Cabinet minister hopes immigration pilot program can continue beyond next year - Action News
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Sudbury

Cabinet minister hopes immigration pilot program can continue beyond next year

Since 2019 the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot has been running in 11 Canadian cities. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says it's been a great success and hopes it can continue in some form.

Several cities in northern Ontario say the program exceeded their expectations last year

Six people standing in a warehouse, wearing personal protective equipment.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser meets with Franois Nzotungwanimana, operations manager at Ionic Engineering, during a visit to Sudbury. Fraser was in Sudbury to promote the federal budget. (Angela Gemmill/CBC)

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 newsconference 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."

A man standing at a podium with a woman to his right and two men to his right.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser standing at a podium with Sudbury MP Vivianne Lapointe to his right and Nickel Belt MP Marc Serr along with Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre to his left. Fraser says the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program has been a big success so far. (Angela Gemmill/CBC)

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 Boileautold 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 Serr was also at Tuesday's newsconference, 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.

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

With files from Angela Gemmill