On December 17, 2021, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship released a new permanent residence program named the Atlantic Immigration Program. The Atlantic Immigration Program is a pathway to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers and international graduates from a Canadian institution who want to work and live in one of Canada’s four Atlantic provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland and Labrador. The program aims to assist employers in hiring qualified candidates for job positions that have been difficult to fill locally.
If you wish to immigrate to Canada under the AIP program, you need to have a valid job offer from a designated employer and a customized settlement plan for yourself and your family. There are three programs within the pilot that employers can use to hire you: the Atlantic International Graduate Program, the Atlantic High-Skilled Program, and the Atlantic Intermediate Skilled Program. While you may qualify for more than one program, you can only apply through one of them.
The program supports employers in Atlantic Canada to recruit qualified applicants for jobs that have been challenging to fill within the region. These applicants can be individuals from outside Canada or temporary residents already living in the country. The processing time for the Atlantic Immigration Program is 12 months.
When you arrive in one of the four Atlantic provinces, you must have sufficient funds to support yourself and your family. The required amount depends on the size of your family. If you are already working and staying in Canada with a valid work permit, you do not need to show proof of funds. However, if your qualifications are from outside Canada, you will need an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to confirm that your studies are equivalent to or higher than the required level of education for your job offer.
Each Atlantic province has at least one Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) stream aligned with the federal Express Entry system. This alignment allows candidates in the Express Entry pool who are eligible to immigrate through one of these streams to submit an application to immigrate to the specific province.