Recently, Canada’s immigration department, IRCC, has introduced two new Immigration Pilots for rural & Francophone Communities in Canada. This was announced in a press conference. It also noted that the current Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot or RNIP will become a permanent program.

Mr. Marc Miller, Canada’s Immigration Minister, in the same conference, highlighted the significance of rural and francophone minority communities in Canada.

He stated that local immigration serves a significant role in boosting regional economies. This is particularly helpful in linking businesses and employers in remote regions with skilled immigrants they need to prosper.

New Immigration Pilots for Rural & Francophone Communities to be Released in 2024

As per the IRCC announcement, the new immigration pilots for rural & Francophone Communities are expected to commence in the autumn of 2024.  

The department emphasized that both these new pilot programs will assist draw and retaining skilled workers from overseas in rural & French minority communities. This will thereby contribute to their economic as well as linguistic sustainability.

IRCC has also noted that the application process for both pilot programs will begin in the spring of this year. Also, this will permit specific communities to participate. IRCC will release more program details in the following months, but the following is the available information about both pilot programs.

Canada’s Rural Community Immigration Pilot Program

As per Canada’s immigration department, this is a newly announced pilot program that is being implemented. This will ensure that the rural communities in Canada continue to have access to programs introduced to tackle labor shortages and help businesses find workers.

So, yet, Canada’s immigration department has revealed no specifics about this pilot program. It only stated that similar to the current RNIP, this pilot would allow eligible applicants to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

IRCC noted that similar to RNIP, this pilot is also aimed at new immigrants who can assist rural communities in addressing urgent labor shortages and the desire to reside in these communities for the long term.

Canada’s Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP)- What it is?

The Rural Community Immigration Pilot, the new pilot program, will effectively replace the RNIP. This is because pilot programs are only effective for a maximum of five years.

Since its introduction, RNIP has enabled 11 communities to attract newcomers who intend to settle in these communities and who can tackle the urgent labor and demographic needs of the regions. It allowed them to settle in five Canadian provinces, including Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.

The following is the eligibility requirement of the RNIP that candidates must meet to immigrate to Canada under this pilot. They must satisfy several personal work-related requirements. In addition, they must also obtain a community recommendation from a designated community economic development organization.

The general eligibility criteria include:

  • They must have acquired a recommendation from a designated community.
  • They must have eligible continuous work experience within the past three years, i.e., a minimum of 1560 hours of work experience.

Or

  • They must intend to reside in the community.
  • They must have completed their graduation from a government-funded post-secondary institution in the recommended community.
  • They must have the necessary funds to settle themselves as well as support their family in the community.
  • They must have a valid job offer allowing them to work in a designated community.
  • They must satisfy the needed language threshold for the NOC skill type/level of the job being offered.

Notably, besides these, RNIP applicants must meet the eligibility criteria concerning education, job offer, and language ability (both English and French).

Canada’s New Francophone Community Immigration Pilot

The new francophone immigration pilot program aimed at assisting the Canadian government to admit more French-speaking immigrants to the country outside of Quebec. Also, this will help in the economic development of French-speaking communities, while also restoring and expanding their demographic weight.

The introduction of this new pilot program highlights the country’s emphasis on Francophone immigration throughout the country.

Canada has implemented more such measures, showing its commitment to targeting French-speaking immigrants. One such measure is including a French-based category among the category-based draws under the Express Entry draws.

In 2024 as of now, Canada held two Express Entry category-based draws targeting French-skilled immigrants. IRCC has issued a total of 9,500 Invitations to apply (ITAs) in just two draws.

However, in the other two category-based draws, IRCC has only sent 3650 ITAs, which is comparatively less.

As of now, the 2024 Express Entry draw details can be found here.