Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

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

1. Candidates must check they meet both the federal government eligibility requirements and community-specific requirements (see below).
2. Find an eligible job with an employer in one of the participating communities (listed below).
3. Candidates with a job offer can submit an application for recommendation to the community.
4. Candidates with a community recommendation can apply for permanent residence.