Completed only — programmes still in progress score nothing.

The two certificate options are separated by what admission required, not by the type of institution. Degrees, diplomas and certificates are all issued by both colleges and universities, so the kind of school does not decide this:

• Post-graduate certificate or diploma — you had to already hold a completed degree to be admitted.
• Certificate or diploma — admission did not require a completed degree.

A trades certificate or trades diploma scores 7, the same as a Bachelor's degree.

If the credential was earned outside Canada, claim the level shown on your Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from an organization designated by IRCC — not the level the institution called it.

This sets your level. The programme is scored at the level of the degree its admission rules required, not at certificate level:

• Bachelor's required → 7
• Master's required → 10
• Doctorate required → 12

The degree behind it may have been issued by a college or a university, in Canada or outside Canada. Either is fine.

You must be able to prove the requirement from the institution's published admission criteria.

If the programme in fact admitted applicants without a completed degree, then it is not a post-graduate credential at all — return to 1.1 and select your degree, or "Certificate or diploma" if you hold no degree.

This asks about the credential you selected in 1.1 — not "have you ever studied in Canada".

For a post-graduate certificate or diploma, answer for where that programme was, not where the degree behind it was earned.

If your highest credential is a degree earned outside Canada and you also finished a post-graduate certificate or diploma in Canada, you may claim that Canadian programme in 1.1 instead. It is scored at your degree's level and carries the Canadian location points, which the foreign credential cannot. Compare both and claim the higher.

The granting institution must appear on Canada's Designated Institutions List for the location points to be claimed. Unrecognised private schools do not qualify.

This matters only for claiming these points. It does not mean the institution satisfies the criteria of whichever AAIP stream you are later invited under.

Enter your weakest ability, not your average. Points are set by the lowest of listening, reading, writing and speaking. Scores of CLB 8, 8, 7 and 5 count as 5.

Take your IELTS General Training, CELPIP-General or PTE Core result and convert each ability to CLB using the IRCC conversion tables.

English pays more than French at every level: CLB 6 or higher is 10 points, against 8 for French.

From TEF Canada or TCF Canada, converted to NCLC. Enter the lowest of the four abilities.

Answer this even if French is your stronger language — the calculator compares both and keeps whichever pays more, exactly as AAIP does.

Add everything together — Canada and outside Canada, all occupations, your whole career.

Your Canadian months are counted here as well as in 3.2. That is not double-claiming; the grid is built that way deliberately.

Six months is a hard threshold with no partial credit. Five months in Alberta scores zero here.

The experience must have been authorized by IRCC, so work done without valid authorization cannot be claimed.

AAIP scores Alberta experience and other-province experience separately, then keeps only the higher. They are never added.

The two cannot be combined to reach 6 months. Four months in Alberta plus four elsewhere in Canada scores 0 here, because neither reaches six on its own. Those months still count in 3.1.

Use your age on the day you submit the Worker EOI. The AAIP scale starts at 18.

All four conditions must be true: the relationship is parent, child or sibling; it is by birth or legal adoption, with documents to prove it; they live in Alberta now; and they are a citizen or permanent resident aged 18 or over.

In-laws never qualify — the relationship must be yours, not your spouse's.

The list narrowed on 30 January 2025. If you submitted your Worker EOI on or before 29 January 2025 and claimed a grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, you may keep those points inside that existing EOI — choose the second option. Withdrawing and resubmitting loses them.

All four must be true: permanent with no fixed end date, non-seasonal, full-time, and one occupation rather than two roles combined to reach full-time hours.

An offer failing any one of these does not meet AAIP's job offer requirements, so the whole job offer section scores zero. If invited to apply, you must prove every condition.

Worth 6 points. The three are alternatives, not a stack — qualifying under two still pays 6.

These 6 points are separate from the location points in 6.4. A Rural Renewal endorsement in a designated community earns both: 6 here plus 5 there.

Rural Renewal Stream criteria changed on 1 January 2026 — endorsement letters now expire after one year and communities have endorsement limits. Confirm yours is still valid.

This is the census metropolitan area, not the city limits. The Calgary and Edmonton CMAs take in surrounding census subdivisions — Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Okotoks, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Beaumont, Leduc, Fort Saskatchewan, Sherwood Park and others all sit inside them and score 0.

Everywhere else in Alberta scores the full 5, whether or not it is a Rural Renewal community. Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray all score 5.

Check Alberta's published list of census subdivisions before assuming your town is outside a CMA. Getting this wrong is a 5-point error.

Both halves must be true. A regulated occupation with no licence in hand scores zero.

Professional occupations: a provisional or full licence from the Alberta regulatory body or issuing ministry listed under Step 2 of Foreign Qualification Recognition.

Trades: a valid Alberta Qualification Certificate, or a trade certificate recognised by Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training. All designated and regulated trades qualify once you hold one.

If certification is optional in your trade and you hold no certificate, you cannot claim these points.