Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

Canada launched Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot to boost the economic growth in the areas involved in the Pilot, by attracting international skilled workers. The communities in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon are included in this pilot program.

Canada has been admitting a high number of immigrants in the past few years. However, most of the newcomers prefer to settle in major cities like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot aims to change this trend by attracting new immigrants to smaller communities and supporting them in their settlement.

Under the pilot program, rural and northern communities interested in participating can submit applications. The selected communities would receive support from the Canada government in selecting candidates for permanent residency. It is expected that these newcomers would make a positive impact on the economies of these provinces.

Canada launched the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program inspired by the success of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot program, which was launched in 2017. AIP promotes immigration to the Atlantic Region of Canada by pairing potential newcomers with employers.

Selected communities

Eleven communities have so far been selected to participate in the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program. These communities will receive support and programs as part of testing the pilot program. The selected communities are:

Ontario

• Thunder Bay
• Sault-Ste-Marie
• Sudbury
• Timmins
• North Bay

Manitoba

• Gretna-Rhineland-Altona-Plum Coulee
• Brandon
• Saskatchewan
• Moose Jaw

Alberta

• Claresholm
• British Columbia
• West Kootenay
• Vernon

Requirements for communities

The communities with a population 50000 or less are eligible to apply under the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program. They must be located at least 75km from the core of a census metropolitan area. Otherwise, the community’s population must not be above 200,000, and it must be remotely away from larger cities. Further, they must be located in any of the following provinces/territories:

• Alberta
• Manitoba
• British Columbia
• Nunavut
• Northwest Territories
• Saskatchewan
• Ontario
• Yukon

In order to be selected, the communities must also submit an economic development plan, which must be supported by a local economic development organization that can manage the pilot. The communities must also prove that they can offer employment opportunities to the newcomers and support their settlement.