Eleven rural and northern communities across Canada have been selected to take part in the Rural Immigration Pilot program, a new initiative to help newcomers settle into these smaller communities.
An aging workforce and declining birth rate put these communities at greater economic risk — the number of potential workers decreased by 23% between 2001 and 2016, while the number of retirees increased by 40%. The new initiative will help bring in new families to maintain the economic vitality of these regions.
Now that the communities have been selected, candidates will start being selected for permanent residence throughout the summer. Newcomers may arrive in these communities as early as fall 2019, but most are expected to arrive in 2020.
The new program follows in the footsteps of the successful Atlantic Immigration Pilot, which has helped smaller Atlantic communities with an influx of new arrivals.