The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is a community-driven program. It is designed to spread the benefits of economic immigration to smaller communities by creating a path to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers who want to work and live in one of the participating communities.
About the process
There are 4 steps to applying for permanent residence under this pilot.
- IRCC eligibility requirements and community-specific requirements
- Find an eligible job with an employer in the participating communities
- Once you have a job offer, submit your application for recommendation to the community
- If a community recommends you, apply for permanent residence
Each community will also have their own
- additional eligibility requirements
- job search process
- community recommendation application process
Participating communities
Ontario
- North Bay
- Sudbury
- Timmins
- Sault Ste. Marie
- Thunder Bay
Manitoba
- Brandon
- Altona / Rhineland
Saskatchewan
- Moose Jaw
Alberta
- Claresholm
British Columbia
- Vernon
- West Kootenay (Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Nelson)
What you can expect from a community
This pilot is community-driven, meaning the communities will:
- assess prospective candidates who
- best fit the economic needs of the community
- have a genuine employment opportunity that meets their community requirements
- have the intention of staying in the community
- recommend candidates for permanent residence to IRCC for a final decision
- connect newcomers with settlement services and mentoring opportunities with established members of the community
Eligibility requirements
- have qualifying work experience or have graduated from a publicly funded post-secondary institution in the recommending community
- meet or exceed the language requirements
- meet or exceed the educational requirements
- prove you have enough money to support your transition into the community
- intend to live in the community
- meet community-specific requirements
WORK EXPERIENCE
You need 1 year of continuous work experience (at least 1,560 hours) in the past 3 years.
To calculate your hours of work experience
- count the hours worked in part-time and full-time jobs
- the hours must be in 1 occupation, but they can be with different employers
- the hours must be over a period of at least 12 months
- these working hours can be inside or outside Canada (if you worked in Canada, you must have been allowed to work in Canada)
- don’t count hours you weren’t paid for (volunteering or unpaid internships don’t count)
- don’t count hours when you were self-employed
Your work experience must include
- most of the main duties and all the essential duties listed in your National Occupational Classification (NOC)
- the activities listed in the lead statement of your NOC
Skill level
- NOC 0 job offer: work experience in NOC 0 or A
- NOC A job offer: work experience in NOC 0, A, or B
- NOC B job offer: work experience in NOC A, B, or C
- NOC C job offer: work experience in NOC B, or C
- NOC D job offer: work experience in NOC D
Exemption for international students who graduated from Canadian publicly-funded institutions in the community recommended with;
- A credential from a 2+ year-long post-secondary program and you
- were studying as a full-time student for the full duration of the 2+ years
- received the credential no more than 18 months before your application for permanent residence
- were in the community for at least 16 of the last 24 months spent studying to get your credential
or
- A master’s degree or higher and you
- were studying as a full-time student for the duration of your degree
- got your degree no more than 18 months before your application for permanent residence
- were in the community for the length of your studies
LANGUAGE
Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC)
- NOC 0: CLB 6 / NCLC 6
- NOC A: CLB 6 / NCLC 6
- NOC B: CLB 5 / NCLC 5
- NOC C: CLB 4 / NCLC 4
- NOC D: CLB 4 / NCLC 4
EDUCATION
- a Canadian high school diploma or
- an educational credential assessment (ECA) report, from a designated organization or professional body, showing that you completed a foreign credential that’s equal to Canadian secondary school (high school)
- the ECA report must be less than 5 years old on the date of your application
- the original ECA report must have been issued on or after the date the organization was designated
SETTLEMENT FUNDS
| Number of Family Members (including those you support that aren’t immigrating with you) |
Funds Required (Canadian dollars) |
| 1 | $8,722 |
| 2 | $10,858 |
| 3 | $13,348 |
| 4 | $16,206 |
| 5 | $18,380 |
| 6 | $20,731 |
| 7 or more | $23,080 |
INTEND TO LIVE
To participate in the pilot, you must plan to live in the community.
COMMUNITY-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
Each community will have additional requirements for applicants.