Rural And Northern Immigration Pilot Program (RNIPP)
This is a community-driven program, specially designed to help skilled foreign workers who intend to work and reside in participating communities. This is an easier medium for newcomers to get permanent residence, and also, gives an economic advantage to smaller communities that can hire them.
This program includes communities in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon.
How does the RNIPP work?
Community-driven Immigration Program
This pathway is now CLOSED, and IRCC is no longer accepting new applications.
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  The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot ended on August 31, 2024.
  IRCC will continue to process applications they received on or before this date.
  If you’re eligible, you can still apply for a work permit so you can work while IRCC process your application.
To be included in the pilot, communities must:
- Have a population of 50,000 or less and be located at least 75km from the core of a Census Metropolitan Area, OR
- Have a population of up to 200,000 people and is considered remote from other larger cities, according to the Statistics Canada Remoteness Index.
Steps to Permanent Residence:
- Candidates must check they meet both the federal government eligibility requirements and community-specific requirements
- Candidates with a job offer can submit an application for recommendation to the community.
- Candidates with a community recommendation can apply for permanent residence.
Federal Government Eligibility Requirements
Work Experience/International Student Exemption
Candidates must have qualifying work experience or have graduated from a publicly-funded post-secondary institution in the recommending community.
Work Experience
- Candidates must have one year (1,560 hours) of full or part-time work experience in the last three years.
- The work experience does not need to be continuous; it just needs to be accumulated in the last three years.
- The work experience can be in more than one occupation and with different employers.
- It must include most of the main and essential duties listed in the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
- Unpaid and self-employed hours do not count.
Language Requirements
Candidates must have at least a Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) based on the National Occupational Classification of their job.
The minimum language requirements for each NOC category are
- TEER 0 and 1: CLB/NCLC 6
TEER 2 and 3: CLB/NCLC 5
TEER 4 and 5: CLB/NCLC 4
Educational Requirements
Candidates must have a Canadian high school diploma or an equivalent foreign credential with an accredited educational credential assessment (ECA) report.
Settlement Funds
Candidates must prove they have enough money to support themselves and their family members while they get settled in their community. This includes family members who may not be coming to Canada.
Candidates already working legally in Canada are exempt from settlement fund requirements.
Intention to Reside
To participate in the pilot, you must plan to live in the community.
Community-Specific Requirements
Each community included in the pilot has its own set of community-specific requirements.
Please visit the website of each community (listed in the table above) to research community-specific requirements.
