Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

Below is a list of all of the participating communities in the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, along with their websites.

If you’re an international student wishing to apply for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, you will be exempt from the work experience criteria listed above if you meet the following criteria instead.

To be eligible, you must have graduated with:

• A credential from a post-secondary program of two years or longer and you:
  • Were studying as a full-time student in the community for the full duration of the two or more years
  • Received the credential no more than 18 months before your application for permanent residence
  • Were in the community for at least 16 of the last 24 months spent studying to get your credential

Or,

• A master’s degree or higher and you:
  • Were studying as a full-time student for the duration of your degree
  • Got your degree no more than 18 months before your application for permanent residence
  • Were in the community for the length of your studies

You will not be able to apply as an international student to the RNIP if your credentials are from a program where:

• Studying English or French made up for for more than half the program
• Distance learning made up more than half of the program
• A scholarship or fellowship was awarded that requires you to return to your home country to apply what you learned

You must meet the minimum language requirements based on the NOC category that applies to the job offer in the community. This can be either the:

• Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)
• Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC)

The minimum language requirements for each NOC category are:

• NOC 0 and A: CLB/NCLC 6
• NOC B: CLB/NCLC 5
• NOC C and D: CLB/NCLC 4

You must submit your results from a designated language test. These results must be less than two years old when you apply.

In order to be eligible for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, you must have one of the following:

• A Canadian educational credential, such as a:
  • Canadian high school diploma
  • Canadian post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree

Or,

• An educational credential assessment (ECA) report from a designated organization or professional body that:
  • Is less than 5 years old on the date you apply
  • Shows you completed a foreign credential equal to either a
    • Canadian secondary school (high school) diploma, or
    • Canadian post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree

Unless you’re already working in Canada with a valid work permit, you must show proof that you have enough funds to support yourself and any family members you have, even if they won’t be coming to Canada with you.

Proof of funds can be provided using any one of the following:

• Bank account statements
• Documents that show real property or other investments (such as stocks, bonds, debentures, treasury bills, etc.)
• Documents that guarantee payment of a set amount of money payable to you (such as banker’s drafts, cheques, traveller’s cheques or money orders)

If your spouse is coming with you, you can count money you have together in a joint account. You may be able to count money in an account under their name only, but you must prove you have access to the money.

The money must be available to both of you when you apply and when you’re issued with a permanent resident visa (if your application is approved).

You must prove to an immigration officer that you can legally access the money to use here when you arrive.

As a candidate for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, you must have a genuine job offer to work in one of the participating communities.

The job you’re offered must meet all of the following requirements:

• It must be full-time (meaning that you work at least 30 paid hours per week)
• It must be non-seasonal (generally meaning you have consistent and regularly scheduled paid employment throughout the year)
• Your employment is permanent (i.e. with no set end date)
• The wage must meet or exceed the Job Bank’s minimum wage for your job offer’s National Occupational Classification (NOC)
• Your experience must show that you can perform the duties of the job offered

In addition to these, you must adhere to the individual requirements and processes of the community you wish to join.

Your job offer must also be at the same skill level, or one level above or below the National Occupation Classification (NOC) that matches your work experience.

For example, if your job offer is at NOC A, then your work experience must be in NOC 0, A or B.

The exception to this is if your work experience is in NOC Skill Level  D, in which case your job offer must be in the same occupation.

Once you have a job offer, and meet all the requirements, you can then apply for a community recommendation.

You will need to apply for a community recommendation in order to become eligible for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.

Each community will have their own recommendation process as displayed on its website. They will also tell you how the application process works, and what documents you need to apply for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.

Note that you should only provide copies of your documents when applying for community recommendation, and not the originals.

For all community recommendation applications, you must:

• Prove that you meet all the requirements for the pilot
• Have an eligible job offer

If you successfully receive a community recommendation, you may then apply for permanent residence.

You can apply for Canadian permanent residence through the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot either online or on paper.

It’s recommended that you use the Document Checklist form to check that you include all of the documents and forms you need to apply.

The forms you will need to fill out include the following:

• Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008)
• Additional Dependants/Declaration, if applicable
• Schedule A – Background/Declaration (IMM 5669)
• Schedule 1 – Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (IMM 5911)
• Additional Family Information (IMM 5406)
• Supplementary Information – Your travels (IMM 5562)
• Separation Declaration for Minors Travelling to Canada (IMM 5604), if applicable
• Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union (IMM 5409), if applicable
• Document Checklist (IMM 5987)
• Use of a Representative (IMM 5476), if applicable

In addition, your new employer must fill in the Offer of Employment to a Foreign National – Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (IMM 5984) form and give it to you to include in your application.

The Economic Development Organization of the community that is recommending you must also fill in the ‘Recommendation from the designated Economic Development Organization – Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (IMM 0112)’ form and give it to you to include in your application.

After completing the relevant documents, you will have to pay the fees for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot and submit your application either by post or online.

You will need to submit the following supporting documents with your Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot application:

• A copy of your passport, showing:
  •  the passport number,
  •  date of issue and expiry,
  •  the photo, name, date and place of birth,
  • pages showing any amendments in name, date of birth, expiration, etc
• Proof of language proficiency
• Proof of education
• Proof of previous work experience, such as:
  • A copy of your most recent Canadian work permit (if applicable)
  • Employer reference letters for the periods of work experience identified in your application
  • Copies of your T4 tax information slips and your Notice of Assessment (if applicable)
  • Work contracts
  • Pay stubs
• Proof of settlement funds

For more information about how to put together your application for the RNIP and the documents you need to supply, speak to one of our immigration lawyers. Contact us on +1 844 290 6312, or contact us online today.

Below are the fees for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.

You may also have to pay a biometrics fee of CAN$85 per person, or CAN$170 per family of two or more people.

RNIP applications generally take around 12 to 18 months to process.