The Accelerated Tech Pathway is part of the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, a federal-provincial program that nominates individuals for permanent residence in Alberta if they have skills to fill job shortages or are planning to buy or start a business in Alberta.

Tech professionals from across Canada and overseas with a job offer in an in-demand tech industry occupation will be fast-tracked, getting them to permanent residence sooner.

The Alberta Express Entry Stream allows Alberta to nominate a limited number of qualified candidates from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry system.

General Alberta Express Entry Stream

Candidates who have demonstrated strong ties to Alberta or who can help support the government’s economic development and diversification priorities may be asked to submit an application.

International graduates from Canadian post-secondary institutions may also be asked to apply under this stream.

Accelerated Tech Pathway

Under the Alberta Express Entry Stream, candidates may be selected for expedited processing if they are currently working for, or have a job offer with, an Alberta-based tech industry employer in an eligible tech occupation. Refer to the list of eligible Accelerated Tech Pathway occupations (PDF, 207 KB)

Application steps

The Alberta Express Entry Stream has 3 steps:

1. Candidates must have an Express Entry profile with the Government of Canada to be considered under this stream.
   • Candidates interested in applying under the Accelerated Tech Pathway must send information about their Express Entry profile and their Alberta employment or job offer with an Alberta tech employer to the AINP by filling out an online form.
   • All other candidates of the Express Entry stream must receive a Notification of Interest (NOI) letter from AINP in their Government of Canada Express Entry profile. Candidates must email a copy of this NOI letter to the AINP and state they are interested in applying to the AINP.
2. The AINP determines if candidates meet the minimum eligibility criteria to apply. Candidates who meet minimum eligibility criteria will receive an email inviting them to submit an application.
3. Candidates determine if they meet assessment criteria and submit an application. Complete applications go into a pool of eligible applications for consideration for processing.

Note:

• Candidates cannot apply directly to the Alberta Express Entry Stream.
• Candidates must be invited to submit an application. The AINP invites candidates who demonstrate they meet minimum eligibility criteria. See the steps outlined above.
• You cannot use a nomination under a different AINP stream to apply under the Alberta Express Entry Stream or the federal Express Entry system.
• If the AINP discovers fraud or misrepresentation in an application, a candidate may be banned for up to 5 years from reapplying to the AINP.
• Alberta Express Entry Stream nominees cannot extend their nomination.

Learn more about eligibility criteria, how to apply, and what to do after you are nominated.

Quick facts

• According to the Alberta Enterprise Corporation, Alberta is home to more than 3,000 technology companies, a 233 per cent increase since 2012 (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
• Alberta-based tech companies are scaling in growth and financing:
  • Forty-three per cent of Alberta’s technology startups are at the pre-seed or seed stage and 43 per cent have raised at least US $1 million to date (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
  • Forty per cent of survey respondents have achieved profitability and 38 per cent of companies reported revenue greater than $1 million in the last fiscal year (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
  • The number of companies with 25 or more employees has increased by 12 percentage points to 25 per cent, between 2018 and 2020 (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).
• Access to talent, including developing, acquiring and retaining teams, remains a challenge for Alberta tech companies, particularly in the case of sales (39 per cent) and technical (36 per cent) talent (2021 Alberta Technology Deal Flow Study).