Labour minister announces streamlined immigrant program
Province projects skilled-worker shortages in several sectors by 2025
The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) is being simplified for applicants beginning Jan. 2, the provincial government said Friday.
“We are making common-sense changes that will ensure the program is simpler for applicants, more efficient for government and more responsive to Alberta’s emerging labour-market demands,” Labour Minister Christina Gray said during a news conference at Catholic Social Services in Edmonton.
The multiple AINP streams and subcategories will be consolidated into one stream with one set of standard eligibility criteria, making it easier for both employers and workers, she said.
Applicants will need to show they have a job, one that an Albertan could not be found to fill, Gray said.
The AINP will also impose yearly caps on the overall number of applications accepted, as well as caps by sector and occupation based on application volumes, she said. This will help distribute workers across sectors and occupations at different skill levels, she said. There will not be an increase in the total number of nominations, which is currently at 5,500, she added.
These changes will allow the government to better plan ahead for occupations where labour-market shortages are expected, she said.
Alberta Labour, she said, is projecting labour shortages in several sectors including nurse supervisors and registered nurses, with a forecast shortage of 5,434 workers by 2025. Medical technologists and technicians occupations are expected to have a shortage of 2,322 workers by 2025. Computer and information systems professionals will see a shortage of 1,426 workers by 2025, managers in construction and transportation are expected to be short 1,386 workers by 2025, and sales and service supervisor occupations are expected to experience a shortage of 1,145 workers by 2025.
“I want to be clear,” Gray said. “These changes do not increase the number of foreign workers in Alberta. The overall immigration system is run by the federal government. These changes mean that the skilled workers who are here, filling a job where no Canadian is available, will be able to stay in Alberta and help support our economic growth and recovery.”
I want to be clear. These changes do not increase the number of foreign workers in Alberta.