
Medicine Hat opts out of Alberta’s rural immigration jobs program
The City of Medicine Hat on Tuesday put on pause its participation in a key provincial immigration program after recent federal policy shifts.
Council voted unanimously to suspend Rural Renewal Stream application intake with the intention of reviewing its status in January 2026, approving a staff recommendation.
Medicine Hat runs the program for the region through Southeast Alberta Municipal Immigration that includes Cypress County, Redcliff and Bow Island — so the suspension impacts those municipalities as well.
Recent immigration policy changes by the Alberta and federal governments have led to a decrease in the program’s immigrant worker allocation.