Please note: the West Kootenay Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot will not be accepting applications until April 2020.
The West Kootenay region, which includes the communities of Nelson, Castlegar, Trail, Rossland and surrounding areas, is one of eleven locations across Canada that will welcome skilled foreign workers through the Government of Canada’s new Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot. The three-year pilot launched in Fall 2019. Our team is currently working with prospective employers who would like to hire immigrants to fill jobs that have gone unfilled locally. We are not accepting applications for immigration at this time.
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This pilot is currently under development and applications from interested candidates are not being accepted at this time. If you would like to be notified when the West Kootenay opens application for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, you can sign up for our mailing list.
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Background
Over a three-year period, the Rural & Northern Immigration Pilot aims to attract immigrants of various skill levels to fill full-time, year-round positions that have gone unfilled locally. A committee was established in Fall 2019 to set the local criteria for endorsing our ‘best fit’ candidates for immigration.
Information about the pilot is available on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website here.
West Kootenay Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot press release.
Service Area
Frequently Asked Questions
The pilot encompasses the communities of:
The Pilot will accept a maximum of 100 applicants per year until the end of 2022. We will be working with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in the winter to identify what an appropriate target number would be for the West Kootenays, keeping in mind job opportunities and the region’s capacity to create a welcoming environment for each newcomer. The pilot is less about hitting a specific target, and more about attracting and retaining people with the skills and abilities needed to contribute to West Kootenays labour market and the desire to put down roots in the community
The pilot will bring in skilled foreign workers to fill jobs that have gone unfilled locally. Examples of industries currently experiencing a worker shortage in the West Kootenay include mining and metallurgy, forestry, manufacturing, health care, transportation, construction, education, and technology. The Pilot allows the community to set its own criteria and select the “best fit” candidates to endorse. The application criteria will be set by a committee of community stakeholders in Winter 2020.
The West Kootenay RNIP will launch in April 2020. We will not accept applications before that time.
The West Kootenays are currently developing community criteria in conjunction with Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for skilled immigrant worker applicants. It is anticipated that we will be launching in April 2020. At this time please visit the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot IRCC website for the federal criteria that is required to apply to the pilot. At this time please visit the IRCC’s Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot webpage for the federal criteria that is required to apply to the pilot.
Here is a step-by-step guide to the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot: 
Please visit the IRCC’s Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot website for the federal criteria that must be met before applying to a Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot community.
For current job opportunities in the region, visit Indeed.ca or Kootenay Jobs.
Note: the job must be located within this region
The West Kootenay RNIP is not responsible for finding jobs for applicants.
For current job opportunities in the region, visit Indeed.ca or Kootenay Jobs.
Note: the job must be located within this region
Successful applicants can immigrate with their spouse/ common law partner and up to six children.
For more information on the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, please visit the IRCC’s Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot website.
For more information on the West Kootenay program, you can sign up for our newsletter.
If you are interested in hiring staff through this program, you can email us. Be sure to include the subject line “RNIP Employer”.
