FIDERA LAW
Canadian immigration law

ImmigrateSkilled workerEndorsement or recommendationAtlantic Immigration Program

Skilled worker · Endorsement · Atlantic Immigration Program

The federal door is open. Three of the four provincial ones are not.

This route runs through a province, not through IRCC. A designated employer offers you the job, the province endorses that offer, and only once you hold the Certificate of Endorsement can you file with IRCC. New Brunswick has paused employer designation, Prince Edward Island takes three sectors, Nova Scotia has paused an occupation code, and Newfoundland and Labrador requires an invitation first.

How this route actually works

Three things decide whether this route exists for you, and none of them is your own record. Your employer has to be designated by the province before it can offer you the job. The province, not IRCC, has to endorse that offer. And you have to be holding the Certificate of Endorsement in your hand before you file anything with IRCC.

IRCC status field, date modified 22 June 2026 · provincial notices as at 19 August 2026

Open at the federal door, restricted or paused at three of the four provincial ones

IRCC's Atlantic Immigration Program page carries a status field reading Open, and application guide 0154 says the same. That status describes IRCC's intake of permanent residence applications. It says nothing about whether a province will endorse you, and the endorsement is the part you cannot proceed without.

New Brunswick paused the acceptance of new employer designation applications effective 3 February 2026, to reassess existing designated employers and evaluate its priorities. It also stopped considering endorsement applications for the accommodation and food services sector, bars fourteen further occupation codes regardless of sector, and limits endorsements for candidates residing outside Canada to recruitment initiatives led by the provincial government in health care, education and construction.

Prince Edward Island has accepted new endorsement application packages only for healthcare, construction and manufacturing since 24 January 2025, and is not accepting transport truck driver applications under NOC 73300. Nova Scotia has paused job offers at NOC 62020, food service supervisors. Newfoundland and Labrador requires an invitation to apply before an application can be filed at all.

We report the mismatch rather than resolving it, because both statements are current and official and they are not strictly contradictory. IRCC's status is about IRCC's own intake. The practical answer is that in New Brunswick today an employer that is not already designated cannot become designated, so there is no route through that province for a new employer relationship, whatever the federal status field says.

  • The employer approaches the province. You do not. IRCC's own sequence runs designated employer offers you a job, you are connected with settlement services for a settlement plan, you send the plan to the employer, the employer sends the endorsement application to the province, you receive a provincial endorsement certificate, and you may receive a work permit support letter. Only then does the permanent residence application go to IRCC.
  • Designation comes before the job offer. IRCC states that before an employer can make a job offer it must first become designated by the provincial government of the Atlantic province where you will be working. An undesignated employer cannot give you an offer that counts.
  • You must hold the endorsement before you file. IRCC tells applicants not to submit the permanent residence application until they confirm with the employer that the offer has been endorsed, and to include the Certificate of Endorsement with the application.
  • No labour market impact assessment, but a recruitment record all the same. IRCC states you do not need one, and the accompanying work permit is exempt under code C18. The provinces still require evidence that local hiring was attempted and failed.
  • The settlement plan is not one document. Each accompanying family member over eighteen needs their own individualised plan, and the provinces state that an application without a plan completed by an approved settlement service provider organisation will not be processed. Plans are free. Children under eighteen are assessed through their parents.
  • Nothing here is a nomination and nothing here is a decision. An endorsement is a provincial confirmation that a designated employer's job offer qualifies. Permanent residence is decided by IRCC afterwards, on the federal criteria.

