Canada | Permanent Rural Community Immigration Program introduced following pilot

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that the Rural Community Immigration Pilot will transition to a permanent immigration program, providing skilled workers and international graduates in priority sectors with a pathway to permanent residence.

Key takeaways:

The new Rural Community Immigration Program will retain the employer- and community-led model established under the pilot. Participating communities will identify priority sectors and occupations based on local labor market needs.

Canada has allocated 5,500 permanent residence admission spaces to the permanent Rural Community Immigration Program under its latest immigration levels plan.

The following 14 communities currently participating in the pilot are expected to transition to the permanent program:

• Pictou County, Nova Scotia
• North Bay, Ontario
• Sudbury, Ontario
• Timmins, Ontario
• Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
• Thunder Bay, Ontario
• Steinbach, Manitoba
• Altona/Rhineland, Manitoba
• Brandon, Manitoba
• Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
• Claresholm, Alberta
• West Kootenay, British Columbia
• North Okanagan Shuswap, British Columbia
• Peace Liard, British Columbia

An overview of the Rural Community Immigration Program is available on the IRCC website.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice Group.

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