Cabinet minister hopes immigration pilot program can continue beyond next year

Canada's minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship says he wants the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program to continue beyond its pilot period.

The program, which started in 2019, fast-tracks the process to gain permanent residency for newcomers who find work in 11 participating small cities across Canada.

Four of those cities — Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins — are in northeastern Ontario.

The pilot program is scheduled to end in August 2024, but Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said he would like to see it continue, in some form, past that point. A similar program in Atlantic Canada has since become permanent.

"From my perspective the Rural and Northern Immigration Program has been an enormous success," he said at a news conference in Sudbury.

"The only critical feedback I've received is that the communities that benefit from the program would like to bring more people in through the program."

While Fraser said he would like to see the program continue in some form, he said those details still need to be worked out.

"We haven't made formally a decision to make the program permanent yet, not because we don't like the program, but because the first few years of the program's existence happened under very challenging circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

He added it's important to see how the pilot program does over the next year now that COVID-19 restrictions are no longer in place.

Several cities in northeastern Ontario said the program exceeded their expectations last year.

In Sault Ste. Marie, the goal was to recommend 125 people for permanent residency in 2022, but the city issued 213 recommendations instead.

In Sudbury the city's goal was to submit 125 recommendation letters for permanent residency in 2022. The city issued 213 recommendations instead.

In Timmins, the city fell short of its goal to issue 170 recommendation letters last year. The community recommended 148 newcomers instead.

But Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau told CBC News she still sees the pilot as a success.

"I've heard first-hand from employers that had it not been for the (RNIP) program, you know, they might not have been able to stay open into the next year," she said.

"So it's having a very positive impact on our business community." 

Francophone immigration

Nickel Belt MP Marc Serré was also at Tuesday's news conference, and highlighted the government's investments to expand francophone immigration across the country.

"For the first time ever we've met our francophone immigration targets," he said.

Serré noted the federal budget includes $123 million to boost francophone immigration in Canada.