Atlantic Immigration

Before making a job offer to hire a candidate, employers must first be designated by the provincial government of the Atlantic province where the candidate will work.

Each province has its own application process, and there is no cost to become a designated employer. You can find the application forms on the province’s respective website:

– New Brunswick
– Newfoundland and Labrador
– Nova Scotia
– Prince Edward Island

Hiring International Talent

Once employers have obtained the necessary permissions, they often seek foreign workers to fill positions that cannot be staffed locally. Whether the individual is abroad or already in Canada, the program provides a wider and more flexible range of options to address the labor shortage.

Work experience

In the last 5 years, you must have worked at least 1,560 hours. This is the number of hours you would have worked in 1 year if you were working 30 hours per week.

To calculate your hours

• Count hours worked in part-time and full-time jobs.
• Count only paid hours of work. Volunteering or unpaid internships don’t count.
• Don’t count hours when you were self-employed.
• Count hours worked inside or outside Canada. You must have been legally authorized to work in Canada as a temporary resident.
• Count hours that were accumulated over a period of at least 12 months.
• Count work experience acquired while studying, as long as the work hours don’t exceed what was authorized.

This work should be at one of these National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) categories

• TEER 0 (management jobs such as restaurant managers or mine managers)
• TEER 1 (professional jobs that usually need a degree from a university, such as doctors, dentists, or architects)
• TEER 2 (technical jobs and skilled trades requiring at least 2 years of college or apprenticeship, or occupations with supervisory or safety responsibilities such as police officers and firefighters)
• TEER 3 (technical jobs and skilled trades requiring less than 2 years of college or apprenticeship; or more than 6 months of on-the-job training)
• TEER 4 (intermediate jobs that usually call for high school and/or several weeks of job-specific training, such as industrial butchers, long-haul truck drivers, or food and beverage servers)

Your work experience must include

• the actions in the description of your NOC
• most of the main duties of your NOC

International graduates

You do not need to meet the work experience requirements if you’re an international graduate who

• has a degree, diploma, certificate, or trade or apprenticeship certification that
  • took at least 2 years of studies
  • is from a recognized post-secondary institution in 1 of the 4 Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, or Newfoundland and Labrador)
• was a full-time student for the entire time you were studying
• lived in one of the following provinces for at least 16 months during the last 2 years before you graduated
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Newfoundland and Labrador or
  • Prince Edward Island
• had the visa or permit you needed to work, study, or get training while you were in Canada

Education

For NOC TEER 0 or 1 job offers, you need a Canadian one-year post-secondary credential or foreign equivalent.

For NOC TEER 2, 3, or 4 jobs, you need a Canadian high school diploma or its foreign equivalent.

Language

TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3: Level 5 in English or French.

TEER 4: Level 4 in English or French.

Settlement funds

Minimum amount of money you need to immigrate to Canada is based on the size of your family.

Updated June 3, 2024