A new immigration stream is known as the ‘Opportunity stream’ has been announced by the administration in the Canadian province. This stream will be accepting application forms under the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) from January 2, 2018.
This stream will ultimately help the foreign workers who are working in Alberta to get permanent residence in Canada. This stream also comes under the base Provincial Nominee Programs Stream (PNPs), where the process of passing the applications is held outside the Express Entry system. The candidates who got selected for AINP will be nominated by the authorities, which may help them getting a permanent residence in Canada.
The streams replace two currently existing AINP streams which are: the Employer-Driven stream and the Strategic Recruitment stream. These existing streams will continue to accept the applications, and processing of these applications will continue until the new streams replaced them in January 2018.
Applicants will require a job offer from any Alberta employee for the Opportunity stream. The job does not compulsorily require any skilled occupation, as according to the National Occupation Classification (NOC), the candidates with skill levels 0, A, B, C and D are all eligible.
At the time of application, the applicants must have their temporary resident address with them. The candidates must be living or working in authority or territory other than Alberta. According to the language test organized by the government of Alberta, the applicants must have an eligible English or French ability compared to the Canadian language, which has set its Benchmark at 4.
The move comes after a similar change in the dependant policy for new immigrants.
Vancouver on a sunny day. Credit: Soubhik Chakrabarti
Immigrants to Canada Can Bring Older Children From Next Year
Prospective immigrants who are thinking of moving to Canada to work and live were previously held back if their children were over 19, but Ottawa is changing the age of dependent children to less than 22 years old. This change is due to be implemented in autumn of next year and should prove popular with Indian families planning a move to Canada. The change will affect young people on a wide array of immigration schemes run by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Currently, children under 19 are able to move to Canada if they are moving with dependents that are sponsoring them.
Many parents who want to move or already live in Canada will welcome the move. At the moment, parents have to apply to sponsor any children aged between 19-21, but this new change will make the whole process easier and far less stressful for families who are worried about being separated.
This move will likely increase the numbers of foreign families who are thinking of immigrating to the North American country but have previously been held back by concerns about their dependents being allowed into the country on a permanent basis. The move is also applicable for candidates who are in the middle of petitioning for Canadian permanent residency.
Canada is a popular destination for immigrants due to its many schemes to encourage immigration in a bid to increase the population of its rural areas and boost the economy by allowing highly skilled foreign workers to get residency and add their skill set to the job market. Canada wants to compete globally in the tech industry, and for this, they need to attract immigrants who are skilled in STEM subjects, fields that are typically hard to find qualified staff for.