On This Page, You Will Find:
- Quick status summary
- Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP)
- Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP)
- Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots
- Agri-Food Pilot
- Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP)
- Atlantic Immigration Program
- Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP)
- Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot
- What’s next for Canada’s immigration pilots
- Frequently asked questions
Canada uses immigration pilot programs to test targeted pathways to permanent residence before deciding whether to expand them, make them permanent, or let them expire. Because pilots run on fixed intake caps, deadlines, and community allocations rather than an open-ended annual quota, their status can change with little notice.
A pilot that was accepting applications a year ago may be capped, paused, or closed today, and a former pilot may have already become a permanent program. This guide gives you the current status of Canada’s main federal immigration pilots, in plain language, so you know which ones are worth pursuing right now.
Always confirm the live status on the relevant IRCC page before you invest time preparing an application, since caps and deadlines can change at any time.
Quick Status Summary
- Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) – Open. Accepting applications in 14 designated rural communities.
- Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP) – Open. Accepting applications in 6 designated Francophone minority communities.
- Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots (Child Care and Home Support) – Closed to new applications. Intake was paused on December 19, 2025 and will not reopen in March 2026 as originally planned; IRCC continues processing applications already received.
- Agri-Food Pilot – Closed. The pilot ended May 14, 2025 after reaching its 1,010-application cap.
- Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) – Closed. The pilot ended August 31, 2024 and was replaced by the RCIP and FCIP.
- Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) – No longer a pilot. It became a permanent federal-provincial program on January 1, 2022.
- Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) – Closed to new applications. The federal stream was extended to December 31, 2025 and is now marked closed on IRCC’s website; existing applications continue to be processed.
- Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot – Open, extended through August 2027, with an annual cap on new study permit applications.
Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP)
The Rural Community Immigration Pilot offers permanent residence to skilled workers who want to live and work in one of 14 designated rural communities, spanning Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
Each participating community designates local employers who can offer jobs that cannot be filled by the local workforce. A candidate generally needs a valid job offer from a designated employer before applying, and may be eligible for a work permit while the permanent residence application is processed.
As of 2026, IRCC’s official pilot page lists the RCIP status as Open. Because each community controls its own recommendation and job-offer process, availability varies by location, so check the specific community’s website for local intake details.
Learn more: Rural Community Immigration Pilot on immigration.ca.
Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP)
The Francophone Community Immigration Pilot offers permanent residence to skilled workers who want to live and work in one of 6 designated Francophone minority communities outside Quebec, including locations in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.
As with the RCIP, participating communities designate employers who can recruit French-speaking or bilingual candidates for jobs they cannot fill locally. Selected candidates can receive settlement support from local francophone organizations and may qualify for a work permit while their permanent residence application is in process.
IRCC’s official page currently lists the FCIP status as Open. The two pilots are administered together, so many of the eligibility, job-offer and application steps mirror the RCIP process.
Learn more: Francophone Community Immigration Pilot on immigration.ca.
Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots
The Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots, for Child Care and for Home Support, launched in 2025 to replace the earlier Home Child Care Provider Pilot and Home Support Worker Pilot. They offered a direct-to-permanent-residence route for caregivers with a valid job offer, rather than requiring years of Canadian work experience first.
Demand for both streams consistently exceeded the number of spaces available. On December 19, 2025, IRCC announced it was pausing intake “until further notice” as part of the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, confirming that the pilots would not reopen in March 2026 as originally scheduled.
Both streams are now shown as Closed on IRCC’s website. Applications submitted before the pause continue to be processed, and no new applications are being accepted under either stream at this time.
Learn more: Canada caregiver immigration pathways on immigration.ca.
Agri-Food Pilot
The Agri-Food Pilot offered permanent residence to experienced, non-seasonal workers in select agriculture and food-processing occupations, such as meat processing, mushroom and greenhouse crop production, and livestock raising.
