New immigration pilot program aims to attract francophones

Three northern Ontario communities have been chosen to participate in a new Francophone community immigration pilot.

A new immigration pilot was announced at Greater Sudbury’s city hall Thursday morning aimed at attracting francophone immigrants, along with the return of a rural program for skilled workers.

Both programs are focused on helping employers find the workers they need to overcome labour shortages.

Sudbury, Timmins and the Superior East Region were selected to participate in the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.

The new program aims to increase the number of French-speaking newcomers settling in Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec.

“This ensures the economic development of Francophone minority communities, while also helping to restore and increase their demographic weight,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a news release.

“Each selected community is represented by a local economic development organization, which will work with IRCC to identify its critical labour gaps, designate trustworthy employers and recommend suitable candidates to IRCC for permanent residence.”

Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an interview that the city can bring in around 48 French-speaking newcomers each year for the next five years.

“This will allow some of the francophone organizations that have a hard time,” Lefebvre said.

“The francophone community certainly is growing here -- it’s one of the largest ones outside of Quebec in a municipality.”

The other three areas participating in the pilot program are St. Pierre Jolys, Man.; Kelowna, B.C.; and, the Acadian Peninsula, NB.

Return of Rural immigration pilot

The federal government is also bringing back the rural immigration pilot program designed to attract and retain skilled foreign workers.

Eleven of the 12 Canadian communities that participated in the first pilot have been renewed for another five years, Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins and Thunder Bay.

Three new communities have been added: Steinback, Man., Peace Laird and North Okanagan Shuswap, B.C.

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) is getting a slight name change, dropping the “and Northern” and changing it to “Community.”

“Although similar to the RNIP, the new immigration pilots will have significant differences and the process will be more employer-driven,” Timmins Economic Development Corp. said in a news release.

“Employers wishing to participate in the pilots will have to undergo an employer designation process, which involves completing mandatory IRCC onboarding training and intercultural competency training.”

Businesses must continue to prove that they have tried to fill positions through the Canadian workforce but can’t find the talent with the required skills.

Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe said they’ve been advocating for the pilot program to become permanent.

“We have a mayor who has set an ambitious goal of growing Sudbury’s population and we know that we can do that through immigration,” Lapointe said.

“We also have businesses that have some … shortage gaps of skilled labour, so this is such a good program because it helps those businesses, those employers, match up with really good, skilled people.”

The federal government said it will continue working to establish the programs as permanent streams.

Nearly 100% retention rate

“Preliminary findings suggest strong retention in RNIP communities,” the IRCC said.

“In October 2022, 87 per cent of RNIP newcomer survey respondents stated that they stayed and planned to stay in their RNIP communities.”

In Sudbury, the retention rate for these workers was even better. Lefebvre said 98 per cent of newcomers who came here through the program are remaining here.

A total of 8,580 newcomers were granted permanent residency through the dozen communities participating in the program over five years.

In Sudbury, around 1,400 candidates were approved to fill specialized and critical roles with local employers.

Since they are allowed to bring their families, Greater Sudbury saw a total of 2,700 new residents as a result of the program.

Lefebvre said the city will be allowed to bring another 550 newcomers each year through the rural stream.

In Timmins, RNIP helped 268 businesses in the region recommend 754 applicants from 40 countries for permanent residence in the last five years.

“(It) generated an estimated total value of $35 million in gross annual wages in the regional economy,” the Timmins Economic Development Corp. said.

“RNIP also contributed to the highest population estimate for the City of Timmins in over a decade.”

Timmins is looking to hear from local employers about job vacancies and labour market needs.

“Employers can complete the short survey online in English or French until Feb. 14,” the economic development corporation said.

“While applications for the pilots will not open until the Spring, employers interested in learning more or participating in the pilots can contact the TEDC.”