Your Express Entry score is not going to be high enough. Your provincial options are limited. But there is an employer in Thunder Bay, North Bay or Sudbury who wants to hire you, and the town wants you to stay. That combination is exactly what two federal pilots are built around.
What the pilots are
The Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP) are permanent residence programs that let participating communities choose newcomers to fill local labour shortages. They replaced the earlier Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.
The RCIP runs in 14 smaller communities across Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. The FCIP runs in six Francophone minority communities outside Quebec and requires French ability. Some communities, including Sudbury and Timmins, run both.
How it works
The pilots run in three stages, in this order:
- A job offer from a designated employer. Each community designates local employers that are allowed to recruit through the pilot. An offer from any other employer does not count, however good the job.
- A community recommendation. The employer and candidate apply to the community’s economic development organization, which checks that the job is genuine, falls within the community’s priority occupations, and meets the pilot’s requirements. Many communities score and rank candidates and issue a limited number of recommendations each year.
- A permanent residence application to IRCC, which assesses eligibility, medicals, security and admissibility.
Some applicants can also get a work permit while the permanent residence application is processed.
Who qualifies
The exact requirements depend on the job’s skill level and the pilot, but candidates generally need:
- a qualifying full-time job offer from a designated employer
- recent work experience, usually at least one year, related to the job
- language test results at the level required for the occupation, in English or French for the RCIP and in French for the FCIP
- a Canadian high school diploma or foreign equivalent
- proof of settlement funds, unless already working in Canada
- a genuine intention to live in the community
Some communities exclude people currently on visitor status or without status from applying for a recommendation. Each community also sets its own priority occupations, employer limits and intake windows, so a job that qualifies in one community may not qualify in another.
Why these pilots are worth a look
The pilots do not depend on a competitive points score in a national pool. They are open to a wider range of occupations than Express Entry, including some that would not count there. And they lead directly to permanent residence rather than a long temporary stage.
The common mistakes
- Accepting a job before checking the employer is designated. Check the community’s own list.
- Missing the community’s intake window. Some communities accept recommendation applications only on specific dates, and fill their allocations quickly.
- Treating “intention to live in the community” as a formality. Officers look at whether the plan to settle there is genuine.
- Paying for a job offer. Charging candidates for job offers is prohibited and can lead to a refusal and a misrepresentation finding. Our post on misrepresentation explains the consequences.
How the pilots compare with other routes
For many candidates, the realistic comparison is with provincial nominee programs. Our posts on Express Entry and the OINP employer job offer streams cover those options.
How we can help
At Kabir & Alam, we assess whether a community pilot fits a candidate’s profile, review job offers and recommendation applications, and prepare the permanent residence and work permit applications. Read more about our permanent residence practice or book a consultation with us.
This post is general information about Canadian immigration law and is not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Speak with a lawyer about your situation before making decisions.