Atlantic High-Skilled Program (AHSP)

Note: On 1 November 2017, the government of Canada announced multi-year immigration targets spanning from 2018 to 2020. An estimated 9,80,000 immigrants will be welcomed by Canada from 2018 to 2020. For complete projected statistics and other valuable information, click here.

Eligibility Criteria

1. Job Offer

AHSP being an employer-driven program, all applicants need to have a valid job offer from an employer from any one (or more) of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. The job offer thus obtained should be:

• For full-time employment for at least one year;
• For a non-seasonal job;
• For a skilled job or profession (That is, the job should fall under any one or more of Canada’s Skill levels 0, A, or B);
• Issued by a designated Atlantic employer;
• Supported by a letter of endorsement by the respective Atlantic province.

1. Work Experience

 The Applicant must have a minimum of 1 year of work experience in the last 3 years. The work experience must be:

• Full time: A minimum of 30 hours per week. It is also fine if the work experience was part-time provided the total number of hours worked meets or exceeds 1560 hours in one year;
• In a managerial (Skill level 0), professional (Skill level A), or technical (Skill level B);
• Paid work experience: Unpaid work experience like volunteer work, work at charitable organizations, etc., will not be counted.

1. Education

The applicant must have obtained either one (or both) of the below:

• A Canadian post-secondary degree/diploma/certificate. If else, a Canadian secondary school (high school) level education;
• A complete Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from any one of the 5 organizations designated by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

1. Language Skills

The applicant must score a minimum of CLB level 4 in either English or French. Click here to know the correlation between the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) levels and the various language tests approved by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The following language tests are approved for the AHSP:

• IELTS (International English Language Testing System) – General Test; for English
• CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program) – General Test; for English
• TEF (Test d’évaluation de français) – for French

Applicants must note that the language test results must be less than 2 years old at the time of applying.

1. Settlement Funds

The settlement funds requirement for the AHSP must meet or exceed the values listed in the below table, depending on the size of the family.

1. Provincial Endorsement

A provincial letter of endorsement is a mandatory document for all AHCP applicants. The letter of endorsement is issued by the endorsing province to the applicant. The letter is valid only for a period of 6 months from the date of issuance. Hence, the applicant must take necessary steps to prevent the situation of the endorsement letter getting expired