North Bay city is going to launch the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program

North Eastern Ontario city, North Bay, will soon accept applications by immigrants through the federal pilot program.

North Bay City is all set to launch the pilot program called the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program in the next couple of weeks.

The RNIP (Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot) is being launched to empower the small communities to become beneficial from the economic immigration of Canada. The community-driven program will provide potential candidates with an opportunity to get permanent residency. Foreign workers who want to work and live in one of the participating communities of the pilot program can apply.

North Bay is a small city which is located approximately 300 kilometers north to Toronto. The city will become the tenth community that is accepting applications through the RNIP once it launches the website.

North Bay has a quota of 100 community recommendations, just like any other community participating in the program in the first year. There are 11 other participating communities in the RNIP.

The program connects foreign workers with prospective employers who have labor shortages in the smaller communities of Canada. The regions are selected based on their sizes, employment opportunities, location, and their ability to help newcomers to settle in Canada.

The city launches its website in which the candidates can submit their applications, and employers can post jobs.

The two major eligibility criteria to get permanent residency through RNIP are: 

· Having a full-time job opportunity in one of the participating communities of the program

· Receiving a community referral through the program to apply for permanent residency

The participating community plays a major role in attracting new immigrants or temporary foreign workers who are already residing in Canada and in getting them local job opportunities.

Each community has its own matching criteria. In the case of North Bay City, priority will be given to the candidates who are already involved in the community and who are bilingual.

Patti Carr, vice-president of policy and communications for the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce and project manager for the RNIP, said, “We would hope the newcomers want to be involved in the community; then the likelihood of them wanting to stay here once they receive PR and not moving to larger or other centers [would be another requirement]. Bilingualism would be an asset. The ability of the spouse to also fill one of the high demand employment opportunities would also be a great fit for our community.”

According to Carr, freshwater lakes, family-friendly communities, proximity to major centers, reasonable housing prices, etc. make North Bay a very attractive community for prospective immigrants.

The city will start reviewing applications immediately after the program is launched. It will start selecting candidates who are already in Canada and have a full-time permanent opportunity in high demand regions.

Carr hopes that the RNIP will help " maintain and increase the population and help fill positions that have been vacant for some time and have been preventing some businesses from expanding or taking on new contracts for products and services.”

The following are the participating community along with North Bay, which is already accepted the applications:

· Altona/Rhineland, Manitoba

· Claresholm, Alberta

· Vernon, British Columbia

· West Kootenay, British Columbia

· Timmins, Ontario

· Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

· Thunder Bay, Ontario

· Brandon, Manitoba

· Sudbury, Ontario