How Canada Attracts Immigrants as Newcomers to Smaller Communities

Canada operates several immigration streams that are designed to attract immigrants to smaller communities.

The programs are a result of the federal government’s realisation that it needed to increase immigration outside major cities in order to drive economic growth.

The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) are specifically design for this purpose.

The Agri-Food Pilot, meanwhile, does not have geographical constraints, but tends to bring immigrants to less populated areas because of the occupations it targets.

These employer-led programs are often overlooked because of their relatively low allocations when compared to other mass immigration streams.

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But Canada’s federal government is gradually increasing those allocations as the programs grow in popularity and stakeholders become more aware of their existence.

The AIP is a good example of this. It began as a pilot program in 2017 with the aim of getting more immigrants to settle in the Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and Prince Edward Island.

It welcomed fewer than 1,000 newcomers in its initial year. However, in 2023, the now-permanent joint federal-provincial program has an allocation of 8,500 new permanent residents, rising to 14,500 by 2025.

Ottawa hopes to emulate the success of the AIP with its other pilots, and there are already calls for the RNIP to be made permanent.

Allocations Under Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan

Canada’s provinces also try to encourage the development of smaller communities through their entrepreneur streams.

Both British Columbia and Ontario have less onerous requirements for their entrepreneur streams, in terms of both net worth and investment, if the business being started is in a smaller community.

The key aim of these programs is to bring population growth to smaller areas that are struggling economically.

The communities covered under the programs are those that see a net loss of young, skilled Canadian to bigger cities and their perceived better opportunities.

Both the Atlantic Immigration Program and Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot have had some success in doing this.

Populations of AIP Provinces

Populations of RNIP Areas

Here, we discuss the requirements of the AIP, RNIP and Agri-Food Pilot and how they can be leveraged by employers to bring newcomers to Canada.

1. ATLANTIC IMMIGRATION PILOT

The Atlantic Immigration Program operates as a partnership between Canada’s federal government and the four provinces in the region:

• Nova Scotia
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland & Labrador
• Prince Edward Island

It is an employer-led program that aims to bring candidates to the region to fill positions for which Canadian citizens and permanent residents are not available.

To hire through the AIP, employers do not need a Labour Market Impact Assessment. Instead, they must meet requirements to become designated to make job offers.

Each individual province handles this designation.

To be designated, an organization must:

• Be in good standing.
• Have been operating in the Atlantic region for at least 2 years.
• Work with a settlement service provider organization to help your candidates get settlement services.

Candidate Requirements

1. Work Experience

In the last five years, candidates must have worked at least 1,560 hours, equivalent to 30 hours per week for one year, in an occupation under National Occupational Classification (NOC) TEER 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

2. International Graduates

Candidates do not need to meet the work experience requirements if they are an international graduate who:

• has a degree, diploma, certificate, or trade or apprenticeship certification requiring at least two years of studies in a recognized institution in one of the four Atlantic provinces.
• was a full-time student for the entire time they were studying.
• lived in one of the four provinces for at least 16 months.

3. Education

• Candidates with a job offer in NOC TEER 0 or 1 must have at least a Canadian one-year post-secondary educational credential or equivalent from outside Canada.
• Candidates with a job offer in NOC TEER 2, 3 or 4 must have a Canadian high school diploma or the equivalent from outside Canada.

4. Language

• Level 5 in English or French for TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3
• Level 4 in English or French for TEER 4

5. Settlement Funds

Candidates need to have enough money to support themselves and their family when they get to Canada. The amount they need depends on the size of their family, including dependents who are not immigrating.

2. RURAL AND NORTHERN IMMIGRATION PILOT

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is a five-year federal immigration stream designed to help smaller communities with aging populations and labour shortages.

It is a community-driven program that aims to spread out the benefit of immigration.

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

1. Candidates must check they meet both the federal government eligibility requirements and community-specific requirements (see below).
2. Find an eligible job with an employer in one of the participating communities (listed below).
3. Candidates with a job offer can submit an application for recommendation to the community.
4. Candidates with a community recommendation can apply for permanent residence.

RNIP Participating Communities

Federal Government Eligibility Requirements

1) 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.

International Students

Candidates who are international students are exempt from needing work experience provided they meet the following requirements:

Scenario 1

• They graduated with a credential from a minimum two-year-long post-secondary program in the recommended community.
• They were studying as a full-time student for the full duration of two or more years.
• They received the credential no more than 18 months before the date of application for permanent residence.
• They were in the community for at least 16 of the last 24 months spent studying to get the credential.

Scenario 2

• They graduate with a master’s degree or higher
• They studied as a full-time student for the duration of the degree in the recommended community.
• They received the degree no more than 18 months before applying for permanent residence.
• They were in the community for the length of their studies.

2) Language Requirements

Candidates must meet the 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

3) Educational Requirements

Candidates must have at least a Canadian high school diploma or an equivalent foreign credential with an accredited educational credential assessment (ECA) report.

4) Settlement Funds

Candidates must prove they have enough money to support themselves and 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.

5) Intention to Reside

To participate in the pilot, you must plan to live in the community.

3. AGRI-FOOD PILOT

The Agri-Food Pilot is designed to help address labour shortages in specific agriculture and food-related industries.

The pilot opened on May 15, 2020 and is currently set to expire on May 14, 2025.

It is specifically aimed at the meat processing, year-round mushroom and greenhouse crop production and livestock raising industries.

What Jobs Are Eligible for the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot?

1) Meat product manufacturing (NAICS 3116)

• NOC 63201 – Butchers – retail and wholesale
• NOC 65202 – Meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale
• NOC 94141 – Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
• NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
• NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
• NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
• NOC 95106 – Labourers in food and beverage processing

2) Greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production, including mushroom production (NAICS 1114)

• NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
• NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
• NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
• NOC 85101 – Harvesting labourers

3) Animal production, excluding aquaculture (NAICS 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124 or 1129)

• NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
• NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
• NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
• NOC 85101 – Harvesting labourers

Application Limits by Eligible Job

Canada receives a limit of 2,750 applications each year.

Agri-Food Immigration Pilot: Candidate Requirements

• 12 months of full-time, non-seasonal Canadian work experience (at least 1,560 hours in the past 3 years) in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, in an eligible occupation.
• Canadian Language Benchmark level 4 in English or French in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
• Education at high school level or greater (Canadian equivalency).
• Indeterminate job offers for full-time, non-seasonal work in Canada, outside of Quebec, at or above the prevailing wage.
• The required settlement funds for candidates and dependents, unless already working in Canada.

In addition to these federal programs, some of Canada’s provinces including Quebec, also offer employment-based settlement opportunities to candidates with approved job offers in outlying areas.