Canada Atlantic Immigration
Canada
Residency
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See if you're a match →The Atlantic Immigration Program is a permanent-residence route for skilled workers and recent Atlantic Canada graduates with a job offer from a designated employer in one of Canada's four Atlantic provinces.
- Type
- Regional permanent residence
- Job fit
- Skilled workers and Atlantic graduates with designated employers
- Core requirements
- Designated employer job offer and provincial endorsement
- What to know
- Can support a temporary work permit while PR is pending
- Duration
- Permanent residence from approval.
- Renewal / path
- Can support Canadian citizenship after physical-presence rules are met.
Summary
The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) is a permanent-residence route for skilled workers and recent graduates who want to live and work in Atlantic Canada. It covers New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The practical anchor is a job offer from a designated Atlantic employer, followed by provincial endorsement.
Eligibility
Applicants generally need:
- A job offer from a designated employer in one of the four Atlantic provinces.
- Either skilled-worker experience or recent graduation from a recognized post-secondary institution in Atlantic Canada.
- Language ability in English or French.
- Education documents.
- Settlement funds, unless an exemption applies.
- Provincial endorsement for the job offer.
- Federal admissibility, including background and medical checks.
The employer must be designated before the job offer can support the permanent-residence application.
Duration, Renewal, and Long-Term Path
Approval grants Canadian permanent residence. Permanent residents can later apply for Canadian citizenship after meeting physical-presence, tax filing, language or knowledge, and prohibition rules.
Applicants may also be able to apply for a temporary work permit while the permanent-residence application is in process, if they have the required job offer and provincial referral.
What This Route Allows
AIP can be one of Canada's more practical regional routes when an applicant has a real Atlantic Canada employer. It can work from outside Canada or from inside Canada as a temporary resident.
What This Route Is Not
This is not an open job-search visa. Without a qualifying designated-employer offer and provincial endorsement, the pathway cannot move forward.
Next Steps
- Confirm the job is in one of the four Atlantic provinces.
- Confirm the employer is designated under AIP.
- Check whether the applicant qualifies as a skilled worker or recent Atlantic graduate.
- Prepare language, education, funds, work-history, and identity records.
- Have the employer start the endorsement process.
- File the permanent-residence application after endorsement.