On Monday February 25, United Conservative Party (UCP) Leader and Official Opposition leader Jason Kenney announced the creation of programs aimed at bringing immigrants into rural Alberta.

According the a UCP news release, the Alberta Advantage Immigrant Strategy is designed to help reignite the provincial economy.

“For Alberta to grow and prosper, for us to renew the Alberta Advantage, we will need the hard work, skills and entrepreneurship of newcomers,” said Kenney. “Meanwhile, one of the biggest challenges facing rural communities today is population decline, which often means a succession crisis when retiring business owners cannot find interested buyers. Through the Rural Entrepreneur Immigration Program, we will tackle these two challenges at the same time.”

“This program would bring newcomers to smaller communities, in some cases buying existing businesses, in others starting new ones. Everybody wins,” said Kenney, a former Federal immigration minister.

He also plans to launch a Rural Renewal Program to help bring immigrants to rural areas.

The UCP’s new Alberta Advantage Immigration Strategy is expected to be finalized by the end of 2019 in time to be implemented at the start of 2020.