Atlantic Immigration Program

The AIP helps employers in Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador) hire qualified people for jobs they can't fill locally — and gives those people a path to permanent residence.

It's open to:

• skilled foreign workers, and
• recent graduates of a recognized post-secondary institution in Atlantic Canada.

You can be living abroad or already in Canada as a temporary resident. The starting point is a job offer from a designated employer.

To apply for permanent residence under the AIP, you must:

• have a valid job offer from a designated Atlantic employer,
• have qualifying work experience (you may be exempt if you recently graduated from a recognized Atlantic post-secondary institution),
• have the right level of education for the job,
• prove your language ability with an approved test,
• show you have enough money to support yourself and your family on arrival (not required if you're already working in Canada on a valid work permit), and
• get a settlement plan from a service provider organization.

The job offer must be:

• full-time (at least 30 hours a week) and non-seasonal,
• at least 1 year from when you become a permanent resident (for TEER 0/1/2/3 jobs), or permanent with no end date (for TEER 4 jobs), and
• at the same or higher skill level as your qualifying work experience.

It can't come from a company in which you or your spouse/partner are a majority owner. Graduates of recognized Atlantic post-secondary institutions don't need qualifying work experience, and there are specific exemptions for some health-care occupations.

1. A designated employer offers you a job. 2. You get connected to settlement services and receive a settlement plan. 3. Your employer applies for endorsement; you receive a provincial endorsement certificate (and, if needed, a work-permit support letter). 4. You submit your permanent residence application — with the endorsement certificate and other documents — to IRCC, online through the PR Portal. 5. While you wait, you can apply for a work permit (if needed) so you can start working. 6. If approved, you can move to Atlantic Canada to live and work.

• Fees: from $1,590 (increased 30 April 2026).
• Processing time: about 26 months (this doesn't include the time to give biometrics).

Confirm current fees on IRCC's fee page before paying.

• Only the four Atlantic provinces take part: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Employers must first become designated by their province (there's no cost to them to become designated) before they can hire through the program.
• You can work in Canada while you wait if you have the job offer from a designated employer plus a referral letter from the Atlantic province where you'll work.