The pilot was capped from the start: IRCC accepted applications only until May 14, 2025, or until 1,010 applications were received, whichever came first. That cap was reached and the pilot is now permanently closed to new applications. IRCC continues to process applications accepted before the closing date.
Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP)
The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot was the community-driven predecessor to the RCIP and FCIP. It let smaller communities recommend skilled workers, with a designated employer job offer, for permanent residence.
The RNIP stopped accepting new applications on August 31, 2024 and is now closed. IRCC introduced the RCIP and FCIP later that year, in fall 2024, to continue supporting smaller and Francophone communities using a similar model.
Atlantic Immigration Program
The Atlantic Immigration Program is not a pilot. It began life as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP), but that pilot closed on December 31, 2021, and a permanent successor program opened on January 1, 2022.
The permanent Atlantic Immigration Program keeps the same core structure: a job offer from a designated employer in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador, qualifying work experience, the right education for the job, and settlement support after arrival. Unlike a pilot, it has no fixed expiry date.
Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP)
The Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot let skilled refugees and other displaced people apply for permanent residence through existing economic streams, such as Express Entry or a Provincial Nominee Program, based on their work experience, education and language skills.
The federal EMPP stream was extended to December 31, 2025. IRCC’s website now marks the pilot as closed to new applications, though existing applications continue to be processed and employer information for those already hiring through the pilot remains available.
Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot
The Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot supports French-speaking international students who study outside Quebec, easing some study-permit requirements and offering a permanent residence pathway after graduation.
This pilot remains open and has been extended through August 2027, with an annual cap on the number of new study permit applications it will accept each year. It is administered by IRCC together with participating French-language and bilingual designated learning institutions.
Learn more: Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot on immigration.ca.
What’s Next for Canada’s Immigration Pilots
Canada’s pilot landscape is shifting toward fewer, more targeted programs as part of the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan. In December 2025, IRCC stopped accepting new Start-Up Visa Program applications (after December 31, 2025) and extended the indefinite pause on the Self-Employed Persons Program, saying these changes would “set the foundation” for a new, targeted entrepreneur pilot program, with details expected sometime in 2026.
Separately, IRCC’s one-time In-Canada Workers Initiative is accelerating permanent residence for up to 33,000 temporary workers already living in Canada through 2026 and 2027, drawing on inventories from the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, the community immigration pilots, the caregiver pilots and the Agri-Food Pilot. This is a processing initiative rather than a new application stream, so it does not reopen any of the closed pilots above.
For broader context on how pilots fit into Canada’s overall admissions targets, see the immigration to Canada overview and Express Entry skilled immigration pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an immigration pilot program?
A pilot program is a time-limited immigration stream that IRCC uses to test a new selection model, usually for a specific region, language community, sector, or population. Pilots run for a set period or until they reach an application cap, after which IRCC decides whether to extend, replace, or close them.
Which Canada immigration pilots are open right now?
As of 2026, the Rural Community Immigration Pilot, the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot, and the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot are open. The Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots, the Agri-Food Pilot, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, and the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot are closed to new applications.
Can I still apply through the Agri-Food Pilot or the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot?
No. Both pilots stopped accepting new applications: the Agri-Food Pilot closed May 14, 2025 after reaching its cap, and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot closed August 31, 2024. IRCC is only processing applications it received before those closing dates.
Is the Atlantic Immigration Program still a pilot?
No. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program closed permanently on December 31, 2021 and was replaced by the permanent Atlantic Immigration Program on January 1, 2022. It keeps the same job-offer-based structure but has no scheduled expiry date.
Will the Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots reopen?
IRCC paused new applications on December 19, 2025 and confirmed the pilots would not reopen in March 2026 as originally planned. No reopening date has been announced; IRCC says any future update will be shared publicly.
Do I need a job offer to apply through the RCIP or FCIP?
Yes, in almost all cases. Both pilots require a valid job offer from an employer that has been designated by the participating community before you can apply for permanent residence.