Tag Archives: Canada visa

In four draws, the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program sends out 604 Notices of Interest.
In the Skilled Worker, International Graduate, Entry Level, and Semi-Skilled draws, British Columbia issues up to 230 invitations.

Alberta:

The most recent Alberta PNP draw sent out 403 Notice of Interest (NOI) letters offering provincial nomination between August 15-22, 2023.

The CRS cutoff scores for these three Alberta PNP draws were 303, 408, and 326.

On August 22, the latest Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) draw welcomed 89 profiles in construction occupations with Alberta employment offers with a CRS score of 303 or above.

On August 16, the AAIP draw sent 300 invites to profiles in tourism and hospitality occupations, with Alberta job offers having a CRS score of 408 or higher.

On August 15, a small draw of only 14 invites was held, inviting profiles with an Alberta job offer and a CRS score of 326 or higher via the specialised Healthcare Pathway.

Alberta had already granted 6,921 nomination certificates in all categories as of August 22, 2023.

For 2023, Alberta has a total quota of 9,750, with 4,875 reserved for Express Entry profiles.

British Columbia:

The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) is issuing up to 230 Invitations to Apply (ITA) to applicants interested in immigrating to the West Coast province through its Skilled Worker, International Graduate, Entry-Level, and Semi-Skilled streams.

British Columbia immigration officials issued 169 ITAs in the Aug. 22 draw to Skilled Worker and Skilled Worker Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) option stream candidates with minimum scores of 106, International Graduate and International Graduate EEBC option stream candidates with minimum scores of 109, and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled stream candidates with minimum scores of 88.

The Canadian government has announced that the Recognized Employer Pilot will begin in September to assist in addressing labour shortages.

The Recognized Employer Pilot will operate under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and will strive to lessen the administrative burden for repeat businesses who have demonstrated compliance with the TFWP's regulations in the past.

Under the REP, qualifying employers will have access to Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) that are valid for up to 36 months, as well as a streamlined LMIA application process.

An LMIA is a labour market assessment that Canadian firms must perform in order to hire foreign workers under the TFWP. The LMIA's goal is to demonstrate that there are no workers available in Canada to do the job for which the business immigration is seeking.

According to the Canadian government, these initiatives will assist eligible firms in better planning their labour needs and reducing the number of LMIA applications they must submit over the next three years. Recognized employers will also benefit from a Job Bank certification, which will demonstrate to prospective employees their recognised status.

Employers must have a minimum of three positive LMIAs in the last five years for the same occupation from a list of occupations deemed in-shortage based on Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) data in order to participate in the REP. Such employers would be subjected to a more stringent upfront evaluation procedure based on their TFWP history, ensuring that the REP only targets firms with the finest recruitment practises.

The REP will be implemented in two stages. Primary agriculture employers will be able to apply beginning in September 2023.

In January 2024, all other employers will be able to apply.