The order of operations, and the document you must be holding

What happens in what order under the Atlantic Immigration Program
StepWho actsWhat it produces
1. Employer designationThe employer, applying to the province where you will workDesignated employer status. Free. Continuous active operation under the same management for at least two years in the Atlantic region, mandatory IRCC onboarding training and intercultural competency training, a commitment to a welcoming workplace, a commitment to support settlement services, and agreement to the reporting requirements
2. Job offerThe employer, to youA qualifying offer on IMM 0157 in three of the four provinces. No labour market impact assessment. The offer cannot come from a company in which you or your spouse or common law partner are a majority owner
3. Settlement planYou, with an approved settlement service provider organisation, and each accompanying family member over eighteenAn individualised settlement plan for each adult, free, which you copy to the employer. Settlement service provider organisations do not know which employers are hiring and IRCC asks you not to contact them for work
4. Endorsement applicationThe employer, to the provinceAn application the province assesses. In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia it enters a pool selected by draw. In Newfoundland and Labrador it needs an invitation to apply first
5. Certificate of EndorsementThe provinceThe document you cannot apply to IRCC without. Nova Scotia publishes twelve months. Newfoundland and Labrador publishes six months in one document and one year in another, and we work to the six months. We could not source a validity period from IRCC, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island
6. Permanent residence applicationYou, to IRCCFiled with the endorsement certificate, the settlement plans, language results less than two years old, the education credential or an educational credential assessment less than five years old, and proof of funds unless you are exempt
7. Optional work permitYou, to IRCC, supported by the provinceA permit that is only for this program, valid two years, and tied to the employer who offered you the job. It needs a referral letter from the province

Steps 1 to 5 are the provincial half of this route and they are where it is currently constrained. Steps 6 and 7 are federal.

Provincial sources as at 19 August 2026

Diarise six months from the date on the certificate, not twelve

Newfoundland and Labrador publishes two different validity periods for the same document. In the province's Atlantic Immigration Program candidate questions the answer is that your endorsement certificate is valid for one year. In the province's own immigration programs FAQ document an approved endorsement certificate expires six months after the date of issuance, and the applicant is responsible for submitting a complete permanent residence application to the Centralized Intake Office within that six months.

We work to six months. The FAQ document looks the older of the two, because it names the Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism, a department that no longer exists, but the province has not withdrawn it and an inference about a department name is not a reason to give yourself another six months. Filing early costs nothing. Filing late on the strength of the longer figure loses the endorsement.

Nova Scotia publishes twelve months, in Nova Scotia's own note on what changed when the program became permanent. We could not source a validity period from IRCC, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island, and we could not source in any province whether a lapsed certificate can be reissued or extended. Treat the shortest published period in your province as the real deadline and work backwards from it.

The selection stage is discretionary in three provinces, so meeting every criterion is not the end of it. New Brunswick states that endorsement applications sit in a candidate pool, remain valid for 365 days from submission, are selected on provincial labour market needs and available allocation, are not selected on a first come first served basis, and that applying does not guarantee the application will be processed or that an endorsement will issue. Nova Scotia treats designation and endorsement submissions as expressions of interest selected periodically, and states that selection means the submission moves to the next stage rather than that it will be approved. Newfoundland and Labrador issues invitations to apply and gives sixty days to file, with expressions of interest expiring automatically after twelve months.

New Brunswick applications selected for processing in 2026, as published by the province
DrawApplications selected for processing
22 July 2026114
3 June 202697
1 May 202650
1 April 2026118
3 to 6 March 2026125

These are applications selected for processing rather than endorsements issued, which is the province's own distinction. The page carries no date modified. We could not source a 2026 allocation or endorsement quota for New Brunswick or for any of the other three provinces.

Where the four provinces diverge, which is the part that decides your route

The federal eligibility criteria are uniform, because they sit in federal law and are administered by IRCC. What varies province by province is access, being whether your occupation is eligible at all, how selection happens, whether you act or only your employer does, and who receives the certificate. We could not source any province imposing a higher language, education, funds or work experience threshold than IRCC does.

