- Alberta issued invitations to healthcare, construction, and manufacturing candidates across several draws in March 2026.
- The province currently manages over 44,000 Expressions of Interest within its various immigration selection pools.
- Selection scores varied significantly, ranging from a low of 46 to 63 depending on the pathway.
(ALBERTA, CANADA) — Alberta issued new invitations in March through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program to healthcare, construction and manufacturing candidates, using the Dedicated Health Care Pathway and the Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors as the province pushed ahead with its 2026 labor targeting.
The latest draws ran from March 12 to March 24, 2026, with invitations and minimum scores shifting by sector and pathway. Alberta also held draws for the Rural Renewal Stream and the Law Enforcement Pathway later in the month.
Those invitations formed part of a broader 2026 approach that also names technology, aviation and agriculture among priority areas, alongside rural renewal communities. The province’s current selection pool spans tens of thousands of Expressions of Interest across streams.
On March 24, 2026, Alberta invited 102 candidates through the Dedicated Health Care Pathway – non-Express Entry with a minimum score of 54. Five days earlier, on March 19, 2026, the Alberta Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors issued 109 invitations in construction at a minimum score of 59.
A March 17, 2026 draw under the Alberta Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors targeted manufacturing candidates, issuing 27 invitations with a minimum score of 50. On March 16, 2026, the same Express Entry Stream targeted health care and sent 50 invitations at a minimum score of 63.
Earlier in the month, Alberta used the Dedicated Health Care Pathway – non-Express Entry on March 12, 2026, issuing 47 invitations with a minimum score of 47. Taken together, those rounds show Alberta splitting invitations between a non-Express Entry healthcare route and sector-based draws inside its Express Entry Stream.
The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, or Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, has tied those rounds to provincial priorities for 2026 across multiple sectors and rural renewal. In the latest set of draws, healthcare appeared in both the Dedicated Health Care Pathway and the Express Entry Stream, while construction and manufacturing appeared through the Priority Sectors route.
That mix shows how Alberta is using more than one channel to reach workers in areas it has identified for recruitment. One pathway draws from candidates outside Express Entry for health care, while the Alberta Express Entry Stream screens candidates in named sectors through sector-based selection.
Additional rounds widened the focus beyond those three fields. Alberta invited 349 candidates through the Rural Renewal Stream on March 13 at a score of 51, then issued another 60 invitations on March 26 at 50.
A Law Enforcement Pathway draw followed on March 27 with under 10 invitations at 46. No draws were reported after March 27, 2026 in the available data.
The scale of Alberta’s immigration selection pool helps explain the narrow targeting in those rounds. Across streams, the province had 44,094 total Expressions of Interest in the selection pool.
Within that total, Dedicated Health Care Pathways, including Express Entry and non-Express Entry, accounted for 1,660 EOIs. Alberta had 23 applications awaiting processing in those pathways.
The Alberta Express Entry – Priority Sector Draws and Initiatives pool stood at 4,699 EOIs. Alberta had 55 applications processing in that category, with 502 nomination slots remaining from a 600 allocation.
The Alberta Opportunity Stream represented the largest single pool among the figures provided, with 28,001 EOIs. That stream had 2,707 slots remaining from 3,425.
Those figures place the March draws inside a system balancing demand, remaining nomination space and sector-specific selection. They also show that the pool of interested candidates is far larger than the number of invitations issued in the latest rounds.
For candidates hoping to receive an invitation through the Priority Sectors route, Alberta sets a clear baseline. Applicants need an active Express Entry profile with a minimum CRS score 300, a primary occupation in eligible sectors, and intent to live or work permanently in Alberta.
Job offers must meet Alberta requirements if applicable. Alberta also bars candidates from eligibility if their occupation appears on the Alberta Opportunity Stream ineligible list or if they hold an active prior nomination.
Those rules are central to the sector-specific draws under the Alberta Express Entry Stream. For healthcare, construction and manufacturing workers, eligibility begins with federal Express Entry registration but then depends on Alberta’s additional screening around occupation, settlement intent and nomination status.
The Dedicated Health Care Pathway operates alongside that system and featured prominently in March. Alberta used the non-Express Entry version twice in the period covered by the latest data, once on March 12 and again on March 24, issuing a combined 149 invitations.
By contrast, the Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors spread invitations across three separate sectors over four days in mid-March. Construction received the largest number in that set with 109 invitations, followed by health care with 50 and manufacturing with 27.
Minimum scores also moved sharply between rounds. The lowest score in the listed draws was 47 in the March 12 Dedicated Health Care Pathway – non-Express Entry round, while the highest was 63 in the March 16 Alberta Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors draw for health care.
Construction’s March 19 round landed at 59, manufacturing’s March 17 round at 50, and the March 24 non-Express Entry health care round at 54. Those differences show Alberta applying different cutoffs across sectors and pathways rather than using one threshold for all candidates.
The March activity also reflects Alberta’s continued use of targeted invitations to address labor shortages. Instead of broad, undifferentiated selection, the province directed invitations toward named occupations and communities it has identified as needing workers.
Healthcare remained the most visible theme in the latest rounds. Alberta invited health workers through both the non-Express Entry Dedicated Health Care Pathway and the Alberta Express Entry Stream, giving that sector multiple routes into the provincial nomination process.
Construction also drew a sizable intake. The 109 invitations issued on March 19 made that round the largest among the healthcare, construction and manufacturing draws listed for the period from March 12 to March 24, 2026.
Manufacturing received fewer invitations but still featured in the province’s latest targeted activity. Its March 17 draw at a minimum score of 50 places it among the sectors Alberta is selecting directly through the Express Entry Stream – Priority Sectors.
Rural communities also remained part of the province’s immigration planning. The Rural Renewal Stream draws on March 13 and March 26, together with Alberta’s stated 2026 priorities, show that the province is pairing sector-based recruitment with place-based selection.
That broader framework matters because Alberta’s 2026 priorities extend beyond the sectors named in the latest headline draws. The province has also identified technology, aviation and agriculture, in addition to rural renewal communities, as part of its current direction.
Even so, the March rounds concentrated on practical labor gaps in healthcare, construction and manufacturing. The use of the Dedicated Health Care Pathway and the Express Entry Stream in quick succession suggests Alberta is moving nominations where it sees the strongest immediate need.
The numbers also show how selective that process remains. A pool of 44,094 EOIs across streams stands against invitation rounds that can range from under 10 in the Law Enforcement Pathway to 349 in a Rural Renewal Stream draw.
Within the Alberta Express Entry – Priority Sector Draws and Initiatives category, 4,699 EOIs were competing for a pool that had 502 nomination slots remaining from a 600 allocation. In Dedicated Health Care Pathways, 1,660 EOIs sat in the selection pool while 23 applications awaited processing.
For many candidates, that means eligibility alone does not guarantee an invitation. Alberta can set different score floors and change the size of draws by sector, pathway and timing.
Still, March’s results offer a clear picture of where the province was directing invitations at the end of the first quarter. Alberta used the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program to recruit health workers through two channels, opened additional room for construction and manufacturing candidates through the Express Entry Stream, and continued separate rounds for rural communities and law enforcement.
As of the latest data, that selection push paused after March 27, 2026, leaving the month’s sequence of draws as the clearest marker of Alberta’s immigration priorities: health care, construction, manufacturing and rural renewal, all filtered through a system managing 44,094 Expressions of Interest across its streams.
