Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller waits to appear before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in Ottawa on Feb. 28.More small towns – as well as francophone communities – will be able to recommend which foreign workers can settle in their communities permanently under an extension to a pilot immigration program.
The new rural community immigration pilot project, to be launched in the fall, will help to overcome critical labour job shortages, Mr. Miller said. “These people are not only here, they love it and they want to stay and they want to contribute to building,” Mr. Miller said at a news conference Wednesday. “So this addresses the labour shortages, in health care, manufacturing, retail accommodation, food services, as well as scientific and technical services.”
The programs provide another pathway to permanent residence, and eventually citizenship, for newcomers with skills who want to live long-term in smaller communities. Patty Hajdu, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North, said the pilot has been “a pivotal program to address labour gaps consistently expressed by employers in Northern Ontario.”
The program has contributed to the cultural diversity of the community, Mr. Shoemaker said in an e-mail, adding it “has helped employers in the Sault and area recruit skilled professionals for job opportunities they were unable to fill through the local labour force.”