The city of Vernon in British Columbia has become the fourth community to start accepting applications through the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) Scheme.
The pilot was created to connect foreign workers with Canadian employers from communities facing labour shortages. Candidates need an eligible job offer for a full-time permanent position in a participating community.
In order to qualify for the RNIP in Vernon, candidates must first meet federal eligibility requirements.
Vernon requires that candidates have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of level five or higher in English or French. All candidates must complete a candidate profile on the city’s webpage.
Candidates are then ranked on Vernon’s Comprehensive Ranking System (VCRS). Much like the federal Express Entry system, candidates are given a score based on human capital factors. Vernon’s system includes in its scoring grid the candidate’s potential to integrate and stay in the community.
A specially set-up committee will discuss the applications and can offer 10 recommendations per month to candidates who best fit the community criteria based on Vernon’s ranking system.
Vernon is allowed to give a maximum of 100 recommendations for each year of the pilot. Candidates need to have a job offer with an hourly wage of at least $25 per hour in order to qualify.
A total of 11 communities have signed up to be involved in the program. However, so far only Vernon and three other communities – Brandon, Altona/Rhineland (both in Manitoba) and Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario – have started to accept applications.
The communities who have signed up to the scheme, but are yet to officially launch their programs are: North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Thunder Bay (all in Ontario), Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan, Claresholm in Alberta and West Kootenay in British Columbia.
Article published 10th February 2020