The Alberta provincial government recently announced the temporary suspension of new applications for the Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS) program within the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP), along with the introduction of a new immigration stream. This announcement of suspension may come as sudden news to those who were preparing for the AOS. Regulations and situations regarding Canadian immigration are constantly evolving, and rather than worrying unnecessarily based on these changes, it is important to understand the underlying reasons and prepare and plan for the future. This week, we will take a closer look at the background of the temporary suspension of AOS, which is a representative program of AAIP, and the soon-to-be-introduced Tourism and Hospitality Stream.

Immigration programs in Alberta, as well as in other provinces, constantly evolve and undergo changes according to operational needs and economic conditions. Looking at the background of the temporary suspension of new applications, it can be understood as a necessary measure due to the sharp increase in the number of pending applications. As of December 12, 2023, nominations for the current year's allocation of 4,970 under the AOS program had been completed, with approximately 3,232 applications pending assessment at that time. However, as of February 12, 2024, the number of pending applications had increased to 5,093. This indicates a situation where the backlog of applications is similar in scale to the number of nominations issued for the year earlier. Backlogs in applications lead to longer processing times and increase the burden on immigration authorities as they are unable to reflect recent employment situations accurately. Therefore, there is a need to adjust the number of pending applications appropriately to optimize the application processing process.

This situation can be understood in a similar context to the temporary suspension of new application intake by the Alberta provincial government on August 27, 2015, within the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP). At that time, due to a backlog of approximately 10,000 applications, the Alberta provincial government announced the temporary suspension of new application intake for about 5 months. Following the temporary suspension of new application intake, as of September 21, despite issuing nominations for 3,900 out of the annual quota of 5,500 immigrants, there were still approximately 8,200 applications pending. This is clearly distinct from the suspension of the Employer-driven Stream announced on June 13, 2018, where intake under the existing program was suspended after the announcement and the new AOS program was introduced starting from June 14.

Such suspension and resumption of programs are phenomena not only in provincial immigration programs but also in federal immigration programs. Especially in Ontario, there is a chronic imbalance where the number of applicants far exceeds the annual quota every time a program is launched. Due to this imbalance, Ontario eventually transitioned its immigration to a points-based system.

The exacerbation of application backlogs in Alberta arose as a result of a significant increase in applications from individuals experiencing difficulties in applying for permanent residency due to layoffs, health, and travel restrictions during the pandemic. After the pandemic, with Canada's welcoming policy towards new immigrants and Alberta's low cost of living, the influx of population has been increasing, albeit with some differences from the situation in Ontario. While Alberta's provincial government had set an annual quota of 5,500 immigrants until a few years ago, it has announced that this year it will exceed 10,000, indicating that the assessment of applications is expected to normalize soon.

Introduction of the Tourism and Hospitality Stream Starting from March 1, 2024, a new immigration stream called the Tourism and Hospitality Stream will be introduced. The aim of this stream is to attract talent needed in the tourism and foodservice industries, which are key sectors of the Alberta economy. Since 2022, tourism spending has been recovering to pre-pandemic levels and showing growth, leading to an increased demand for workforce in this sector. The eligibility requirements for the new stream are expected to relax the work experience requirement from 1 year to 6 months, while the educational and English proficiency standards are expected to be similar to the existing AOS level.

While other provinces primarily operate independent immigration programs for the tourism and foodservice sectors, Alberta has been integrated under the AOS program. However, with the introduction of the new Tourism and Hospitality Stream, it will operate as an independent category in the future. This is expected to help address the labor shortages in the tourism industry that Alberta's immigration policy has been facing and enable a more sensitive response to economic demands.

The temporary suspension of the AOS program and the introduction of the new Tourism and Hospitality Stream are measures by Alberta to respond to both current and future economic demands and have a positive impact on the local community and economy. While concerns about changes in immigration policies are raised, Alberta has nearly doubled its immigration quota over the past few years and the immigration gateway remains open. Therefore, it is expected that the atmosphere of openness towards Canadian and Alberta immigration will continue at least until 2026, and thorough preparation is required during the suspension period to prepare for reapplications.