Alberta Issues New AAIP Invitations to Priority Workers

Alberta invited at least 185 more immigration candidates between April 15 and April 27, using four Alberta Advantage Immigration Program pathways aimed at workers in health care, law enforcement, tourism and hospitality.

The province has now held 32 AAIP draws in 2026. Its April 15 and April 16 selections both focused on health care workers, matching Alberta’s stated priority of filling labour gaps in key public services.

Four Draws Target Needed Workers

The largest round came on April 27, when the Tourism and Hospitality Stream issued 98 invitations with a minimum score of 71.

On April 23, the Alberta Express Entry Stream’s Law Enforcement Pathway sent fewer than 10 invitations. Candidates needed a minimum score of 58.

Two health care draws came earlier in the month. The Dedicated Health Care Pathway for non-Express Entry candidates issued 37 invitations on April 16, with a cutoff score of 46. A day earlier, the Alberta Express Entry Stream’s Priority Sectors health care draw invited 50 candidates with scores of at least 55.

Nomination Spaces Remain Available

Alberta has issued at least 5,218 AAIP invitations so far this year. The Alberta Opportunity Stream accounts for the largest share, with 3,025 invitations.

The federal government gave Alberta 6,403 provincial nomination spots for 2026. As of April 29, the province had issued 1,849 nominations, leaving 4,554 still available. Alberta also reported 1,469 nomination applications waiting to be processed.

The Alberta Opportunity Stream has the biggest allocation, with 3,425 spaces. It has used 1,094 and has 2,331 left. The Rural Renewal Stream has 1,000 spaces, with 298 used and 702 remaining. Tourism and Hospitality has 150 spaces, with 55 used and 95 left.

Health care pathways have 500 spaces, with 61 used and 439 remaining. The Accelerated Tech Pathway has 600 spaces, with 194 used and 406 left. Priority sector draws also have 600 spaces, with 136 used and 464 remaining.

Alberta has assigned 38 spaces to the Law Enforcement Pathway and 90 to entrepreneur streams. Fewer than 10 nominations have been issued in each, and remaining totals were not listed.

The province has also used special nomination spaces for 50 practice-ready physicians and 12 francophone candidates.

Large Candidate Pool Waits

Alberta is the only province that publishes both worker Expression of Interest and application inventory figures by stream.

As of April 29, the province had 41,763 worker EOIs in its pool. About 63.8 per cent were for the Alberta Opportunity Stream, which had 26,625 EOIs and 583 applications waiting.

Other inventories included 2,137 Rural Renewal EOIs and 254 applications, 4,088 Tourism and Hospitality EOIs and 13 applications, and 1,543 health care EOIs and 21 applications.

The Accelerated Tech Pathway had 2,554 EOIs and 128 applications. Law enforcement had 74 EOIs and fewer than 10 applications. Priority sector draws had 4,742 EOIs and 205 applications. Entrepreneur streams had no worker EOI count because they use a separate process, but 251 applications were waiting.

For 2026, Alberta says it is focusing on rural immigration and workers in health care, technology, construction, manufacturing, aviation and agriculture.