Atlantic Immigration Class Made Permanent

Summary#

The final rule titled Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Atlantic Immigration Class) creates a permanent Atlantic Immigration Class. It puts the pilot program on a permanent footing and sets the rules for who can apply. The regulations came into force on January 1, 2022 and are expected to cost about $23.7 million (present value) over ten years with monetized benefits of about $1.3 million (present value).

What it does#

• Establishes the Atlantic Immigration Class under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations as a permanent economic immigration pathway for people who can become economically established in Atlantic Canada.
• Requires candidates to have an endorsement certificate issued by one of the four Atlantic provinces (see list below) that is valid when they apply for permanent residence.
• Sets the main eligibility rules (summarized):
  • intent to live in the endorsing Atlantic province;
  • work experience rules (at least one year of eligible, non‑Canadian, full‑time work within the past five years, with specific occupational skill levels allowed);
  • a recent-graduate option for graduates of eligible Atlantic post‑secondary programs (with minimum study length and residence time in the province);
  • an offer of employment that meets minimum length and employer‑ownership conditions;
  • education requirements tied to the job’s skill level; and
  • language testing by an approved test and designated evaluator, with results less than two years old.
• Requires candidates who are not already authorized and working in Canada to have settlement funds equal to one eighth of the published low‑income cut‑off for large urban areas.
• Adds an explicit definition of “Atlantic province”: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Keeps (and in some places tightens) elements that were used in the pilot, such as mandatory settlement planning and employer training/support expectations. The government says some 2019 pilot changes (for example, spousal open work permits) will be carried forward in the permanent program.

Who's affected#

• Employers in the Atlantic provinces who want to hire and sponsor foreign workers. The analysis assumes a target of 6,000 admissions per year through the program.
• Foreign national job candidates who intend to settle in an Atlantic province — including recent graduates, skilled workers, and those with qualifying work experience.
• The four provincial governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, which will keep the role of endorsing employers and candidates.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which will assess the permanent residence applications and take on federal assessment of language, education and work‑experience credentials under this class.
• Small businesses: many designated employers are expected to be small businesses and will face training and settlement‑linking costs. The regulatory analysis estimates affected small businesses over ten years and gives an average compliance cost per small business.

Why it matters#

• The rule is meant to keep and expand a program that the federal government says helped Atlantic communities attract and retain newcomers during the pilot. The pilot showed high short‑term retention: about 94% of principal applicants still lived in the Atlantic region after one year (higher than comparable provincial programs).
• For Atlantic communities: the program aims to help fill local labour shortages and to slow population decline by encouraging newcomers to settle outside Canada’s largest cities.
• For employers: it creates a clearer, permanent route to hire foreign workers, but also brings new employer responsibilities (training, settlement planning support) and some costs.
• For newcomers: the program reinforces settlement supports (mandatory settlement plans and links to settlement service providers) intended to improve integration and long‑term success.
• For taxpayers: the regulatory impact statement estimates net monetized costs (government and employers minus monetized province savings) over ten years. The document also highlights non‑monetized benefits such as better local labour supply and integration supports.

If you want the full regulatory text or the government’s cost–benefit numbers, the Canada Gazette notice has the complete regulations and the regulatory impact analysis.