Recently, the Canadian government has announced two new immigration pilot programs called Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) and Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP).
Both of these programs are designed for foreign workers who want to move and work in small towns. It is designed for French-speaking minority communities in Canada as well.
On Friday, announcing this, Canada's Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that the aim of these plans is to increase the number of skilled workers in Canada and develop those areas where there is a shortage of population as well as workers.
These new pilot programs have been brought following the success of the "Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot" and the government is working on a plan to make it a permanent immigration program as well.
What is Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP)?
Rural Community Immigration Pilot programme attracts skilled workers to work in small and rural areas of Canada as multiple small towns are losing population and companies are not able to find local workers. This pilot program will provide skilled workers to local businesses and eventually, these communities will become economically strong. Under RCIP, 18 communities of Canada have been selected, which are facing a huge shortage of workers.
These communities include:
- Nova Scotia
- Pictou County
- Ontario
- North Bay
- Sudbury
- Timmins
- Sault Ste. Marie
- Thunder Bay
- Manitoba
- Steinbach
- Altona/ Rhineland
- Brandon
- Saskatchewan
- Moose Jaw
- Alberta
- Claresholm
- British Columbia
- West Kootenay
- North Okanagan Shuswap
- Okanagan Shuswap
- Peace Liard
What is Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP)?
Francophone Community Immigration Pilot aims to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants in Canada, especially outside Quebec. The Canadian government wants to increase the number of Francophone (French-speaking) communities so that their cultural identity as well as language can be protected. The official list of these communities will be released soon. However, these will be places where the French-speaking population is less and the government wants French culture and language to flourish there.
How will these new pilot programs work?
Local Economic Development Organizations will manage the application process in these communities. The Canadian Immigration Department (IRCC) will work with these organizations in order to review applications. The candidates will be provided employment by linking them with local businesses. Once they get a job, they will have the opportunity to apply for permanent residence (PR) in Canada.
When will the application process start?
The Canadian government has not announced any deadline yet, but IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) has already begun training these organizations. Soon each community will announce when applications will open and under what conditions they will be accepted.
People who wish to settle permanently in Canada, those who don't mind working in rural areas of Canada, people who can speak French and wish to settle in Francophone communities and skilled workers who are looking for a new job in Canada will get benefitted with these programmes.