Changes coming to Cold Lake’s Rural Renewal Stream

The City of Cold Lake will examine upcoming changes to the Rural Renewal  Stream to see how its program can best be structured for a smooth implementation.  

“The immigration landscape in Canada is changing rapidly, and we appreciate that the province is responding to changing federal immigration numbers while managing a program that has been oversubscribed from the start, and continues to see high demand,” Cold Lake  Mayor Bob Mattice said. “Council decided to take into account advice from our Economic  Development Advisory Committee, which has overseen the program in our community. Cold  Lake wants to ensure its Rural Renewal Stream program is efficient and responsive, considering the coming change in availability of nominations.”  

Effective January 1, 2026, three provincial changes to the program will come into effect. These changes were discussed at Council’s Regular Meeting, held on November 25. 

Firstly, the province will allocate a certain number of nominations to individual communities based on several factors, including the total number of nominations allocated to the Rural Renewal Stream, the community’s population, and the community’s past use of the Rural Renewal Stream program.  

Secondly, nominations will be valid for 1 year. Nominations can be renewed for another one-year period; however, renewals will count towards a community’s annual allotment of nominations.  

Finally, the types of jobs which potential economic immigrants residing outside of the country can apply for have been altered so that new immigrants will need to seek jobs which require a higher degree of experience or education, or both, to qualify for the program. Jobs requiring less experience or lower educational requirements will be open only to immigrants who already reside in Alberta and are legally entitled to work in Canada.  

“This economic immigration program is complex – the province needs to respond to changing immigration targets while managing its staff’s workload, and the City needs to ensure that its efforts fit the allotment we are given and that they are prioritized correctly,”  Mattice said. “No one stands to benefit if the program is oversubscribed, so our staff will work to ensure that the city’s nominations are used most effectively to benefit our local labour market. We need to structure the program so the demand and intake it sees is in line with the  supply of nominations we have been allotted.” 

The City of Cold Lake’s Economic Development Advisory Committee will consider changes required to the City’s program in light of the provincial changes at its next meeting. The committee will then provide Council with advice and recommendations on changes to the municipal program before a final decision on the program’s future operation is made.