Alberta Advantage Immigration Program – Processing times and inventory

Nomination certificate limits

The following numbers are accurate as of April 26, 2023.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sets the limits for nomination certificates the AAIP can issue each year.  AAIP will be able to issue 9,750 nomination certificates in 2023, split between Express Entry and non-Express Entry pathways (which is subject to change throughout the year). Notional increases to more than 10,000 nomination allocations per year are expected in 2024 and 2025.

These AAIP plans are subject to change without notice. They partially depend on fluctuating application volumes and on how nomination allocations in 2023 are anticipated to be used.

Summary of 2023 allocations by AAIP stream or pathway

2023 summary of allocations
Expected allocation

Non-Express Entry Streams – Allocations 4,875

Alberta Opportunity Stream
4,240

Rural Renewal Stream
630

All (4) Entrepreneur streams
5

Express Entry Stream and Pathways – Allocations 4,875

Family Connection and Occupation in Demand
1,219

Accelerated Tech Pathway
1,219

Dedicated Healthcare Pathway
1,462

Sector Priorities (that is, construction, agriculture, hospitality and tourism)
975

Total allocations:
9,750

2,549 nomination certificates have been issued so far in 2023.

Application volumes and processing

Information on average processing times and dates and application volumes is available to help you determine how long its takes for AAIP to process a complete application for each AAIP stream or pathway.

Approximate volumes, processing times and assessment dates for each AAIP stream or pathway are provided below.

‘Assessing’ means an AAIP officer was assigned an application to assess and decide if an application is eligible.

The most common factors considered in AAIP application processing include:

• application quality (completeness, eligibility, outdated information or documents)
• volume of applications received
• the date the application was received
• strategic priorities, informed by labour market and economic development information
• the number of nomination certificates remaining for the year

To check the status of your application or business application, go to the ‘Check Existing Applications’ section of the AAIP portal.

To check the status of your Expression of Interest, go to the ‘Check Existing Expression of Interest’ section of the AAIP portal.

Streams for workers

AAIP Stream
Number of applications in the queue (approximate)
Number of allocations remaining (approximate and subject to change)
Processing time (estimated average) – from when a complete application is submitted until a final decision is issued
The AAIP is assessing applications received before… (approximate)

Alberta Opportunity Stream
Approximately 1,520
Approximately 2,820 allocations
Approximately 4 months
February 11, 2023

Alberta Express Entry Stream – Accelerated Tech Pathway
Approximately 130
Approximately 470 allocations
Approximately 1 month
April 24, 2023

Dedicated Healthcare Pathway
Less than 10
Approximately 1,462 allocations
Approximately 1 month
Not currently available

Priority Sectors (construction, agriculture, hospitality and tourism)
Less than 10
Approximately 975 allocations
Not currently available
Not currently available

Alberta Express Entry Stream (family connection and occupation in demand)
Approximately 170
Approximately 1,025 allocations
Approximately 3 months
March 31, 2023

Rural Renewal Stream
Approximately 137
Approximately 443 allocations
Approximately 1 month
March 21, 2023

Streams for entrepreneurs

AAIP Stream
Expression of Interest (EOI) scoring (estimated) – from when EOI is submitted to scoring completed
Business Application decision (estimated) – from when a complete business application is received until a support letter is issued
Final report and nomination (estimated) – from when final report is submitted until a final nomination decision is issued

Graduate Entrepreneur Stream
1 month
5 months
4 months

Foreign Graduate Entrepreneur Stream
1 month
5 months
4 months

Rural Entrepreneur Stream
1 month
5 months
4 months

AAIP Stream
Processing time (estimated average) – from when a complete application is submitted until a final decision is issued

Farm Stream
4 months

Applications by occupation

The AAIP has a high volume of applications in worker streams in the following occupations. When the volume of these applications exceeds the ability to issue nominations, these submissions may take longer to process or may be occupations excluded from Express Entry draws regardless of occupational demand.

• 62020 – Food service supervisors
• 62010 – Retail sales supervisors
• 63200 – Cooks
• 13110 – Administrative assistants
• 60020 – Retail and wholesale trade managers
• 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants
• 73300 – Transport truck drivers
• 12200 – Accounting technicians and bookkeepers
• 21222 – Information systems specialists
• 13100 – Administrative officers

Express Entry draws

The AAIP regularly reviews available candidates in the federal Express Entry pool. Based on available profile information in the portal, the AAIP draws to select candidates from the pool, inviting them to submit a completed application to the AAIP. Information on Alberta Express Entry Stream Notification of Interest factors is included on the Eligibility page. Accelerated Tech Pathway candidates are invited to apply depending the outcome of the review of their Accelerated Tech Pathway form.

The following parameters will apply to Alberta Express Entry Stream selection for 2023:

• 25% of nominations will be allocated to candidates in in-demand occupations who have a close family connection (parent, child, brother or sister) in Alberta. In-demand occupations include occupations with significant cumulative imbalance on Alberta’s Occupational Outlook and occupations in ‘High’ or ‘Moderately High’ demand in the Short-Term Employment Forecast.
• 50% of nominations will be allocated to candidates with a primary occupation in the health care, construction, agriculture, hospitality and tourism sectors, with priority given to candidates with an Alberta job offer.
• 25% of nominations will be allocated to the Accelerated Tech Pathway.

Past draws

Draw information is updated within one week from a draw. Information on 2023 AAIP draws is provided below.

Read the 2022 AAIP Draw History Summary (PDF, 137 KB)

Date of draw
Number of Notification of Interest letters sent
Draw parameters
Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of lowest ranked candidate who received a Notification of Interest letter

April 25, 2023
8
Designated Healthcare Pathway, Alberta job offer, CRS score 300 and above
316

April 24, 2023
124
Priority sector – construction occupation with Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-500
301

April 20, 2023
152
Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500
302

April 18, 2023
68
Sector priority – Agriculture occupation with Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-700
307

April 5, 2023
53
Designated Healthcare Pathway, Alberta job offer, CRS score 300-600
351

March 30, 2023
150
Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500
372

March 9, 2023
134
Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500
301

February 16, 2023
100
Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500
357

January 23, 2023
154
Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500
385

January 19, 2023
46
Family connection and primary occupation in demand, CRS score 300-500
324