted towards job offer eligibility/employer operations.
- You must confirm with your employer that they are able to support your application. Your application fee will not be refunded if your employer supports more applicants than permitted based on their years of operation in Alberta.
Job offer requirements
Your job offer or employment contract must be bona fide, signed by your legitimate, established and verifiable Alberta employer and must offer:
- continuous, paid work under an employer-employee relationship
- Note: Fee for service contracts are eligible for Alberta heath-care providers.
- full-time work, defined as a minimum of 30 hours per week
- Note: In the Dedicated Healthcare Pathway, work as employees under contracts for full-time, part-time, part-time with actual full-time hours and casual terms will be considered employment for 12 months or more.
- employment for 12 months or more
- wages and benefits that meet provincial minimum wage and:
- meet or exceed the requirements set out in your Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) (if applicable), or
- meet or exceed the lowest starting wage for your occupation across all industries in Alberta
- Non-wage compensation, including but not limited to compensation from company ownership, is not considered as part of the applicant’s base monetary wage or salary.
- exceptions for NOC 41302 – Religious leaders and NOC 42204 – religion workers:
- If your job offer is LMIA exempt, your wages and benefits must meet or exceed minimum wage.
- Meal and lodging deductions that meet Employment Standards are permitted. Proof of employee authorization of deductions is required.
Ineligible applicants based on job offer
The following individuals are not eligible to apply for or be nominated, even if they have a job offer to work 30 hours a week or more in a 12-month period:
- part-time, casual or seasonal employees, regardless of their working hours
- independent contractors, business owners or temporary agency workers, including individuals listed as directors, shareholders or agents of the Alberta employer on the Corporate Registry System (CORES)
- employees who work in Alberta in a place of employment that is not zoned for commercial or industrial operations, such as a home-based business (applies to Alberta Opportunity, Rural Renewal and Tourism and Hospitality Streams; for details on distinctions within the Alberta Express Entry Stream and valid job offer requirements,
- employees who do not work in Alberta, such as those who work online from a location outside Alberta or who work at a premises outside of Alberta