Provincial differences under the Atlantic Immigration Program as at 19 August 2026
New BrunswickNova ScotiaPrince Edward IslandNewfoundland and Labrador
Designation intakePaused since 3 February 2026. Contact first, with an officer contacting the employer about next steps, and no public application formOpen, online, and treated as an expression of interest selected by periodic drawOpen, online, submitted by the employer and not by the candidateOpen, through the Immigration Accelerator portal only
Occupation limitsThe accommodation and food services sector is excluded, along with thirteen named codes in that sector and a further fourteen codes regardless of sector. Candidates residing outside Canada are limited to provincial recruitment drives in health care, education and constructionNOC 62020, food service supervisors, is paused for job offersHealthcare, construction and manufacturing only, and NOC 73300 transport truck drivers is not acceptedNo published exclusion list. Priorities are applied through the invitation stage
How you are selectedA candidate pool valid 365 days from submission, drawn on labour market needs, allocation and provincial priorities, expressly not first come first servedAn expression of interest pool selected periodically, with a twelve month expression of interest validity introduced effective 1 May 2026Direct submission within the permitted sectorsAn expression of interest leading to an invitation to apply, then sixty days to file. Expressions of interest expire automatically after twelve months
Distinctive requirementDesignation is not automatically transferred after the sale of a businessJob descriptions copied or nearly copied from the federal occupational classification main duties are rejected as not genuine, and the job must meet provincial labour standards and the prevailing wage rangeA valid Certificate of Legal Advice signed by a lawyer in good standing with a Canadian law society is required before designation. Training must be completed before the designation is submitted. Home based businesses and businesses in residential homes may not be eligibleDesignation spaces are valid only until 31 December of the year of issuance and need an update request in January. The employer submits everything and pays the associated fees. An employer cannot hold both a job vacancy assessment and a designation space for the same occupation code
Who does the paperworkBoth. The employer and the candidate each complete their partThe employer, with the job offer and settlement plan co signed by the workerThe employer submits both the designation and the endorsementThe employer, end to end, on the province's own wording
Who receives the certificateNot separately stated. IRCC says the candidateNot separately stated. IRCC says the candidateThe designated employer, who then forwards it to the candidate. This contradicts IRCC and is reported belowNot separately stated. IRCC says the candidate
Endorsement validityNot published. You are expected to apply to IRCC before the certificate expiresTwelve months, published in the province's own note on what changed when the program became permanentNot publishedTwo different answers from the same province, being six months in its immigration programs FAQ document and one year in its Atlantic Immigration Program candidate questions. We work to six months
After endorsementEndorsees are not eligible for the Bridging Open Work Permit program, and the province can issue a letter of support for a further closed permit under code C18. Once endorsed you cannot withdraw the certificate to reapply under another New Brunswick program or streamThe province will rescind an endorsement where it becomes aware the job offer is not genuine, full time and based in the province, or that the named candidate does not intend to fill the jobNot separately publishedThe province sets out how a late work permit extension unwinds through implied status, the ninety day restoration window and then out of status

Prince Edward Island's Certificate of Legal Advice is a requirement on the employer rather than on you, and it has no equivalent in the other three provinces.

If you are moving between the two routes in Newfoundland and Labrador, you generally cannot. The province states that once nominated under its nominee program or endorsed under the Atlantic Immigration Program, moving to the other is not permitted except on a material change outside your control, and that an approved exemption cancels the earlier approval and sends you back to a fresh expression of interest.

The federal criteria, which no province can vary

Job offer requirements under the Atlantic Immigration Program
RequirementWhat IRCC requires
HoursFull time, meaning at least 30 hours a week
SeasonalityNon seasonal, meaning consistent and paid all year
DurationAt least one year from the time you become a permanent resident for a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 offer. Permanent employment with no set end date for a TEER 4 offer
SuitabilityFor a job you can and will do, and are likely to accept
Skill levelAt the same or higher skill level as your qualifying work experience
OwnershipThe offer cannot come from a company in which you or your spouse or common law partner are a majority owner
Labour market impact assessmentNot required

There is no TEER 5 in this program. The published table of job offer levels against work experience levels stops at TEER 4.

Work experience level accepted against each job offer level
Job offer levelWork experience accepted
TEER 0TEER 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4
TEER 1TEER 1, 2, 3 or 4
TEER 2TEER 2, 3 or 4
TEER 3TEER 3 or 4
TEER 4TEER 4

One carve out applies in health care, and the two IRCC pages that publish it give different codes for the same occupation. The applicant facing page says experience in NOC 31201, licensed practical nurses, and NOC 31301, registered nurses, can be used for a job offer in NOC 33102, nurse aides and orderlies and patient service associates, or NOC 44101, home support workers and caregivers. The employer facing page for this program puts licensed practical nurses at NOC 32101 instead. That conflict is set out below, and if you are a licensed practical nurse it decides which code your experience is claimed under.

