Family members of Albertans will be able to immigrate more easily under the new Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, Employment Minister Hector Goudreau announced Thursday.

The program is needed because the province could find itself short 110,000 workers over the next decade unless new ways are found to attract employees, Goudreau said.

Alberta employment minister Hector Goudreau announces a new family immigration program Thursday. (CBC)

The province is currently 30,000 to 40,000 workers short in all fields of employment, according to the employment minister.

Jim Gurnett, executive director of the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, said he has mixed feelings about the announcement.

"It certainly is going to be welcomed by some families," he said. "But it's not wide open, as it seems at first. The family members who are doing the sponsoring must be pretty educated and well-off people."

The sponsor and the relative being sponsored must show that they have $25,000 between them before the sponsorship can proceed under the new program.

The person being sponsored also must:

• Be a close family member of the sponsor — a parent, child, sibling, uncle, aunt, niece or nephew.
• Be 21 to 45 years old.
• Have some post-secondary training.
• Meet a minimum level of English proficiency.
• Have some work experience.
• Be able to support themselves financially.

Gurnett said the real problem with Canada's immigration system is the lack of staff at Canadian high commissions and embassies overseas.

"We have 900,000 people around the world who have paid money and are waiting to come. As long as the department has the same number of staff, all you do is you change who gets looked at first, but you don't change the number of people who are looked at."

The provincial government is allowing 600 people to immigrate to Alberta this year through the new family reunification program. Next year, the number will increase to 800.