While a number of immigration programs have been suspended or paused by the federal government, Sault Ste. Marie's mayor says an innovative program that brought skilled immigrants to the city to fill key job vacancies was a great success.
The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program was introduced by the federal government in 2019 and was recently ended. Sault Ste. Marie is among the communities included in RNIP that hoped for the program to be made permanent.
Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said RNIP was a boon to a city that needed to grow and retain businesses in the Sault.
"We've been a poster child for the success of this program," said Shoemaker, noting that RNIP was originally pitched in Sault Ste. Marie.
The program allows companies that have been unsuccessful in filling skilled jobs locally to extend invitations to people outside of Canada who are seeking employment. Those who qualify receive a work visa and can bring their family with them to Canada and eventually apply for permanent residency.
"It's not an immigration program, it's an economic immigration program which fills jobs that would otherwise go unfilled and probably disappear from our local employment landscape altogether," Shoemaker said.
In 2022, the Sault exceeded its allotment of 125 recommendations through the program, ultimately issuing a total of 213 that year alone.
Shoemaker said the program was so successful locally that the Sault was able to expand the number of recommendations by transferring some of the ones that were unused in other communities.
He has credited RNIP as one of the factors that has led to the Sault's population growth — the first time in decades that the signs outside city limits had to be changed due to an increase in population.
Reached by email on Monday, MP Terry Sheehan agrees that the program has contributed to population growth in the Sault.
"I fully support the continuation of this program in Sault Ste. Marie and communities across northern Ontario and have advocated for this to the Minister," Sheehan said.
"We expect the list of successful communities to be announced in the near future."
Earlier this year, the federal government announced a replacement called the Rural and Francophone Community Immigration Pilot program, which includes 11 Francophone communities across the country — but not Sault Ste. Marie.
In April of 2022, Karina Gould, minister for Families, Children and Social Development, made numerous stops in Sault Ste. Marie including the Heliene Inc. solar photovoltaic module plant. While there she discussed RNIP with Heliene’s president and founder Martin Pochtaruk.
Pochtaruk told Gould during the visit that it is more challenging to convince skilled workers to move to Sault Ste. Marie from other parts of Canada than it is to hire from outside of the country.
“What an excellent program, bringing people with the skills that they need,” said Gould at the time. “We want to keep attracting talent to the Sault and really support this community.”