  • At least 1,560 hours in the past five years, spread over at least a year. IRCC describes this as the same as thirty hours a week for one year, and requires that you worked those hours over a period of at least one year. The same total crammed into eight months does not qualify. The work must have been paid, not self employed, must include the actions in the description of your occupation and most of its main duties, and if it was in Canada you must have held a valid work permit. Volunteer work and unpaid internships do not count.
  • Education depends on the level of the job offer. For a Canadian credential, a one year post secondary credential or higher for a TEER 0 or 1 offer, and a high school diploma or higher for a TEER 2, 3 or 4 offer. For a credential from outside Canada, an educational credential assessment showing the foreign equivalent of the same level, from a designated organisation, for immigration, and less than five years old on the date you apply.
  • Language is tested even if you studied in Canada. CLB 5 in all four abilities for a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 offer, and CLB 4 for a TEER 4 offer, on results less than two years old when you apply. IRCC states that you must take a test and send the results even if you studied in Canada. The accepted tests are CELPIP General, IELTS General Training and PTE Core in English, and TEF Canada and TCF Canada in French.
  • An educational credential assessment is not a licence. IRCC states that an assessment does not guarantee you will be able to work at a regulated job in Canada, and that checking whether your occupation is regulated is your responsibility. Architects, doctors and pharmacists have their own designated assessment bodies, being the Canadian Architectural Certification Board, the Medical Council of Canada and the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada.

The international graduate exemption, stated precisely

This exemption removes the work experience requirement and nothing else. Language, education, funds, the job offer, the settlement plan and the endorsement all still apply.

  • A credential that took at least two years. A degree, diploma, certificate, or trade or apprenticeship certification, from a recognised post secondary institution in one of the four Atlantic provinces.
  • Received less than two years before you applied for permanent residence. The clock runs to your permanent residence application.
  • Full time study for the entire time you were studying. IRCC's wording, without exception on its face.
  • Sixteen months of living in the Atlantic provinces during the last two years before you graduated. This clock runs to graduation, not to your application, and it is where people fail. A graduate who left the region promptly after convocation and returns later can be inside the two year credential window and still fail the sixteen month residence test. Acceptable proof includes rental or lease agreements, utility bills, phone bills and bank statements showing transactions in the Atlantic province.
  • The permits you needed to work, study or train while in Canada. Held throughout.
  • Three things disqualify the studies. English or French as a second language amounting to at least half the program, distance learning amounting to at least half the program, or a scholarship or fellowship agreement requiring you to return to your home country to apply what you learned.
Document checklist IMM 0155, version stamp 1 January 2025 · verified 19 August 2026

The checklist adds a condition the eligibility page does not state

IRCC's document checklist requires a recent international graduate to prove completion of a Canadian two year post secondary credential or higher from a publicly funded educational institution, completed in an Atlantic province, and proof of sixteen months of residence in an Atlantic province within the twenty four months before the credential was obtained.

The current eligibility page says recognised institution and does not mention public funding. We could not source the publicly funded condition on any current eligibility page, only in the checklist. Plan on the checklist, because the checklist is what a file is assessed against, and raise it with us if your institution was private.

Settlement funds, and who does not need them

IRCC states that you do not need to show proof of funds if you are already working in Canada with a valid work permit. That exemption does a great deal of work on this route, because many candidates are already in Canada on a code C18 permit or another permit by the time they file.

Funds required under the Atlantic Immigration Program by family size
Number of family membersFunds needed in Canadian dollars
1$3,815
2$4,750
3$5,840
4$7,090
5$8,042
6$9,070
7$10,098
Each additional family member beyond sevenadd $1,028

These are the amounts on IRCC's Atlantic Immigration Program proof of funds page. The page carries a date modified of 28 May 2026 and the table inside it is stamped Updated 29 July 2025, so the table stamp predates the page by about ten months. The amounts are derived from the low income cut offs and are revised periodically. We treat them as possibly superseded and confirm against the live page for every file rather than relying on a figure printed here.

  • Family size counts people who are not coming with you. Yourself, your spouse or common law partner, your dependent children and your spouse or partner's dependent children. IRCC requires you to include your spouse or partner and all dependent children even if they are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and even if they are not coming to Canada with you.
  • The funds must be available twice. When you apply, and when IRCC issues the permanent resident visa.
  • Two sources are excluded outright. You cannot use equity on real property, and you cannot borrow the money from another person.
  • The bank letter has a prescribed content. The institution's address, telephone number and email address, your name, your outstanding debts including credit card debts and loans, account numbers, the date each account was opened, current balances, and the average balance over the past six months.

