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TL;DR
Alberta's Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) issued 1,051 invitations to apply for provincial nomination between May 1 and May 13, 2026, across four separate draws.
The Alberta Opportunity Stream accounted for 832 invitations, or about 79% of the total.
Draws also targeted the Accelerated Tech Pathway (146), Dedicated Health Care Pathway (61), and Rural Renewal Stream (12).
As of May 14, Alberta had used 2,191 of its 6,403 federal nomination spaces for 2026, leaving 4,212 spaces available.
More than 40,000 worker expressions of interest sat in the AAIP pool at the time of the draws.
Alberta issued 1,051 invitations to apply for provincial nomination through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) across four draws held between May 1 and May 13, 2026. The selections targeted workers in health care, technology, and rural communities, along with temporary foreign workers already employed in the province.
These draws were Alberta's 33rd through 36th in 2026 and lifted the province's year-to-date invitation count to at least 6,269 candidates, according to CIC News. The province has said health care, technology, construction, manufacturing, aviation, agriculture, and Rural Renewal communities are its worker-stream priorities for 2026.
The province continued selecting from the same pathways through late June. By June 30, Alberta had issued 3,261 nominations out of its 6,403 federal allocation, with 3,204 spaces still available.
The draw-by-draw breakdown
The May 6 Alberta Opportunity Stream draw was the largest, producing 832 invitations with a minimum selection score of 54. That stream serves temporary foreign workers already employed full-time in Alberta with a job offer in an eligible occupation.
The May 7 Accelerated Tech Pathway draw issued 146 invitations at a minimum score of 57. This pathway requires candidates to hold or have a job offer in an eligible tech occupation from an Alberta employer whose primary business activity matches the province's listed tech industry codes.
On May 13, Alberta's Dedicated Health Care Pathway, Express Entry draw issued 61 invitations with a minimum score of 57. To qualify for this pathway, candidates must have an Alberta job offer in a qualifying health care occupation and an active Express Entry profile with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of at least 300.
The May 1 Rural Renewal Stream draw was the smallest, with 12 invitations at a minimum score of 50. Rural Renewal communities apply to Alberta for designation and then recruit newcomers to fill local labour needs.
How May compared with April
The Alberta Opportunity Stream nearly doubled its output, jumping from 447 invitations on April 10 to 832 on May 6. The Accelerated Tech Pathway held steady at 146 in both months. Dedicated Health Care was flat, moving from 62 in April to 61 in May. Rural Renewal dropped sharply, from 74 invitations on April 9 to 12 on May 1.
The score thresholds changed between the rounds for the tech and health care pathways (59 in April and 57 in May), suggesting Alberta's selection parameters shifted slightly for those streams during the spring.
Invitations, nominations, and permanent residence
The AAIP process has three stages: invitation, nomination, then permanent residence decision. Alberta invites candidates to submit a full application. If approved, the province issues a nomination. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) then reviews the permanent residence application and makes the final decision.
As of May 14, Alberta had issued 2,191 nominations against its 2026 federal allocation of 6,403, leaving 4,212 spaces. By June 30, that figure had risen to 3,261 nominations issued with 3,204 remaining. The province also holds 50 physician nominations and 12 Francophone nominations in additional federal spaces outside the 6,403 allocation.
The gap between invitations issued (6,269 by mid-May) and nominations granted (2,191 by mid-May) reflects processing time, incomplete applications, and candidates who do not proceed after receiving an invitation.
Competition in the pool
Alberta reported 40,161 worker expressions of interest (EOIs) in its AAIP pool as of May 14, with 1,303 applications awaiting processing. By June 30, the EOI pool had dropped to 37,497 and applications awaiting processing rose to 1,466.
The Alberta Opportunity Stream had the largest inventory: 25,571 EOIs in the pool and 446 applications awaiting processing as of mid-May. The Accelerated Tech Pathway had 2,375 EOIs and 122 applications in the queue. Dedicated Health Care Pathways held 1,426 EOIs and 22 applications. Rural Renewal had 2,055 EOIs and 197 pending applications.
With 832 invitations drawn from a pool of 25,571 in the Alberta Opportunity Stream, only about 3.3% of candidates in that pool received invitations in the May draw.
Eligibility basics by stream
Alberta Opportunity Stream: You must be employed full-time in Alberta on a valid work permit and have a full-time offer of employment from an Alberta employer in an eligible occupation. You also need a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or an accepted LMIA-exempt work permit.
Alberta Express Entry pathways (Tech and Health Care): You need an active federal Express Entry profile with a minimum CRS score of 300. Your primary occupation in that profile must match the Alberta employment or job offer. Part-time, casual, seasonal, independent contractor, and remote-from-outside-Alberta work does not qualify.
Rural Renewal Stream: You need a connection to a designated rural community that has recruited you for a local labour need.
Alberta's official pages note that selection priorities can change without notice, and minimum scores vary from draw to draw.
What this means for you
If you're working in Alberta on a temporary work permit and hold a full-time job offer in an eligible occupation: The Alberta Opportunity Stream remains the highest-volume pathway. The May draw's cutoff of 54 gives you a current benchmark, but that number can shift.
If you're in health care or tech with an Express Entry profile: Keep your CRS at 300 or above and confirm your occupation matches Alberta's eligible lists. Both pathways drew at a score of 57 in May.
For anyone tracking AAIP draws: Alberta conducted 43 draws in the first five months of 2026 and still had more than 3,000 nomination spaces as of June 30. The program is actively selecting, but with 37,000-plus EOIs in the pool, strong applications and accurate documentation matter. Alberta says IRCC makes the final permanent residence decision after nomination.
