The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) published results on 8 April 2026 showing that it ran five draws between 17 and 27 March, inviting 292 candidates under its Express Entry-aligned streams. Invitations targeted the province’s most acute labour shortages: health care, construction trades, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and policing. Minimum scores ranged from 301 in the Rural Renewal Stream to just 46 points in the Law Enforcement Pathway, underscoring Alberta’s willingness to dip deep into the Express Entry pool when credentials match provincial priorities.
![Alberta Issues Nearly 300 Invitations Across Five Immigration Draws Ahead of Busy Construction Season]()
For organisations navigating these new opportunities, VisaHQ’s Canada platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can streamline the paperwork. The service provides customised checklists, real-time status tracking and bulk-filing support for employers that need to secure AAIP nominations or bridging open work permits quickly—helping HR teams keep talent deployments on schedule.
The province confirmed it has received 6,403 federal nomination spaces for 2026 and that it will front-load allocations to help employers staff major summer infrastructure projects linked to the Calgary–Banff Rail Corridor and Edmonton hospital expansion. For employers this means faster work-permit issuance: once nominated, foreign workers can apply for a federal bridging open work permit, typically granted in six weeks. Multinationals moving engineers and site managers into Alberta can therefore bypass the more restrictive Labour Market Impact Assessment. However, mobility managers should note that on 7 April Alberta introduced a C$275 fee to submit an Expression of Interest under the AAIP – a cost that is non-refundable even if the candidate is not selected. Assigning business units will need to budget for the new fee when planning relocations. The draw data also hint at policy direction: by earmarking quotas for law enforcement and health care, Alberta is aligning immigration with provincial-jurisdiction priorities such as community policing and hospital staffing. Companies in these sectors can expect continued preferential treatment in future rounds.
For organisations navigating these new opportunities, VisaHQ’s Canada platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can streamline the paperwork. The service provides customised checklists, real-time status tracking and bulk-filing support for employers that need to secure AAIP nominations or bridging open work permits quickly—helping HR teams keep talent deployments on schedule.
The province confirmed it has received 6,403 federal nomination spaces for 2026 and that it will front-load allocations to help employers staff major summer infrastructure projects linked to the Calgary–Banff Rail Corridor and Edmonton hospital expansion. For employers this means faster work-permit issuance: once nominated, foreign workers can apply for a federal bridging open work permit, typically granted in six weeks. Multinationals moving engineers and site managers into Alberta can therefore bypass the more restrictive Labour Market Impact Assessment. However, mobility managers should note that on 7 April Alberta introduced a C$275 fee to submit an Expression of Interest under the AAIP – a cost that is non-refundable even if the candidate is not selected. Assigning business units will need to budget for the new fee when planning relocations. The draw data also hint at policy direction: by earmarking quotas for law enforcement and health care, Alberta is aligning immigration with provincial-jurisdiction priorities such as community policing and hospital staffing. Companies in these sectors can expect continued preferential treatment in future rounds.
