Brandon was one of the 11 communities that benefitted from the now-closed Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) and one of only two such communities in Manitoba.
“Rural and northern communities face unique economic and demographic challenges,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller earlier this year.
“However, through the RNIP, rural communities have been able to attract and retain skilled workers that they’ve needed for years to ensure their economic growth.
“That is why we will make RNIP a permanent program, and why we are introducing these two new pilot programs.
Then, in the first five months of this year, the latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals another 160 new permanent residents were welcomed to that Prairie province through the RNIP.
Gerald Cathcart, the director of economic development in Brandon, estimates the RNIP allowed more than 400 foreign nationals to come to Brandon in the past 4.5 years.
He’s hoping Manitoba’s growing allocation under the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP), which reported 7,348 nominations and approvals last year, will allow the community’s employers to build on the RNIP’s success.
“We are growing substantially based on newcomers coming to our city and a lot of those newcomers are finding employment here,” Cathcart reportedly told the CBC.
“Employment has been tight in a number of areas and where we’re able to find the skill sets that employers need.”
In Brandon, the RNIP stopped taking application on June 17. The RCIP is only going to kick into gear this autumn.
“It aims to ensure that rural communities continue to have the ability to access programs that address labour shortages and help local businesses find the workers they need,” notes Ottawa about the new pilot program.
Employers Bullish On RNIP, Hoping RCIP Can Do The Same
“It will provide pathways to permanent residence for newcomers who can help to overcome critical labour job shortages and want to live long term in these smaller communities.”
“Employers across the region from many sectors have been calling for more ways to build their workforce due to unprecedented skilled worker shortages,” said Nickel Belt MP Marc G. Serré.
“Working hard with our government, we implemented the highly successful RNIP program, and now by launching the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot, we will further support a pathway towards RNIP becoming a permanent program.
“This will broaden the scope for employers to build stronger workforces and contribute to our local economy serving residents in both official languages.”
The RNIP was an employer-led program, suggesting the RCIP will also be driven by employers. During the announcement earlier this year, the immigration said other elements of the RCIP will take a few more months to work out.
The RCIP is essentially a way for Ottawa to extend the RNIP as the IRCC works on making a rural immigration program permanent. That likely means the RCIP will itself become that permanent program.