The two year work permit, and what it is not

  • It is only for this program, valid two years, and tied to one employer. IRCC's wording. It only allows you to work for the employer who offered you the job.
  • It needs a job offer from a designated employer and a provincial referral letter. You also have to show that you meet the language, education and work experience requirements, unless you are an international graduate relying on the exemption.
  • Your spouse or common law partner can apply for an open work permit. IRCC states this expressly.
  • New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador attach a ninety day undertaking. Both provinces describe a formal commitment by the principal applicant to apply for permanent residence within ninety days of submitting the work permit application. We could not source that undertaking on canada.ca, only in the two provinces' endorsement guidelines.
  • Endorsees are not eligible for the Bridging Open Work Permit program. New Brunswick states this in terms, and offers a letter of support for a further closed permit under code C18 as the alternative. Anyone assuming a bridging permit will cover the gap if permanent residence outlasts the two years is planning for a status failure.
  • The employer indicates two years in the portal. IRCC asks the employer to indicate a duration of two years for the work permit when completing the offer of employment in the Employer Portal, and you need the offer of employment number before you apply.
  • A work permit is not a decision on permanent residence. IRCC states that getting the temporary work permit does not automatically mean it will approve the permanent residence application.

We do not print a processing time for this route. IRCC publishes processing times on its own live tool, the Atlantic Immigration Program is a selectable program on it, and the figure moves. IRCC also notes that the published time does not include the time you need to give biometrics. We could not verify any current service standard for this program on canada.ca. A one year standard appears in provincial endorsement guidelines of 2022 vintage, and we do not repeat it as a current commitment.

The four ways this route is most often got wrong

Verified 19 August 2026

One, the job offer duration rule runs backwards from intuition

A TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 offer needs only at least one year from the time you become a permanent resident. A TEER 4 offer needs permanent employment with no set end date. The higher skilled offer carries the shorter commitment, and advice built on the opposite assumption produces an offer letter that does not qualify.

There is no TEER 5 in this program. The published table of job offer levels against experience levels stops at TEER 4, so a TEER 5 job offer is not a route here regardless of your experience or language.

Verified 19 August 2026

Two, the federal status field is close to meaningless without your province

The endorsement, not the permanent residence application, is the bottleneck. New Brunswick designation intake is paused, an entire sector and a long list of occupation codes are barred there, Prince Edward Island takes three sectors and no truck drivers, Nova Scotia has paused one code, and New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador all select by discretionary draw or invitation.

New Brunswick's own words are that applying does not guarantee that the application will be processed or that the job offer and the candidate will receive an endorsement. Anyone reading canada.ca alone will believe they have a live route when they may have none.

Verified 19 August 2026

Three, two documents look like they satisfy the requirement and do not

The settlement plan is not one plan. Each accompanying family member over eighteen needs an individualised plan completed by an approved settlement service provider organisation, and the provinces state that an application without one will not be processed. You and your family can exclude information you consider sensitive from the copy given to the employer, which is worth knowing before the plan is written.

The graduate exemption's sixteen month residence test is measured against graduation, and the checklist adds a publicly funded institution condition the eligibility page never mentions. Both are set out above.

Verified 19 August 2026

Four, no labour market impact assessment is read as no recruitment test, and the permit is read as a bridge

The exemption is real, and every province still wants evidence that local hiring failed. Nova Scotia requires a demonstration that efforts to hire locally have been unsuccessful. Prince Edward Island requires the advertising dates, copies of the posting and a summary of the applications received.

The code C18 permit is employer specific and two years, carries a ninety day commitment to apply for permanent residence in two provinces, and expressly does not lead to a Bridging Open Work Permit. Newfoundland and Labrador sets out how that unwinds if an extension is filed late, through implied status if filed before expiry, a ninety day restoration window during which you must stop working, and out of status after that.

Where the official sources disagree

Each of these is a disagreement between current official sources. We report which one we work to and why, rather than picking one quietly.

