Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations — 87.3
Class 87.3 (1) For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Act, the Atlantic immigration class is prescribed as a class of persons who may become permanent residents on the basis of their ability to become economically established in Canada. Member of class (2) A foreign national is a member of the Atlantic immigration class if they (a) are named in an endorsement certificate issued by the government of an Atlantic province — on or after the day on which this section comes into force — under an Atlantic immigration agreement between that province and the Minister, which must be valid on the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made and must not subsequently have been revoked; (b) intend to reside in the Atlantic province that issued the endorsement certificate; (c) meet either the work experience requirements set out in subsections (3) and (4) or the recent graduate requirements set out in subsection (5); (d) have an offer of employment that meets the requirements set out in subsections (6) and (7); (e) meet the educational requirements set out in subsection (9); (f) have had their proficiency in the English or French language evaluated by an organization or institution that is designated under subsection 74(3) using a language test that is approved under that subsection, the results of which must be less than two years old on the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made and must indicate that the foreign national has met the applicable threshold that is fixed by the Minister under subsection 74(1) for each of the four language skill areas; and (g) have — unless they are authorized to work and already working in Canada — in the form of transferable and available funds, unencumbered by debts or other obligations, an amount equal to one eighth of the amount identified, in the most recent edition of the publication concerning low-income cut-offs published annually by Statistics Canada under the Statistics Act , for urban areas of residence of 500,000 persons or more, as the minimum amount of before-tax annual income that is necessary to support a group of persons equal in number to the total number of the applicant and their family members. Work experience (3) A foreign national meets the work experience requirements if (a) they have acquired, within the five years before the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made, at least one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work experience, in at least one of the occupations, other than a restricted occupation, that are listed in TEER Category 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 of the National Occupational Classification ; (b) during that period of employment they performed the actions described in the lead statement for the occupation as set out in the occupational descriptions of the National Occupational Classification ; and (c) during that period of employment they performed a substantial number of the main duties of the occupation as set out in the occupational descriptions of the National Occupational Classification , including all of the essential duties. Excluded work experience (4) For the purposes of paragraph (3)(a), (a) any period of self-employment is not included in calculating a period of work experience; and (b) any period of work acquired in Canada is not included in calculating a period of work experience, unless the foreign national was authorized to work and had temporary resident status during that period. Recent graduate (5) A foreign national meets the recent graduate requirements if they (a) obtained, as a full-time student, within the two years before the date on which their application for a permanent resident visa is made, a post-secondary educational credential issued by an institution in an Atlantic province that is set out in the document entitled Recognized Post-Secondary Institutions – Atlantic Immigration Program , published by the Minister, as amended from tim