Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot
The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot
Launched in 2019 as a 5-year immigration pilot program, The Rural and Northern Immigration Program (RNIP) was designed to help small communities struggling to attract and retain new immigrants due to aging populations and labor shortages. Being a community-driven program, the RNIP is open to communities in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon.
There are currently eleven Canadian communities that participate in the RNIP throughout Northern Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba. Each of these communities has the capacity to invite up to 125 candidates each year according to IRCC.
Prerequisites
An applicant has a number of criteria to meet to qualify for this program such as:
- Meeting both the federal government and community-specific eligibility requirements.
- Find an eligible job with an employer in one of the participating communities (listed above).
- Candidates with a job offer will have to submit an application for recommendation to the community.
- Candidates with a community recommendation can then apply for permanent residence.
Eligibility Requirements
Work Experience
Applicants need to have qualifying work experience or have graduated from a publicly-funded post-secondary institution in the community recommending them.
- Have to be at least a year of full/part time work gotten in the last three years (Note that unpaid and self-employed hours do not count),
- Must be in one occupation, can be with different employers and does not need to be continuous.
International students don't need work experience if they:
- Graduated with a credential from a program that is at least two-year in a post-secondary program in the recommended community,
- Studied as full-time students for the full duration of two or more years,
- Received the credential no more than 18 months before the date of application for PR,
- Were in the community for at least 16 months of the last 2 years or more of studies.
or
- Graduated with a master's degree or higher,
- Were full-time students for the duration of the degree and were in the community for the length of their studies,
- Received the degree no more than 18 months before the date of application for PR.
Language
Applicants must show and meet the CLB or NCLC band required for the National Occupational Classification of their job. The minimum language requirements for each NOC category are as follows:
Education
A minimum of a Canadian high school diploma or an equivalent foreign credential. Applicants will need to supply Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report for foreign credentials.
Settlement Funds
Let's talk about how much you will need to support yourself and any other family members that might be on your Permanent Residence Application even if they are not coming with you initially to Canada. An applicant already working legally in Canada is exempted from settlement fund requirements.
| No. of family members | Funds you need (CAD) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $8,722 |
| 2 | $10,858 |
| 3 | $13,348 |
| 4 | $16,206 |
| 5 | $18,380 |
| 6 | $20,731 |
| 7 or more | $23,080 |
Please note that one of the important requirements often overlooked is intention to reside in the participating community. Applicants must plan to live in the community where they already have or will get job offer. For participating communities requirements, you may visit the website of each community listed above.
Interested in this program?
Get evaluated to find out whether you qualify and know the steps to take on your Permanent Residence Application.