Living in Halifax for the last 7 months was really good. Although Halifax is the biggest city on the east coast of Canada, it hasn't really had too many big employers. It thrives on small businesses. The government has made some strides in the last few years though to build up infrastructure to attract new employers. The housing market in Toronto and Vancouver is getting saturated and the cost of living has only been going up in those cities. It therefore isn't a surprise that a lot of people are moving to the east coast. That is why, the east coast Atlantic provinces - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, New Foundland and Labrador & Prince Edward Island have partnered to come up with the Atlantic immigration pilot program i.e. AIPP. The goal being to attract immigrants to these provinces and grow the economy. Employers will hire foreign workers for positions that they haven't been able to fill locally.
Note that not all employers are part of the pilot. So, when you interview with the employer, ask them specifically if they are one of the designated employers in AIPP. There are 3 streams within this pilot - Highly skilled, intermediate skilled and international graduate. You can read thru the detailed requirements of these streams in the link given below. In a nutshell, you need a full-time, non-seasonal job offer from an employer, participating in the AIPP program for at least 1 year.
Some tips -
1. Look at the job requirements in detail and apply for jobs that have a close match.
2. Write a great cover letter that clearly states your need of participating in AIPP and how your relevant experience makes you a suitable candidate. That will incline the recruiter to contact you. I got thru Federal stream of Express entry and got a job in Halifax from the US. Writing a detailed cover letter helped me get a good response from my employer.
3. You will need to research the designated employers for AIPP as there isn't a site dedicated for job searches. Go thru the list below and then look up for jobs for that employer. But if you find the right job then perhaps you would be over the biggest hurdle!
Other requirements
- You need to give a language test like IELTS, CELPIP and the results should not be more than 2 years old.
- You need to prove that you have the funds to support yourself/family (if applicable) in Canada.
- For the highly skilled/intermediate skilled streams you need to have work experience. Check out the detailed requirements in the links.
How does this work?
- You have to get a job offer from an employer participating in the AIPP program. You can also apply for a temporary work permit if your employer wants you to start immediately.
- Figure out your settlement plan with the help of several agencies. It works even if you are outside of Canada.Give a copy of the plan to your employer.
- Your employer then needs to get the endorsement from the province with your job offer and settlement plan. The employer should handle this part.
- Once you have the endorsement, you can submit your express entry profile for permanent residence. The online express entry application will have the steps for you to submit details. After this, it will follow the same steps of the express entry process.
- Note that if you have applied for a temporary work permit then you have to submit permanent residence application within 90 days.
- If you are a highly skilled worker (NOC A, B or 0) then your spouse can also apply for an open work permit.
- Best thing about this is that you don't have strict requirements for points like other streams. The gist is that if you have a job offer from an Atlantic employer and you satisfy other requirements like funds, language and education then you should get thru.
Disclaimer- This information is just based on a research that I did for a friend. I would encourage you to look at the links on the official site below.
Useful Links
- Atlantic immigration pilot -
- Follow the links for each of the streams to find out eligibility for each.
- Designated employers in AIPP
- Settlement plan
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