TORONTO – Canada’s province Alberta is revamping its immigration process to facilitate those with ties to the province in relocating to the country.
Alberta announced Wednesday that it will allocate 25 per cent of express entry nominations to potential immigrants with skills in high demand who have immediate family members already living in the province.
Alberta’s minister of trade, immigration and multiculturalism Rajan Sawhney said the initiative will help address the ongoing labour shortage while easing the process for potential immigrants.
“AAIP’s change will draw workers in high-demand sectors through Express Entry who have immediate family ties in Alberta,” she said in a statement.
“This approach will help ensure Alberta’s economy will prosper by dedicating a portion of provincial nominations toward in-demand workers who will have a great support network right from day one,” the minister added.
The Alberta express entry stream allows the province to nominate a limited number of qualified candidates from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s express entry system.
The immediate family means a sibling or parent who can now be helpful for those wishing to come to the province having a population nearly 4.5 million.
Estimates say that there will be a job shortage of 33,100 workers by 2025 across several occupations, skill levels and sectors in Alberta which gets 6,500 nomination certificates each year and it’s expected that 815 of those will be used for the new stream in 2023, CBC News reported.
