At a glance
If you plan to settle in one of 14 participating rural or remote communities outside Quebec, the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) may offer a route to permanent residence. You need an eligible full-time job offer from an employer approved by the community.
- Eligible job
- Skilled workers with a participating rural community employer
- Requirements
- Designated employer job offer, work experience, language, education, and funds
- Community approval
- Obtain the community's recommendation before applying to IRCC for permanent residence
Summary
This pilot can help people move permanently to selected rural and remote Canadian communities. It requires a valid job offer from a designated employer in the community, related work experience, education, language testing, settlement funds, and community support.
Your employer asks the community to recommend you. The community decides whether you meet its requirements, and you can apply to IRCC for permanent residence only after receiving that recommendation.
-
Check the community and job offer Confirm the employer is approved, the job fits local priorities, and you genuinely plan to settle there.
-
The employer requests a recommendation The community reviews the job and your application.
-
Apply for permanent residence Apply to Canada's immigration department after receiving the required community recommendation.
A temporary work permit is separate. Being willing to live in a rural area is not enough by itself.
Eligibility
An applicant normally needs:
- A full-time, paid, non-seasonal job offer with no set end date, located within the participating community and made by a designated employer. The offer must be in a community priority sector or occupation and relate properly to the category of the applicant's work experience. These categories, called TEER levels, group jobs by training, education, experience, and responsibilities.
- At least one year, or 1,560 hours, of related paid work experience during the previous three years. Self-employment and unpaid work do not count.
- A Canadian educational credential or a foreign qualification with an Educational Credential Assessment showing how it compares with Canadian education.
- Approved English or French results meeting the level for the offered job: level 6 on Canada's English or French language scales (CLB/NCLC) for TEER 0 or 1, 5 for TEER 2 or 3, and 4 for TEER 4 or 5.
- Settlement funds under IRCC's current table, unless an exemption applies.
- A recommendation certificate from the participating community and compliance with Canada's immigration entry requirements.
Certain recent graduates of a public post-secondary institution in the community are exempt from the work-experience requirement. The exemption has detailed full-time study, credential, graduation-date, and physical-presence rules.
What This Route Allows
Federal approval gives the applicant and included eligible family members Canadian permanent residence. The applicant is expected to live in the community that recommended them.
After filing the permanent-residence application, an eligible applicant may apply for an optional two-year employer-specific work permit. A spouse or common-law partner may qualify for an open permit limited to work in the same community.
What This Route Is Not
RCIP is not a general preference for anyone willing to live outside a large city, and it is not the closed Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot. An employer being located in a participating area is not enough: it must be designated and the offer and candidate must be recommended by the community.
The community recommendation does not guarantee federal approval. IRCC still reviews completeness and admissibility.
Next Steps
- Choose a participating community only if you genuinely intend to live there.
- Use that community's official RCIP site to find designated employers and priority occupations; independently verify any offer and never pay for one.
- Match the offered job and prior work duties to Canada's occupation categories (NOC) and TEER rules.
- Complete an approved language test and an Educational Credential Assessment if needed.
- Check the recent community-graduate exemption if applicable and prepare current settlement-fund evidence.
- Have the employer submit the recommendation request; apply to IRCC after approval.
- Review the optional employer-specific work permit separately if temporary authorization is needed during processing.
Stay up to date on this pathway
Get an email when something important changes.
Discussed in these reports
Switzerland
Switzerland European Residence
Swiss residence for EU and EFTA citizens taking employment, running a genuine business, studying, or living on sufficient resources with health coverage.
Norway
Norway European Residence
Residence in Norway for eligible EU, EEA, or Swiss citizens who will work, study, or support themselves under the applicable European mobility rules.
Iceland
Iceland Residence for European Citizens
EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens can usually live in Iceland through free-movement rules rather than a national Icelandic residence permit. For a stay over three months, the…