Ontario Reopens Immigration Pathway for Six Communities

Ontario has relaunched a regional immigration initiative to attract skilled foreign workers to six northern and rural communities facing workforce shortages.

The province announced the return of its Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) initiative on October 16, 2026. The program will reserve provincial nomination spaces for eligible workers planning to settle in participating regions.

The initiative will continue until December 31, 2027, giving communities additional opportunities to recruit international talent.

Which Ontario Communities Are Included?

The renewed initiative covers six regions:

• Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury
• Kenora District
• Nipissing District
• Rainy River District
• Renfrew County
• Thunder Bay

Ontario will assign nomination spaces to each participating region, although officials have not disclosed individual allocations.

Geographic boundaries follow census divisions established by Statistics Canada.

Thunder Bay is the only returning participant from the previous REDI initiative, which also included Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, and Sarnia-Lambton.

How Will the Immigration Pathway Work?

REDI operates through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), allowing eligible foreign workers to pursue provincial nomination.

Applicants do not need to submit a separate REDI application. Instead, they must meet the requirements of an eligible OINP immigration stream.

Currently, the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream is the province's active pathway for new candidates.

Ontario introduced the stream during its wider immigration restructuring in June 2026 and opened its expression-of-interest portal on August 4.

At the time of the announcement, the province had not conducted an invitation round under the new stream.

Ontario's Previous REDI Program

The regional initiative began as a pilot in 2020 and expanded in January 2025.

Its previous version operated through employer job offer streams, which Ontario later closed during its immigration program overhaul.

The last REDI invitation round occurred on April 8, 2026, when Ontario issued 32 invitations to eligible workers with job offers in Lanark or Leeds and Grenville.

Nearly 1,000 workers have received nominations through REDI since its introduction, helping employers address labour shortages in healthcare, skilled trades and other essential industries.

Other Immigration Options in Participating Regions

Some REDI communities also participate in separate federal immigration programs.

The Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) operates in Sudbury, North Bay and Area, and Thunder Bay.

It supports eligible foreign workers who receive job offers from designated employers.

Sudbury also participates in the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP), which supports qualifying French-speaking workers with designated employer job offers and sufficient French-language ability.

Meanwhile, the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) includes Université Laurentienne and Collège Boréal, which have campuses in participating REDI regions.

This federal initiative provides eligible French-speaking international students with study permit opportunities and a potential pathway to permanent residence.

What Applicants Should Know

These federal programs operate independently of Ontario's provincial nomination system.

Each has separate eligibility rules, application procedures and requirements.

Workers interested in REDI should review the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream requirements and confirm whether their intended employment location falls within a participating region.

The renewed initiative aims to strengthen local economies while helping rural and northern employers attract workers.