Canada’s rural immigration pilot draws heavy interest as regions set limits, including North Okanagan-Shuswap, Peace Liard, Claresholm, Thunder Bay, and Sault Ste. Marie.
Canada’s new rural immigration pathway has attracted overwhelming interest from both employers and foreign nationals. Communities taking part in the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) are now adjusting their intake rules to deal with the surge.
Local economic development groups manage the RCIP in each region. These organizations approve employers who want to hire through the program. But with far more applications than they can handle, many regions are tightening their rules or pausing intakes.
The North Okanagan-Shuswap region in British Columbia saw heavy demand in its first intake, receiving hundreds of applications beyond capacity. The community cancelled its July 17 intake to clear the backlog. Three more intake rounds will still run later in 2025.
This region also stopped accepting applications from fast food and gas station employers because of limited spots.
Peace Liard, also in B.C., reached its intake limit for employer designations in July. Applications will not reopen until November. Demand has been so strong that its first candidate intake on August 1 filled in under 10 minutes.
Claresholm, a small Alberta community, announced it would no longer accept employer designations from the fast food sector. This change came into effect on July 24, 2025, and remains in place.
Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario has temporarily stopped taking recommendation applications in the Sales and Service sector for the month of August. Local officials plan to review the situation before announcing if applications will reopen in September.
Sault Ste. Marie, also in Ontario, has already hit its cap for dine-in restaurants. Any designation requests after May 8 have been rejected. The community also reached its cap for employers hiring security supervisors as of June 3.
The RCIP is an employer-driven immigration program. Employers apply to be designated, then they can make job offers to eligible foreign workers. Local development organizations must endorse each job offer before the worker applies for permanent residence.
There are 14 participating communities across Canada. Approved candidates can also apply for a temporary work permit while waiting for their permanent residence decision.
Immigration pilot programs are small and targeted. They aim to address labour shortages in areas that regular immigration streams do not cover. These pilots usually run for up to five years. If successful, they can evolve into permanent programs, as seen with the Atlantic Immigration Program.
Because pilots have limited spaces, they often face intense demand. The new Home Care Worker pilots, for instance, hit their yearly cap within hours of opening on March 31.
The RCIP shows the same pattern. With many employers and workers eager to join, communities are setting stricter rules to manage interest and keep the program sustainable.
Having an 'Identity Verified' badge or being 'Identity Verified' simply indicates that an individual has submitted information to complete our identity verification process or we have conducted internal verification using various authorized websites. While this process includes safeguards, it does not guarantee that the person is who they claim to be.
If you encounter any issues with this profile, please report them here. While all consultants who are verified have RCIC ID, we may not have the latest data in terms of their renewal/cancellation/discontinuation of their RCIC ID.
The "Verified Consultants" profiles are created using publicly available information, including data from the IRCC website, official consultant sites, other listing platforms, and social media. Immiperts.com is an independent platform, not affiliated with IRCC or any registered immigration consultants. To update, claim, or remove your profile, please contact us at [email protected].
╳
