Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot(RNIP)

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) program is a community-driven program that was launched with an aim to spread the benefits of economic immigration to the smaller communities of Canada. It helps skilled foreign workers who want to live and work in one of the participating communities of the program, obtain permanent residence in Canada. A candidate can apply under Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program from both inside and outside Canada. But if they are applying from inside, they must have temporary resident status in the country.

Participating communities of Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot(RNIP)

Following are the participating communities of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot:

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

Eligibility requirements for the participating communities

In order to participate in the Rural and Northern Immigration Program, the communities must meet certain requirements. These include:

1. The community’s population should be less than 50000.
2. It should be located at least 75km away from the core of a Census Metropolitan Area.
(Or the population can be less than 200000 people and the community should be considered remote from other larger cities.)
3. The community must be located in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Yukon
4. The community must be capable of offering job opportunities to the immigrants who come to settle there.
5. The community must have an economic development plan.
6. The community must also have a local economic development organization, which can manage the program.

Role of the participating communities in Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

As RNIP is a community-driven program, the participating communities are responsible for the following:
Asssessing prospective candidates to check if

• they are capable of meeting the economic needs of these communities
• they have a genuine employment opportunity that can meet their community requirements
• they have a real intention to stay in the community

Recommending candidates for permanent residence to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC)
Connecting newcomers with settlement services as well as mentoring opportunities with the community’s established members.

Eligibility requirements for the candidates

To be eligible to apply under the RNIP program, the candidate should meet the following requirements:

Work experience

Minimum one year of work experience. Candidate must have acquired this work experience within three years before applying. The work experience need not necessarily be acquired from Canada, but if it is, it must have been with proper work authorization. Self-employment, volunteer work and unpaid internships will not be counted as qualifying work experience

International graduates, who have completed their education in one of the recognized, publicly-funded post-secondary institutions of Canada are exempted from work experience requirement. However, they must have maintained a valid temporary resident status in Canada throughout the entire duration of their studies.

Job offer

The candidate must have a full-time permanent job offer from an employer operating in one of the participating communities. The wage offered must also meet the minimum wage listed for the occupation. Further, the candidates must prove that they have the skills and experience to perform the duties of the job which is offered to them.

Language requirements

The language requirements depend on the NOC category applicable to the candidate’s RNIP community job offer. It is assessed in terms of Canadian Language Benchmark(CLB) for English and Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens(NCLC) levels for French. The language requirements vary depending on the job offer by the RNIP community.

The language tests designated by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC) are:

CELPIP: Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program.
IELTS: International English Language Testing System
TEF Canada: Test d’évaluation de français
TCF Canada: Test de connaissance du français

The language test results must not be older than two years from the date of submitting application to the IRCC.

Educational requirements
To be eligible to apply for Rural and Northern Immigration Program, a candidate must have educational qualification equal to or above the secondary school diploma or post-secondary degree, diploma or certificate.

If the candidate has acquired their educational credentials from outside Canada, they must have their Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) done from a designated organization. Also, the ECA report must not be more than five years old at the time of application.

Settlement funds

A candidate must prove that they have enough funds to support themselves and their family members while they settle in Canada. But those who are already working in Canada with a valid work permit need not submit proof of settlement funds. Others must submit proof of funds both at the time of applying to the IRCC for PR and also at the time of receiving the PR visa.

Intention to settle in the recommending community

In order to obtain a PR through the Rural and Northern Immigration Program, a candidate must prove their intention to settle in the community which is recommending them.

Other community-specific requirements

Besides meeting the above said common requirements, a candidate must also meet the requirements that are specific to each community.

Steps involved in application process under RNIP

1. The first step is a participating community and/or an employer in one of the participating communities getting connected to the candidate. Either the candidate may approach them or it can be vice versa.
2. The next step is the candidate submitting an application for RNIP recommendation to a community.
3. The community will then review the application and select the candidate if they were found to be eligible.
4. The community will recommend the candidate for permanent residence in Canada.
5. With this recommendation, the candidate can apply for permanent residence in Canada under the RNIP.
6. The IRCC assesses the application
7. If their application is successful, the candidate receives Canada PR.
8. Once the candidate and their depending family members arrive in Canada, it’s the responsibility of the recommending community to provide support for their settlement and integration into the community.

If you are interested to know more about the various options that are available to migrate to Canada, connect with the Canada immigration experts of CanApprove.