Conflicting official statements as at 19 August 2026
QuestionWhat one source saysWhat the other saysWhich one we work to
How long an endorsement lasts in Newfoundland and Labradorthe province's Atlantic Immigration Program candidate questions answer the question directly and say your endorsement certificate is valid for 1 year before it expiresthe province's own immigration programs FAQ document says that an approved Atlantic Immigration Program endorsement certificate expires six months after the date of issuance, and that the applicant is responsible for submitting a complete permanent residence application to the Centralized Intake Office within six monthsSix months, being the shorter period, and we diarise it the day the certificate issues. The FAQ document is plainly the older of the two, because it names the Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism, a department that no longer exists. That makes it likely to be superseded, but likely is not a basis for extending a deadline by six months, and the province has not withdrawn it. Working to the shorter period costs nothing if the longer one is right. Working to the longer one loses the endorsement if the shorter one is right
Which occupation code licensed practical nurses use in the health care carve outIRCC's applicant facing job offer page says experience in NOC 31201, licensed practical nurses, and NOC 31301, registered nurses, can be used for a job offer in NOC 33102 or NOC 44101IRCC's employer facing job offer page for the same program says experience in NOC 32101, licensed practical nurses, and NOC 31301, registered nurses, can be used as qualifying work experience on the same job offersNeither, on its own. Both are current IRCC pages for the same program and the same carve out, and they name different five digit codes for licensed practical nurses. We check the code against the occupational classification entry for the duties actually performed, document the reasoning on the file, and raise it with the province before the endorsement application goes in. Claiming the experience under the wrong code is a real filing risk, because the carve out is the only thing letting that experience support a different job offer
Language minimum for a TEER 3 job offerIRCC requires CLB 5 for a job offer at TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3, and CLB 4 for TEER 4New Brunswick's endorsement guidelines, last updated June 2022, put TEER 3 at CLB 4 with an employer commitment to support the candidate in reaching CLB 5. Prince Edward Island assigns that same wording to TEER 4, which matches IRCCIRCC, because permanent residence is decided federally and CLB 5 is the higher bar. Plan for CLB 5 at TEER 3 and treat New Brunswick's table as out of date
Which occupational classification appliesIRCC and three of the four provinces use the 2021 classification and its TEER categories 0 to 4Newfoundland and Labrador's endorsement guidelines still use the retired skill level system of 0, A, B and C, and reference IMM 5650 as the offer of employment form where IRCC and the other three provinces reference IMM 0157IRCC and the 2021 categories, and we confirm the current form with the province for each file rather than filing the form named in a superseded guideline
Who receives the Certificate of EndorsementIRCC states the province sends the certificate to the candidate, and that you will get it in the mailPrince Edward Island states that the certificate is sent directly to the designated employer, who then forwards it to the candidateNeither, in the sense that we do not resolve it. In Prince Edward Island we plan on the employer receiving it, because the province administers the endorsement, and we make the forwarding step somebody's named responsibility rather than an assumption
Whether the program is openIRCC's status field reads Open, date modified 22 June 2026New Brunswick paused designation intake effective 3 February 2026, and Nova Scotia has paused NOC 62020Both, because they answer different questions. IRCC's status governs IRCC's intake of permanent residence applications. The province governs whether you can be endorsed, and that is the step you cannot skip
How current the funds table isThe proof of funds page carries a date modified of 28 May 2026The table inside that page is stamped Updated 29 July 2025The published table, as the operative figures, confirmed against the live page for every file. We do not treat a figure printed on this page as current
What the program fee isIRCC's fee list gives $990 without the right of permanent residence fee and $1,590 with itIRCC's own Atlantic Immigration Program page currently renders an error in place of the fee and the processing timeThe fee list, which is the source the program page is meant to be drawing from. This is a broken widget rather than a disagreement about the amount

What we could not source, stated rather than left silent

Each of these is something a reader might reasonably expect to find here. We looked for it across IRCC's program pages, the application guide and checklist, and the four provinces' own designation and endorsement guidelines, and could not confirm it.

