Southeast Rural Renewal Pilot
The Southeast Alberta Immigration website has been launched. Please visit saimmigration.ca for detailed information on Rural Renewal, Info for Employers, Info for Candidates and more.
Southeast Alberta Immigration website
The City of Medicine Hat, along with regional partners Cypress County, Town of Redcliff, and Town of Bow Island, are approved as a designated community for the Rural Renewal Stream of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP).
Rural Renewal supports the attraction and retention of newcomers in rural Alberta through a community-driven approach that is responsive to local economic development needs and contributes to the economic growth of the community.
Medicine Hat Economic Development launched the Southeast Rural Renewal Pilot on April 29, 2024. The pilot will support local businesses by providing endorsement letters to qualified and financially secure immigrants who have a genuine desire to settle in Southeast Alberta.
Prospective Immigrants
Applications for endorsement letters in the Southeast Rural Renewal Pilot need to be supported by an employer. If you plan on applying for endorsement, talk to your employer first. We cannot accept applications directly from a prospective immigrant.
After you obtain a qualifying job or receive a qualifying job offer, your employer can submit an application for nomination to the program on your behalf. Once nominated, new immigrants, temporary foreign workers or international students can qualify to work in their community while they wait for a decision on their permanent residence application.
There is currently no list of participating employers for Southeast Rural Renewal, however, we'll regularly update our job board with open positions at participating employers as they become available.
Questions pertaining to information that is available online will not be responded to.
Employers
Employers that have questions or are interested in participating in the Southeast Rural Renewal Pilot are invited to email immigration@medicinehat.ca. Please be sure to include your name, business name, location, and telephone. Someone will respond within 2 business days.
| How the Rural Renewal Stream works |
| Please note: items marked with an asterisk (*) are performed by the foreign national |
| Community Designation |
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Medicine Hat and regional community partners received the community designation on January 13, 2023 and are currently developing the local implementation process. More to come. |
| Recruitment and endorsement |
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Community partners and municipalities will work with employers to recruit the labour needs of the area, ensuring the selected foreign nationals meet the criteria of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program – Rural Renewal Stream. The community will provide a letter of endorsement to the foreign national. This letter will need to be included in the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program application for a nomination. |
| Application* |
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The endorsed foreign national will apply to the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program – Rural Renewal Stream. A non-refundable application fee of $500 is required. You may only have one Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) application in process at any time. While the permanent residency application is being processed, the candidate can request a 204(c) Letter of Support to apply for a temporary work permit to start working in the designated community. |
| Nomination for permanent residency |
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Alberta Advantage Immigration Program reviews the application and issues a nomination for permanent residency. |
| Application for permanent residency* |
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If the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program issues a nomination, the nominee must apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for permanent residence status: https://www.alberta.ca/aaip-rural-renewal-stream-after-you-are-nominated.aspx |
| Settlement |
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The designated community partners support newcomers to settle permanently and be successful in the community. |