Update (October 2026): The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) ended on August 31, 2024, and IRCC is no longer accepting new applications — only applications received on or before that date are still being processed. RNIP has been replaced by the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP), which offers permanent residence in 14 designated rural communities. Everything below describes the closed RNIP program and is kept for reference only.
All designated communities had started receiving applications for the Rural and northern immigration pilot program (RNIP Canada) when it launched. Canadian Immigration launched the RNIP program in November 2019. The purpose of this program is to meet labor shortage of smaller communities located in rural areas of Canada which are away from big cities. Foreign skilled workers will have a lot of opportunities to immigrate to Canada through RNIP (rural and northern immigration pilot).
How long will RNIP run?
RNIP Canada was a 5-year pilot program. It stopped accepting new applications when the pilot ended on August 31, 2024.
What type of visa will you get under this program?
If you were selected successfully under the pilot, you got direct permanent residency of Canada. A permanent residence visa allows you and your family to live and work in Canada forever. No new applicants can be selected — the pilot is closed.
Who will Select Candidates for RNIP?
The Canadian government had chosen and authorized 11 communities of Canada. These communities used to choose candidates for permanent residency of Canada under RNIP. Generally, communities performed the following roles:
- These communities will receive applications from Canadian employers who need foreign workers.
- Communities will list available jobs according the requirements of Canadian employers.
- Communities will receive applications from foreign applicants for the job and forward to Canadian Employers.
- Communities will receive applications for recommendation from candidate who have got job offer through the community portal.
- Communities will recommend/nominate a candidate for permanent residence of Canada.
List of Communities for RNIP (historical — these RNIP community portals are no longer accepting applications):
- Altona/Rhineland, Manitoba (Click to visit website)
- Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (click to visit website)
- Brandon, Manitoba (click to visit website)
- Vernon, British Columbia (Click to Visit website)
- Claresholm, Alberta (Click to Visit Website)
- North Bay, Ontario (Click to visit website)
- Sudbury, Ontario (Click to visit website)
- Timmins, Ontario (click to visit website)
- Thunder Bay, Ontario (click to visit website)
- Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (click to visit website)
- West Kootenay (Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Nelson), British Columbia (Click to visit website)
How to apply for RNIP Canada:
Generally, applicants needed to follow these steps to apply for RNIP Canada (no longer possible):
- Visit website of the community for which you want to apply RNIP. You can apply for two or more communities as well.
- Browse the list of all available jobs. It is the beginning of program, so the list of available jobs may be shorter but you need not worry as more jobs will be available soon.
- Create your Candidate profile at community website and apply for the job.
- Communities will match your profile with available jobs and their criteria. If your qualifications match with the criteria of the job you have applied for, your application or profile will be forwarded to relevant employer.
- Employer may contact you for an online interview or for more information. Once Canadian employer is fully satisfied with your qualification, he will provide you with a permanent and full time job offer according to the standards of this program.
- After receiving job offer successfully, you have to apply for recommendation/nomination at the website of same community through which you got job offer.
- Community will review your application for recommendation and issue recommendations for top ranked Candidates. Communities usually, issue recommendations on monthly bases.
- Once you have received recommendation from Community, you can now apply for permanent residency of Canada through Federal immigration of Canada, The IRCC.
Requirements of RNIP:
- Ielts of equivalent
- education equivalent to Canadian high school education.
- 1 year experience
- Initial settlement funds
- Community may specify additional requirements.
How much Education Qualification is Required for RNIP?
Minimum 12 years foreign education is required to be eligible for this program and of course the more the better.
Do You need ECA?
Yes, you need to get assessment report for your education from a designated Canadian institute . You can find about this at official website of Canadian immigration.
How many years experience is Required?
You need at least one year experience in past three years.
Do You need IELTS for RNIP?
Yes, Ielts or its equivalent is mandatory to apply for RNIP. The bands score in ielts depends on the occupation in which you want to apply and get job offer.
- for occupations NOC level C/D, you need clb 4 level ielts which is almost 4 to 4.5 bands.
- for occupations NOC level B, you need clb 5 which is 5.0 bands in ielts.
- for occupations NOC level A/0, you need clb 6 which is 5.5 bands overall in ielts.
Do you need to show settlement funds for RNIP?
yes, applicants had to show enough funds for initial settlement in Canada. $8722 was required for a single applicant and $10858 for two persons (2022 figures for the closed pilot). These requirements no longer apply to new applicants. You can see the list funds requirement at official website of Canadian immigration.
Apply for Permanent Residency of Canada Under RNIP:
Once you have received recommendation from any of 11 communities of Canada, you can apply for permanent residence of Canada through IRCC. Communities doesn’t grant any visa, they only recommend candidates for PR visa. You have to submit permanent residency application to IRCC. for more information about RNIP and Permanent residence through RNIP, please visit official website of Canadian Immigration.
Annual quota for RNIP Canada:
The annual quota for RNIP was 2750. Up to 2750 applicants and their families could get permanent residence of Canada through this program each year while it ran; the quota was distributed among the 11 communities.
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