Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program

Canada’s Atlantic Provinces have their own immigration program that allows them to nominate the skilled and capable immigrants for the permanent residence in the province. It is a pilot immigration program that was launched in 2017 with a target of inviting 7,000 immigrants to the Atlantic region of Canada by 2020.

Canada’s Atlantic region comprises of the provinces:

Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prince Edward Island

These provinces/territories with the help of the pilot immigration program – Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) are able to fill the gap in the local labor market of the respective provinces. Provinces invite the eligible candidates by offering them a job-offer since they are not able to find the required candidate for the job in their local market.

What are the basic steps for applying under the AIPP? Under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) there are three sub-categories that allow skilled immigrants to apply for permanent residence in these provinces and also for the international students:

Atlantic High-skilled Program
Atlantic Intermediate-Skilled Program
Atlantic International Graduate Program

Main theme of the AIPP is that it is an employer-driven immigration program that allows the provinces to hire a foreign worker. For candidates to apply under this program they need a job offer from an eligible employer and a settlement plan for themselves and the accompanying family members.

For a candidate to apply under this program, an eligible employer of the Atlantic province need to offer them a job-offer and makes sure that it meets the requirements of the program candidate have qualified for. Job-offered does not need to be in same field as any other previous job candidate had.

Another main requirement is a settlement plan. Once the candidate is able to get a job-offer from a designated employer, candidate and other accompanying family members’ needs to get a settlement plan. This plan will help the candidate to settle in the province. Give all the resources and links related to the candidate’s needs. All the settlement plans are free. Candidate will be working with a settlement service provider organization to help strategize the settlement plan. Once the settlement plan is created, candidate needs to provide a copy of it to their designated employer.

After getting the settlement plan, province have to endorse the job offer. This will be taken care by the employer. Candidates do not need to submit their application for permanent residency before being getting endorsed. Once the province endorses candidate job-offer, Candidate will get a Certificate of Endorsement.

What are the eligibility requirements for the AIPP 2019?

Every sub-category of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program has their own set of requirements and eligibility criteria.

Atlantic High-skilled Program:

To be able to apply under this program candidate needs to –

Worked in management, professional or technical/skilled job for at least a year.
Have at least a Canadian High School diploma or equivalent education.
Show language proficiency in either French or English language.
Show they will be able to support themselves and any accompanying family member when moving to Canada.

Employers also need to meet some requirements under this program.

Atlantic Intermediate-Skilled Program:

To apply under this program candidate needs to-

Have worked in a job that requires a high school education and/or job-specific training for at least a year.
Have at least a Canadian high school diploma or equivalent education.
Show their language proficiency in either French or English language.
Show they will be able to support themselves and any accompanying family member when moving to Canada.

Employers who are offering a job-offer to the candidate also need to fulfill some requirements.

Atlantic International Graduate Program:

For candidates to be able to apply under this program, they must:

Have a degree, diploma or other credentials from a publicly-funded institution in an Atlantic province.
Have lived in an Atlantic province for at least 16 months in the 2 years before getting the degree, diploma or credential
Need to take a language testing examination to show their language proficiency in English or French.
Show they will be able to support themselves financially and any accompanying family member when moving to Canada.

For the employers looking to hire the capable and skilled immigrants via this program, they first need to apply to the provinces in order to receive the designation. Every employer in the different province will require different/separate designations for each province. Employers to be able to get the nod for employing the skilled immigrants’ needs to meet certain requirements, which includes a commitment to support the newcomer and their family members to integrate into daily life in Atlantic province.

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What are the documents required for Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP)?

Candidates need to send set of documents while submitting their application. All these documents need to be prepared before getting a job offer. In this way, it can help the candidate’s application to be processed in much faster pace when they have the job offer:

Language: Candidates needs to take a language test so that they will be able to show their language proficiency. Candidate must provide with the same documents with their application.
Education: Candidates, who have studied outside of Canada, need to get their education accessed via Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report. Getting ECA, shows that the candidate’s education is equal to Canadian educational system.
Proof of Funds: Candidates needs to support themselves and family members financially when moving to Canada. For this they need to show proof of funds.

What are the other ways to immigrate to Canada’s Atlantic regions?

Other than the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP), the other way that allows the immigrants to move to Atlantic Canada is the Provincial Nomination Program (PNP). Via these programs candidates are able to nominate the skilled and capable immigrants (like skilled workers, graduates and entrepreneurs) for permanent residency in the province.

Since 2015, every provincial nomination program has an express entry linked stream that allows the express entry programs candidates who are eligible to immigrate to the given province. Atlantic PNP includes:

Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program (NS PNP)
New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program (NB PNP)
Newfoundland And Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP)
Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP)