The Accelerated Tech Pathway will support Alberta’s Recovery Plan and strengthen Alberta’s workforce by providing a fast track to permanent residence for highly skilled tech professionals who want to live and work in Alberta.
“The faster we can fill these jobs with skilled and qualified workers, the stronger our overall recovery will be – and that helps all Albertans, no matter where they live or what they do. With our low taxes, amazing quality of life and reasonable cost of living, Alberta is already becoming a magnet for people seeking opportunity. We’re taking action to make Alberta even more attractive for tech workers.”
“Alberta’s technology sector continues to see record growth and a corresponding demand for highly skilled professionals. This accelerated immigration pathway will help attract the best and the brightest talent from across the globe to Alberta to meet this growing demand. It will also ensure Alberta continues to be a top destination for tech investment, which helps diversify our economy.”
The Accelerated Tech Pathway is part of the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, a federal-provincial program that nominates individuals for permanent residence in Alberta if they have skills to fill job shortages or are planning to buy or start a business in Alberta.
Tech professionals from across Canada and overseas with a job offer in an in-demand tech industry occupation will be fast-tracked, getting them to permanent residence sooner.
“The new immigration pathway will help Alberta’s tech industry attract world-class professionals to grow their businesses and develop the skills of Albertans currently employed in the industry.”
“Alberta is becoming a force to be reckoned within Canada’s technology space, with record-breaking capital investment and an increasing number of companies starting in or expanding to the province. The Accelerated Tech Pathway will support this momentum by allowing Alberta to better attract the highly skilled global talent that companies need to flourish, which in turn will attract more investment and create more opportunities for all Albertans.”
“Addressing the tech talent gap through the implementation of an immigration program designed to attract the skills and expertise to Alberta is a critical step forward in accelerating the growth of the tech sector in the province. Eliminating barriers to employment will enhance Alberta’s economic growth, attract investment and strongly support the economic diversification underway in the province.”
Quick facts
- According to the Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Alberta is home to more than 3,000 technology companies, a 233 per cent increase since 2012 (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
- Alberta-based tech companies are scaling in growth and financing:
- Forty-three per cent of Alberta's technology startups are at the pre-seed or seed stage and 43 per cent have raised at least US $1 million to date (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
- Forty per cent of survey respondents have achieved profitability and 38 per cent of companies reported revenue greater than $1 million in the last fiscal year (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
- The number of companies with 25 or more employees has increased by 12 percentage points to 25 per cent, between 2018 and 2020 (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
- Access to talent, including developing, acquiring and retaining teams, remains a challenge for Alberta tech companies, particularly in the case of sales (39 per cent) and technical (36 per cent) talent (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).