It's still early days for a pair of immigration pilot programs introduced by the federal government last January, but program coordinators across the North say they are making a difference for employers seeking to fill labour gaps.
The Rural Community Immigration Program (RCIP) was launched in 14 communities across Canada, including all five of Northern Ontario's major cities: North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Timmins.
Six communities, including Sudbury, Timmins and the Superior East region, are also running the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP).
Together, the programs offer permanent residency to skilled immigrants who want to work and settle in rural, remote and francophone communities.
Program coordinators from across the North gathered to share their thoughts on the pilots during a panel discussion at the 2025 Magnetic North conference, which took place Dec. 3-5 in Sudbury.
The annual conference, an initiative of the Northern Policy Institute think tank, looks at the challenges to the economic growth of Northern Ontario, and for the last few years has focused its attention on immigration.
Most of the northern communities participating in the pilots also took part in their predecessor, the five-year Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), which came to a close in 2024.
Even though the names and program parameters have changed, the need for skilled workers has not.
“We have an aging population. We have the baby boomers that are exiting the working market and not enough babies to replace them,” said Natalie Scherbak, a business development officer with the City of Greater Sudbury.
“There's a growing need for skilled workers in the North. These positions were previously left unfilled. And so it's, again, an economic immigration program our economy desperately needed.”
To be eligible under RCIP, candidates must receive a job offer in a priority sector from an employer in the community. The vetting committee will then recommend permanent residency if the candidate meets all the requirements.
Stacey Platt, a workforce development officer with the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, said her staff is doing a lot of outreach to help educate employers about the program, and employers, in turn, are proving to be highly invested in its success.
From applying to become a designated employer to undergoing mandatory training sessions, employers are committing hours of time to the pilot, which helps them better understand the immigration process, Platt said.
"That translates also to the candidates that are involved, in how they can spread the word to their friends and family members back home about Canada, and the way in which our immigration pathways and everything works,” Platt said.
But filling workplace gaps isn't just about attracting immigrants to the North, noted Noella Rinaldo, the director of Timmins Economic Development Corporation. True success is measured in being able to retain those workers over the long term.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the RNIP was just getting underway, employers needed more workers in sales and service roles, and the pilot was able to fill that need.
In time, however, it was the highly skilled employees that made the biggest difference, Rinaldo said, because they were more likely to remain in those roles longer, settling in and becoming part of the communities.
That's who coordinators are trying to target with the RCIP.
“We're trying to be strategic in what we're picking as a community for those limited spots, and those people that we feel will be sticking around a little bit more,” Rinaldo said.
“We all wish we could have 10 times the amount of spaces that we’re given, but unfortunately, we have to work within those constraints.”
One year into the pilot, program coordinators agreed that success will be better gauged over years versus months. But there are indicators that show early promise.
In North Bay, Donna Backer said, they're receiving applications from very high-quality candidates, many of whom have already been in the community for a few years.
As part of the scoring process, candidates are awarded "bonus points” based on the number of years they've spent in a community.
“With having Canadore College and Nipissing University in our community as well, they've already been in the community,” said Backer, CEO of the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce, which administers the pilot.
“They've been educated; they've set roots. So I see that as a measure of success.”
Rinaldo and Platt noted that, in their respective communities of Timmins and Thunder Bay, they've filled all their available spots for the year, and in Sudbury, the FCIP program met its initial target of 45 allocations and then requested more.
Scherback, in Sudbury, said employer input is the "biggest and most important” indicator that the program is being well received.
“They provide us with that feedback and how essential this program is and how it's working,” she said.
But it's also visible in Sudbury's cultural growth, as newcomers contribute their traditions, foods and customs to the community.
“They're adding new festivals, new community groups, new cultural grocery stores — we have 17 in our community alone — and the diversification of restaurants, places of worship,” Scherback said.
“So these are all things that are in direct relation with these incredible newcomers coming to our community and choosing to settle here that we can track down the line as well.”