An overview of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot
The government of Canada had started a new program in 2019 involving 11 communities from the major Canadian provinces. These 11 communities have been chosen to welcome the new immigrants specifically selected for their community living through the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot programme.
The data analytics of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada states that over four million Canadians have been employed all the rural communities employ in Canada. Thirty per cent of the Canadian GDP has been due to these communities.
The Rural and Northern Immigration is a pilot program which aims to fulfil the labour requirements of the rural and remote communities in Canada by providing permanent residence to its immigrants.
The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program is intended “to substantiate and fill the labour market shortages caused by low birth rates, increasing retirement rates and the moving out of the Canadian born youth to the vibrant cities of Canada.”
Being a community-driven program, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot paves the way for permanent residence for skilled foreign workers who wish to settle permanently in Canada.
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is partnering with participating communities mainly:
- To meet the community’s local labour market requirements to support the region’s economy;
- To enhance the welcoming environments to the new immigrants living in these communities;
- To retain the skilled foreign workers in the rural area for a long-term through the active involvement of communities, federal and provincial governments as well as the territorial government.
Participating Communities
The participating communities of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot are mainly selected from the provinces of:
- Ontario: Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, Nort Bay
- British Columbia: West Kootenay, Vernon
- Manitoba: Gretna-Rhineland-Altona-Plum Coulee, Brandon
- Saskatchewan: Moose Jaw
- Alberta: Claresholm
How the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot works
The local economic development organization for each of these communities will be involved in the assessment as well as the recruitment of the prospective candidates. This assessment and recruitment for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot are mainly based on the participating communities’ local economic needs as well as the available job openings. Once assessed the applicants will be chosen to work and live permanently in the community.
Eligibility conditions of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot
The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot demands the candidates to meet the below eligibility conditions of participation.
- Endorsement from an economic development organization in one of the designated communities;
- To meet the work experience requirements or;
- Be a graduate from the recommending community’s publicly funded post-secondary institution;
- Obtain a qualifying job offer;
- Meet or exceed the minimum language eligibility;
- Meet or exceed the educational requirements
- To have sufficient settlement funds to establish in the community
- Intend to live in the community
How a designated community endorse the candidates
A major criterion to participate in the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is to get an endorsement from any one of the participating communities.
The pilot communities endorse a candidate based on
- the candidate’s establishment plans in the proposed community;
- availability of job offers in the proposed community;
- work experience must demonstrate that you can perform the duties of the job offered;
- same skill level job offer, 1 level above or 1 level below the NOC that applies to your work experience.
- the community’s economic requirements;
- the candidate’s a year of continuous work experience in the past three years;
- the candidates tie to the community;
- the main duties of a job offer to confirm that it meets the NOC skill level;
