Brandon (Manitoba) introduces Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

Brandon, a city in Manitoba, is the most recent Canadian community to introduce its local component under the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot. Brandon is Manitoba’s second-largest city, and it is the third community to begin the process of accepting applications under the five-year pilot. Through this venture, it joins fellow Manitoba community, Altona/Rhineland, and the Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie in the Pilot program.

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) has been introduced with the purpose of matching foreign workers with employers who are facing labor shortages. The 11 communities have been selected on the basis of their size, job opportunities, location, and their ability to integrate newcomers into society.

Candidates must have an eligible offer of permanent full-time employment in any of the participating communities if they want to submit their applications under the Pilot. Only the candidates who acquire a Community Recommendation via the RNIP will be able to apply for permanent residence in Canada. It is predicted that as many 2,750 principal applicants, along with their families, could receive approval for permanent residence under the RNIP on an annual basis. The 11 communities who are participants in the Pilot are

• Altona/Rhineland, Manitoba
• Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
• Timmins, Ontario
• Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
• North Bay, Ontario
• Sudbury, Ontario
• West Kootenay (Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Nelson), British Columbia
• Claresholm, Alberta
• Vernon, British Columbia
• Thunder Bay, Ontario
• Brandon, Manitoba

The RNIP is a community-driven program, which means that the participating communities will be able to succeed in attracting temporary foreign workers or new immigrants who are already in Canada. The candidates can then be matched with the local job vacancies. Brandon has proposed a quota of 100 Community Recommendations for the first year of the pilot.