  • Any 2026 allocation or endorsement quota. For Canada or for any of the four provinces. The only figures we could source are historical, being 475 spaces for Newfoundland and Labrador in 2025, an archived New Brunswick notice that its full 2025 allocation had been reached, and Nova Scotia's 2024 accountability report recording that 40 per cent of approved candidates, being 2,373, came through this program. The provinces name available allocation as a selection factor and publish no 2026 number we could find.
  • A numeric wage floor, or the federal wage table this program uses. Three provinces use the same wording, that wages must fall within the range of wages for that occupation within the specified region as identified by the federal government, without naming or linking the table. IRCC's own applicant facing job offer page states no wage test at all. Nova Scotia adds the provincial labour standards and the prevailing wage range for Nova Scotia.
  • How long a Certificate of Endorsement is valid in New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia publishes twelve months and Newfoundland and Labrador publishes both six months and one year in two different documents, which we report as a conflict above rather than resolving quietly. IRCC, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island refer to the certificate expiring without giving a period.
  • Whether an expired endorsement can be reissued or extended. Newfoundland and Labrador does state the consequence of delay, being that an approved endorsement certificate expires six months after the date of issuance and that submitting a complete permanent residence application to the Centralized Intake Office inside that period is the applicant's responsibility. What no source we found addresses, in any province, is whether a certificate that has lapsed can be reissued or extended, or what a candidate is expected to do at that point. New Brunswick says only that you are expected to apply before it expires and that you cannot withdraw it to reapply under another New Brunswick program or stream.
  • The work permit fee for the code C18 permit. IRCC's general fee list carries a work permit fee, and we could not source a program page confirming that it applies to this permit, so we do not print an amount for it.
  • A date modified for three IRCC pages. The language testing page, the temporary work permit page and the settlement plan page all rendered without a page details date when we retrieved them. No date modified is rendered at all on the New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland and Labrador program pages, or on the fee list.
  • Whether Newfoundland and Labrador's designation processing pause has been lifted. A provincial release of 19 February 2025 said a pause on the processing of job vacancy assessments and designations continued with further updates to come. We could not source a document lifting or restating it. The current employer page describes designation as live and portal based, which reads as superseding the pause, and we treat that as our reading rather than as a sourced statement.
  • Any program delivery instruction for this program. We could not surface one. The substantive guidance may exist without being published in a form we could find.
  • A statement of the regulation making authority or section numbers. IRCC's launch release states that the regulations for the permanent program came into force on 1 January 2022. We did not verify the section numbers against the statute and do not cite any.

One point of history worth stating, because it still catches people. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot closed on 31 December 2021 and IRCC stopped accepting pilot applications on 5 March 2022. The permanent Atlantic Immigration Program replaced it and launched on 6 March 2022. Guidance written for the pilot, including the old application guide, is reference material only.

Requirements checker for the Atlantic Immigration Program

A structured way to see where you stand against the published criteria and against the live provincial restrictions. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction that a province will endorse you.

Your situation

Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

An indication only, not an eligibility decision and not legal advice. Three of the four provinces select endorsement applications at their discretion, by draw or by invitation, so meeting every requirement here does not mean an endorsement will issue. New Brunswick states in terms that applying does not guarantee that the application will be processed or that an endorsement will be given. Occupation restrictions, sector restrictions and designation pauses change without notice and must be checked against the province on the day. Permanent residence is decided by IRCC after endorsement, on the federal criteria. Reviewed 19 August 2026 against canada.ca and the four provinces' own published material.

What we look at before you commit to one of these routes

Whether your employer can be designated at all in that province today, because that decides more here than any criterion does. Whether your occupation is one the province is currently accepting. Whether the graduate exemption really covers you once the checklist condition and the graduation clock are applied. And what the certificate timetable does to your work permit and your status.

01 / Start here

Strategy consultation

A paid session that tests your record against this route and the alternatives, checks how your work is classified, and tells you plainly where you actually stand.

02 / Review

Lawyer review, you file

You prepare and submit; we review the classification, the evidence and the documentation before it goes in, and flag what would be questioned.

03 / Representation

Full representation

We build, document and file the matter as your lawyer of record, and carry it through to the federal permanent residence stage.

Every matter begins with the strategy consultation. If you instruct us within six months of that consultation for a lawyer review or for full representation, the consultation fee is credited against that work. One credit per person.

Frequently asked questions

Who endorses me under the Atlantic Immigration Program?

The province, not IRCC and not your employer. IRCC states that the province must endorse your job offer before you can apply for permanent residence, that the provinces are responsible for the endorsement process, and that if the province endorses the job offer it sends a Certificate of Endorsement. Your employer applies for that endorsement on the strength of its own designation. You cannot apply for an endorsement yourself.

Do I approach the employer, the province or IRCC first?

