The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce is hoping to see the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) extended or become permanent.
Officials say the program, which is set to end July 2024, has assisted many businesses fill identified labour shortages.
“As one of the five communities in Northern Ontario partnering with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to implement the pilot, we are very pleased with the results so far and the momentum of the pilot is just getting started,” says Donna Backer, President and CEO of NBDCC. “We have over 150 participating employers and have made over 300 community recommendations of newcomers to our catchment area.”
The process involves a committee of community representatives reviewing and recommending newcomers in their application for permanent residency.
Along with addressing diminishing population growth, the chamber says the program encourages economic growth of the North Bay and area workforce by hiring skilled foreign workers for positions that are going unfilled locally.
Backer says the program started during the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s starting to ramp up.
“It’s taking off right now and we’re really hoping that the government will either extend the pilot or really see the benefit of it and make it a permanent program as they did in Atlantic Canada,” she says.
Backer says the pilot has proven to successfully fill key roles in labour shortages faced by most communities.
But she says the issue is not going away any time soon and they need to continue to market smaller communities to newcomers while creating awareness of the program and its benefits to businesses and communities. Letters of support have been provided to MP Anthony Rota who says he’ll present them to Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
