Widespread Delay in the Launch of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) is set to be one of the best additions to the Canadian immigration system this year. Five of the eleven communities that were supposed to participate in the pilot had announced that they would begin accepting applications from 1st January. However, that date has been postponed, and it will be at least another month until the intake process can actually begin for candidates under the pilot.
The following communities had been scheduled to begin the pilot program on the first day of the year:

• Claresholm, Alberta
• Vernon, British Columbia
• North Bay, Ontario
• Timmins, Ontario
• West Kootenay, British Columbia

Moreover, Sudbury in Ontario was supposed to begin the intake process and launch the pilot back on 1st November but has still not begun accepting applications. Thunder Bay has also postponed their intake process in spite of stating on their webpage that they would begin accepting applications on 2nd January. The communities were required to have an economic development organization that could manage the program so as to qualify for participating in the pilot.

Community futures organizations, independent or not-for-profit economic development organizations, a chamber of commerce, or even a hybrid organization of a municipality were considered fit to meet the needs of the pilot. The organizations have the responsibility of ensuring that the provisions stated on the community’s memorandum of understanding with the IRCC or the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada are perfect for the community’s needs. For example, the economic development committee in Claresholm, Alberta, announced in December that they could not begin the pilot till February 2020.

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot aims to extend a helping hand to the rural and remote towns in Canada that have to attract foreign workers for their communities to progress.