The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is designed to help bring new skilled worker immigrants to smaller communities.
The five-year federal immigration pilot is designed to help smaller communities with aging populations and labour shortages, which struggle to attract and retain new immigrants.
It is a community-driven program that aims to spread out the benefit of immigration.
To be included in the pilot, communities must:
- Have a population of 50,000 or less and be located at least 75km from the core of a Census Metropolitan Area, OR
- Have a population of up to 200,000 people and be considered remote from other larger cities, according to the Statistics Canada Remoteness Index.
Steps to Permanent Residence
- Candidates must check they meet both the federal government eligibility requirements and community-specific requirements.
- Find an eligible job with an employer in one of the participating communities.
- Candidates with a job offer can submit an application for recommendation to the community.
- Candidates with a community recommendation can apply for permanent residence.