A provincial immigration program designed to tackle serious labour shortages has been broadened across much of northern Ontario, addressing a significant gap left by the pause of a similar federal pilot.
The Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) initiative seeks to assist communities in meeting their workforce needs by bringing in skilled foreign workers and facilitating pathways to permanent residency via the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.
It started as a pilot project in 2020 and saw its first expansion last year before several new successful applicants were announced this month, including Greater Sudbury and the Nipissing district in the northeast, Thunder Bay along with the Kenora and Rainy River districts in the northwest, as well as Renfrew County near Ottawa.
“We really do need a skilled workforce, especially in areas, for instance, like health care, and construction and manufacturing,” said Allyson Pele, economic development officer with the City of Kenora.
“All of our employers have really been looking [at] how to fill those gaps.”
The REDI application for the Kenora and Rainy River districts, which include the Sioux Lookout area, was led by Confederation College.
Michelle Salo, president of Confederation College, says it’s important to work with community partners to train, recruit and retain skilled workers. (Sarah Law/CBC)
“Through REDI, we can help employers connect with skilled workers while creating opportunities for newcomers to build careers and make their homes in our communities,” said the college’s president, Michelle Salo, in a news release issued Thursday.
In 2019, the federal government launched applications for a similar initiative called the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP). Among those selected was Thunder Bay, which allowed communities further northwest to also take part.
RNIP ended in 2024 and was replaced with the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) in 2025. However, while RCIP started up in Thunder Bay, it wasn’t extended further west to Kenora-Rainy River.
“It was a devastating loss for our community. We were inundated by inquiries from local employers and local foreign workers who wanted to stay in the community but no longer saw a pathway to permanent residency; I think we lost a lot of workers through that,” said Jennifer Esposito, Sioux Lookout’s manager of community economic initiatives.
However, now that provincial REDI has come into play “this is going to change that.”
‘Immigration is important and needed in this area’
Details are still being finalized about what exactly will be included in REDI program and how many nominee spots will be available.
An information session for employers is set for Sioux Lookout on Nov. 4 and Kenora on Nov. 5. These sessions will feature presentations from Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program as well as Immigration Refugees Citizenship Canada aimed at educating attendees on various immigration pathways.
The municipal offices in Sioux Lookout, Ont., are seen in this screenshot from Google Maps. The community is a service hub for dozens of surrounding communities particularly remote First Nations. (Google Maps screenshot)
For Pele she hopes that REDI helps “demonstrate to provincial and federal governments that immigration is important and needed in this area.”
“We do have so many job vacancies along with so many unique situations where we need more workers who can provide services so businesses can operate into the future.”
In Sioux Lookout one local restaurant has lost some employees; they’re facing potential loss of two trained chefs due struggling with access pathways towards permanent residency explained Esposito.
This poses risks not just locally but also disrupts dining options available residents visitors tourists she added.
Kenora along with Sioux Lookout serve as hubs serving dozens surrounding First Nations whose members travel there seeking health employment social services.
“Those people visiting our community looking after their health care need places stay they need eat while here all these services must be strong if we’re going continue offering healthcare options,” Esposito stated.
Source link
