Although not a done deal, City of Greater Sudbury Economic Development director Meredith Armstrong said she’s “pretty confident” an immigration pilot program will become permanent.
The federal government “has said we’re well-suited,” she told Sudbury.com during a break from the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities conference in Sudbury this week.
At play is the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), which is slated to end this year and be replaced by the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) and the Rural Francophone Immigration Pilot (RFIP) this autumn.
There are 11 communities enlisted in the RNIP, including Sudbury, which will all have to reapply if they wish to proceed with the new federal programs’ 15 openings.
With the RNIP currently ramping down, Armstrong said staff are working to fill the 515 positions earmarked to be filled this year, which she’s confident there’s enough interest for them to do.
Between the RNIP and its ultimate replacement with new programs, Armstrong said, “There may be a bit of a gap, but what we’re trying to do is work with candidates to give them pre-approval or a sense of their eligibility to maintain that connection, because we don’t want a big gap where people lose interest or by necessity move on.”
During a video message screened during this week’s conference consisting of Northern Ontario municipal leaders, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller said the application process would open soon.
Miller visited Sudbury in March to announce that the RNIP program would be made permanent through two follow-up pilot programs, which are to be fine-tuned prior to becoming permanent.
City staff have been told the application process will open “in a matter of months or weeks,” Armstrong said, and are champing at the bit to apply.
While the RCIP is expected to be similar to the existing RNIP, not much is known about the Francophone program aside from what the federal government said in a media release.
“The pilot will focus on increasing the number of French-speaking newcomers settling in Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec and will help ensure the economic development of Francophone minority communities, while also helping to restore and increase their demographic weight,” according to the media release issued in March.
The federal immigration programs were the focus of an on-stage discussion during this week’s conference at the Holiday Inn and Conference Centre in Sudbury.
Joining Armstrong on the stage was North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce CEO Donna Backer and North Bay Economic Development officer Natasha Penn. North Bay is also an RNIP community, and the three speakers lauded RNIP as a boon for their home communities.
Locally, Armstrong credited the program with helping them bring in 1,400 participants through partnerships with more than 700 employers.
Including the family members participants brought with them, she counted 2,700 new residents to the Greater Sudbury area through RNIP, of whom 95 per cent have remained in the area.
There were 385 participants last year and 515 newcomers slated to be welcomed locally this year, Armstrong said. Last year alone, she estimates they carried a $40-million local impact, of which $10 million was spinoff.
“Because they’re coming with a permanent job offer, they bring expertise,” she said, adding that they’re often mature and bring kids with them.
“The retention is incredibly important for us and the success of the program.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
