A new pilot program to attract immigrants to small communities in Canada, the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP), is going to be rolled out this autumn, expanding on the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP). Details have yet to be released on how it will work.

“Given that interest – given the advocacy – I’m here to confirm that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will make this program permanent,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller said in Sudbury in mid-March.

The RCIP will be modelled after the existing RNIP which has had great success in attracting skilled workers from other countries to 11 small, rural communities. 

“I’m confident that this new pilot – an enhanced version – will be one that will meet the labour needs and grow communities,” promised the immigration minister.

The existing RNIP is an employer-led program, suggesting the RCIP will also be driven by employers. During the announcement, the immigration said other elements of the RCIP will take a few more months to work out.

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The RCIP is essentially a way for Ottawa to extend the RNIP which expires this coming June as the IRCC works on making a rural immigration program permanent. That likely means the RCIP will itself become that permanent program.

In an open letter to local Members of Parliament, Viviane Lapointe and Nickel Belt Marc Serré, the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce had urged that the RNIP become a permanent program.

“If you talk to any business owner and our members, a big challenge they’ve had over the last few years is finding talented labour and skilled labour and the … program is something that facilitates that,” Geoffrey Hatton, chair of that chamber of commerce and president and CEO of Spectrum Telecom Group, reportedly told CTV News.

“Twenty per cent of our staff (are) international hires, so it’s a big impact for us.”

As of the end of last year, 4,595 newcomers had gotten their permanent residence through the RNIP.

RNIP Saw 2,855 New Permanent Residents Settle In Canada In 2023

The latest IRCC data reveals that Canada welcomed 2,855 new permanent residents through the RNIP last year.

Ontario received the lion’s share of RNIP immigrants last year, 1,865, while British Columbia welcomed 665 new permanent residents through the program.

Through the RNIP, Manitoba welcomed 190 new permanent residents last year, Saskatchewan 90, and Alberta 45 in 2023.

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This year, the RNIP started off strong with 680 new permanent residents arriving through the program in January alone.

 Under the existing RNIP, 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 is considered remote from other larger cities, according to the Statistics Canada Remoteness Index.

Here are the participating communities in the pilot program:

Candidates for immigration through the RNIP must meet both the federal and the community eligibility requirements.

The federal requirements include qualifying work experience or an international student exemption.

Candidates must have one year (1,560 hours) of full or part-time work experience in the last three years but it doesn’t need to be continuous or be with just one employer. It must, however, include most of the main and essential duties listed in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) and unpaid and self-employed hours do not count.

RNIP Applicants Must Meet Basic Language Requirements

Candidates who are international students are exempt from needing work experience provided they either graduated with a master’s or doctoral degree or:

• graduated with a credential from a minimum two-year-long post-secondary program in the recommended community;
• were studying as a full-time student for the full duration of two or more years;
• received the credential no more than 18 months before the date of application for permanent residence, and;
• they were in the community for at least 16 of the last 24 months spent studying to get the credential.

Those who graduated with higher degrees must still:

• have studied as a full-time student for the duration of the degree in the recommended community;
• received the degree no more than 18 months before applying for permanent residence, and;
• have been in the community for the length of their studies.

There are basic minimum language requirements for the RNIP with the level required based on the classification of the job under the National Occupational Classification system. Candidates must also have a Canadian high school diploma or an equivalent foreign credential with an accredited Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report.

The language proficiency can be demonstrated through either the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) standards.

These results must be submitted from a designated language test and be less than two years old at the time of the application.

Under the program, applicants must demonstrate they have enough money to support themselves and family members while they get settled in their community. This includes family members who may not be coming to Canada.

Candidates already working legally in Canada are exempt from settlement fund requirements.

This money cannot be borrowed from another person and the proof of funds can include:

• bank account statements;
• documents that show real property or other investments (such as stocks, bonds, debentures or treasury bills), or;
• documents that guarantee payment of a set amount of money payable such as banker’s drafts, cheques, traveller’s cheques or money orders.