Ottawa makes rural immigration program permanent

The federal government has made its Rural Community Immigration Pilot a permanent program in 14 communities, including Brandon, to help address persistent labour shortages.

The decision means continued access to an immigration pathway that has helped 829 people in Brandon, comprising principal applicants and their families, obtain permanent residency since 2020, City of Brandon economic development official Samuel Solomon said.

“The program has also helped nearly 200 local employers recruit workers with specialized skills and retain employees who have become valuable members of their workforce,” Solomon, the city’s immigration and workforce development specialist, told the Sun Monday afternoon.

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab announced Monday that the federal government is transitioning the pilot into the permanent program and the communities currently participating are expected to continue, with expansion to additional communities planned.

The announcement follows Ottawa’s assessment of two immigration initiatives: the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, which ran from 2019 to 2024, and the Rural Community Immigration Pilot, introduced in 2025.

Solomon said the decision will mean greater stability for employers struggling to fill specialized positions and newcomers seeking to make Brandon their permanent home.

“It has been particularly important in helping Brandon access skilled health-care professionals and establish a more sustainable pathway for workers to settle in the community,” he said.

“This year alone, the city supported eight family physicians in their pathway to permanent residency, alongside 12 medical specialists and 22 health-care aides. Another 25 personal support workers were also supported in their efforts to obtain permanent residency.

“As a community, we can access skills that other communities are actually paying a lot of money even to be able to hire one physician,” he said.

Solomon said employers already participating in the pilot will be able to transition into the permanent program if they wish to continue, although some paperwork will be required.

Workers who have already received approval but are still waiting for their permanent residency applications to be processed will not lose their eligibility because of the transition. They will continue with their applications as originally started, he said.

Of the 829 people who received permanent residency through the two pilots in Brandon, nearly half were already living in the city when they applied, he said. They included international students who graduated from Brandon University or Assiniboine College, found employment and decided to remain in the community.

Others, he said, came from outside Canada or relocated from elsewhere in the country after learning about the program and choosing Brandon as their preferred place to settle.

While the application process and eligibility requirements are expected to remain largely the same, Solomon said some administrative changes will be introduced to accommodate the transition.

The city plans to temporarily suspend applications in January to allow time to complete the transition. The exact dates, including the final day for applications under the pilot, were expected to be published on the city’s website, he said.

Despite the permanent status, Solomon said the city will not focus on bringing in as many applicants as possible, but will continue prioritizing the quality of candidates and the occupations in which workers are most needed.

Brandon receives an allocation from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, but Solomon described the figure as a maximum rather than a target the city must achieve. He said the allocation for 2027 had not yet been communicated to the city at the time of the interview.

“Our focus is on highly skilled positions. We are not supporting entry-level positions. That will be Brandon’s focus moving forward as well,” he said.

“The city reviews its priority sectors every six months to ensure they reflect changing labour-market demands. Health care, trades and manufacturing are expected to remain priority sectors heading into 2027, while consultations with employers and labour-market studies will help determine whether other sectors should be included.”

Agriculture is not guaranteed to remain a priority, he said, since the program covers Brandon and a 25-kilometre radius around the city rather than the entire Westman region.

While agricultural employers have approached the city about trade-related positions, including heavy-duty mechanics, Solomon said there has historically been less demand for agriculture-specific occupations within the program’s geographical boundaries.

The permanent RCIP has an allocation of 5,500 admission spaces under the federal immigration plan, the government’s release stated.

“That’s why we’re transitioning our successful rural immigration pilot into a permanent program, helping smaller communities attract and retain essential workers who deliver services and drive economic growth,” Diab said.

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