The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) allows skilled foreign workers and international graduates from a Canadian institution to become permanent residents in Canada by living and working in one of the four Atlantic provinces:
- New Brunswick
- Nova Scotia
- Prince Edward Island
- Newfoundland and Labrador
This program helps fill the needs of local employers and communities in the Atlantic Canada region as well as encourage economic growth. In order to be eligible for this program, you must:
- Be a foreign national with the ability to become economically established in Atlantic Canada
- Intend to live and work in one of the four Atlantic provinces (see list above)
- Have a provincial endorsement
- A full-time job offer
- A settlement plan for yourself and your accompanying family
- Have the minimum education requirements
- A Canadian one-year post-secondary educational credential (or higher) for job offers at the NOC 0 or A skill type or level
- A Canadian high school diploma (or the equivalent outside of Canada) for job offers at the NOC B or C skill level
- If you studied outside of Canada, you require an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) to confirm that your studies are equal to or higher than the required level of education for your job offer
- Have the minimum language proficiency requirements
- For a job offer at the NOC skill type 0 or skill level A or B:
- A language test approved by IRCC which meets the minimum language level of 5 in the Canadian Language Benchmarks in English or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens in French for each of the 4 language skill areas
- For a job offer at the NOC C skill level:
- A language test approved by IRCC which meets the minimum language level of 4 in the Canadian Language Benchmark in English or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens in French for each of the 4 language skill areas
- For a job offer at the NOC skill type 0 or skill level A or B:
- Have the minimum work experience requirements
- You must have accumulated at least 1 year of full-time work (or the equivalent in part-time work) within the last 5 years
- The work experience must come from one of the following:
- NOC skill type 0 (management jobs such as restaurant managers, mine managers)
- NOC skill level A (professional jobs that usually need a degree from a university, such as doctors, dentists, architects)
- NOC skill level B (technical jobs and skilled trades such as chefs, electricians, plumbers)
- NOC skill level C(intermediate jobs that usually call for high school or job-specific training, such as industrial butchers, long-haul truck drivers, food and beverage servers)
- Have the minimum job offer requirements
- Must be from a designated employer in one of the four Atlantic provinces
- Must be a full-time and non-seasonal job offer
- For NOC 0, A or B skill type or level job offers, the employer must be offering the applicant a job that will last at least 1 year (1 year from the time the applicant becomes a permanent resident)
- For NOC C level job offers, the employer must be offering the applicant permanent employment