The employer, and it has to be an employer the province has already designated. Designation comes before the job offer, on IRCC's own wording, so an employer who is interested but not designated cannot make you a qualifying offer until the province designates it. In New Brunswick that is currently not possible at all, because designation intake has been paused since 3 February 2026.

How long is a Certificate of Endorsement valid?

It depends on the province, and in Newfoundland and Labrador the province publishes two different answers. Nova Scotia publishes twelve months, in Nova Scotia's own note on what changed when the program became permanent. Newfoundland and Labrador publishes six months in the province's own immigration programs FAQ document, which also says the applicant is responsible for submitting a complete permanent residence application to the Centralized Intake Office within that six months, and one year in the province's Atlantic Immigration Program candidate questions. We work to six months in Newfoundland and Labrador, being the shorter of the two, and we set the disagreement out in full on the page above. Diarising twelve months on the strength of the longer figure is how an endorsement gets lost. We could not source a validity period from IRCC, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island. New Brunswick says only that you are expected to apply to IRCC before the certificate expires, and that once endorsed you and your family cannot withdraw the certificate to reapply under any other New Brunswick program or stream. What we could not source in any province is whether an expired certificate can be reissued or extended.

The federal page says the program is open. Does that mean I can start?

Not by itself, and this is the most consequential thing on this page. IRCC's status field reads Open, and that describes IRCC's own intake of permanent residence applications. The endorsement is provincial, and three of the four provinces currently restrict or ration it. New Brunswick has paused employer designation entirely, bars an entire sector and fourteen named occupation codes, and selects endorsement applications by draw rather than in order. Prince Edward Island accepts only healthcare, construction and manufacturing. Nova Scotia has paused one occupation code and runs a selection pool. Newfoundland and Labrador requires an invitation before an application can be filed. Reading Open as start today is how people spend money on a route they do not have.

Is there a labour market impact assessment?

No. IRCC states plainly that you do not need a labour market impact assessment, and the work permit that goes with this program is exempt under code C18. That is not the same as no recruitment test. Nova Scotia requires the employer to demonstrate that efforts to hire locally have been unsuccessful, and Prince Edward Island requires the dates the job was advertised, copies of the posting and a summary of the applications received.

How long must the job offer run?

The rule runs the opposite way from most people's intuition, so it is worth reading twice. IRCC requires an offer for at least one year from the time you become a permanent resident where the offer is at TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3, and permanent employment with no set end date where the offer is at TEER 4. The higher skilled offers carry the shorter commitment. There is no TEER 5 in this program at all, because the published table stops at TEER 4.

Can I get a work permit while my permanent residence application is processed?

Often yes, and it is narrower than a bridging permit. IRCC describes a work permit that is only for this program, is valid for two years, and only allows you to work for the employer who offered you the job. It needs a job offer from a designated employer and a referral letter from the province. New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador both add a commitment to apply for permanent residence within ninety days of the work permit application. New Brunswick also states that endorsees are not eligible for the Bridging Open Work Permit program, which is the assumption most likely to leave someone without status if permanent residence outlasts the two years.

I graduated in Atlantic Canada. Am I exempt from the work experience?

Possibly, and the residence test is measured against your graduation rather than against your application, which is where people fail it. IRCC requires a credential that took at least two years from a recognised post secondary institution in one of the four Atlantic provinces, received less than two years before you applied for permanent residence, full time study throughout, and at least sixteen months of living in one of the four Atlantic provinces during the last two years before you graduated. IRCC's own document checklist adds that the institution must be publicly funded, which the eligibility page does not say. Studies are ineligible if English or French as a second language was at least half the program, if distance learning was at least half the program, or if you held a scholarship requiring you to return home.

What does it cost?

There is no provincial fee for designation or endorsement. IRCC states there is no cost to become a designated employer, and Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador both state there are no fees payable to the province for endorsement. On IRCC's fee list the Atlantic Immigration Program sits in the economic immigration band, at $990 for your application without the right of permanent residence fee or $1,590 with it, the same for an accompanying spouse or partner, $270 for each dependent child, and a right of permanent residence fee of $600. Biometrics are $85 per person or $170 for a family of two or more. Those are the amounts in force since 30 April 2026. Your employer pays a $230 employer compliance fee to IRCC for the work permit, and New Brunswick states that the employer is responsible for it and that it cannot be taken from you in any way.