A brand new pilot program has been launched in Thunder Bay, Ont., which goals to fill key labour shortages by attracting and retaining newcomers.
The Rural Neighborhood Immigration Pilot (RCIP) was introduced within the metropolis on Monday by Thunder Bay—Superior North MP Patty Hajdu.
The five-year federal pilot program is being launched in 18 communities, together with Sudbury, Timmins, and Sault Ste. Marie in northern Ontario. Half a dozen communities will even be collaborating in what’s referred to as the Francophone Neighborhood Immigration Pilot (FCIP).
“Northern Ontario, as , has had a historical past of kind of booming and declining populations, oftentimes in communities which have relied on one single sector of the economic system,” Hajdu stated.
“It may be a very perilous time for communities as they attempt to maintain on to inhabitants, they attempt to maintain on to a small enterprise panorama, and attempt to reimagine a extra numerous economic system.”
The objective with the RCIP is to offer communities with a everlasting residence pathway for newcomers who will reside there long-term and fill important labour gaps, she defined.
Thunder Bay—Superior North MP Patty Hajdu says Canada has all the time relied on immigration to fulfill key labour wants, and packages just like the RCIP assist solidify this strategy. (Sarah Legislation/CBC)
The RCIP replaces the previous Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program, which ended final summer time.
“I believe the principle distinction is that [the RCIP] is extra employer-focused,” stated Jamie Taylor, CEO of the Thunder Bay Neighborhood Financial Improvement Fee (CEDC), which might be main the pilot in Thunder Bay.
Employers will undertake coaching to qualify for this system earlier than they can make everlasting job provides to candidates, she stated.
The federal program comes per week after the provincial authorities introduced a brand new one-year Regional Financial Improvement by Immigration (REDI) pilot in Thunder Bay, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, and Sarnia-Lambton.
By the REDI program, the Thunder Bay CEDC has been awarded as much as 200 nominations by way of the Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP’s) employer job supply stream.
The federal and provincial packages mixed reveal a recognition from each ranges of presidency of Thunder Bay’s potential for progress, Taylor stated.
“It is a recognition not solely that the CEDC has the potential of delivering these packages, nevertheless it’s additionally a recognition that Thunder Bay is a spot the place they assume that there might be success, proper?” she stated.
‘Immigrants are sometimes the scapegoats’
As U.S. president Donald Trump strikes ahead with a mass deportation plan, Hajdu stated Canada has all the time cherished immigration “as a part of the expansion of our nation.”
“In occasions of stress, folks search for scapegoats, and sadly, immigrants are sometimes the scapegoats that may be chosen by populist leaders and used as a method to divide communities and divide their populations,” Hajdu stated.
“I take into consideration the health-care gaps that now we have and the variety of folks coming that present helps in well being care and in private help work, that we simply would not have with out newcomers coming to our communities.”
Regardless of the latest introduction of federal caps on worldwide examine permits, Taylor stated Lakehead College and Confederation School are key financial drivers in the neighborhood, and that the variety of facilities provided to newcomers in Thunder Bay makes it a lovely metropolis to settle in.
Extra details about the REDI and RCIP packages could be discovered on the Thunder Bay CEDC’s web site.
