The federal government has unveiled two new immigration pilot programs to help tackle labour shortages in rural areas and among Francophone minority communities.
The Rural Community Immigration Pilot is essentially an extension of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), the existing program that will expire this summer. When the new pilot launches this fall, it will be joined by an additional offering, the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.
The changes were announced Wednesday by the minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Marc Miller, during a press conference in Sudbury. Both of the new pilots will eventually transition into permanent programs.
"Today's announcement is a step toward establishing more permanent support for economic migration to rural and remote communities across Canada, which is critical to your long-term economic prosperity," Miller said.