Rural Community Immigration Pilot (Applicants)

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the Rural Community Immigration Pilot Program, you must meet all these requirements. You must

• Have a valid job offer from a designated employer in the community
• Have at least 1 year (1,560 hours) of related work experience in the past 3 years
• Prove your language abilities by taking an approved test
• Have a Canadian educational credential or the foreign equivalent
• Prove you have enough money to support your transition and your family’s transition into the community

Recommendation from a designated community

You must get a recommendation from the city of Sault Ste. Marie.

We decide who to recommend based on

• your intent to live in the community
• your job offer in the community and the economic needs of the community
• your work experience and skill set
• your ties to the community

Once you have a valid job offer from a designated employer, they will send your community recommendation application directly to the community to review.

Communities will check to make sure

• Your job is in a priority sector or occupation, and the offer is real
• You meet all the requirements for the pilot

Work experience

You have at least 1 year (1,560 hours) of related work experience in the past 3 years.

Your work experience must

• Be at a skill level related to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category of your job offer
• Include the actions listed in the description of your NOC
• Include most of the main duties
• Exception for healthcare workers
  • If your work experience is in NOC 31301 (Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses – TEER 1), you can have a job offer in one of the following occupation categories:
    • NOC 33102 (TEER 3): Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates or
    • NOC 44101 (TEER 4): Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations
• Work experience exemption if you studied and graduated in the community

Job offer

The job offer you receive must be:

• Within the boundaries of your community Census Agglomeration 2025
• Full time (at least 30 paid hours per week)
• Non-seasonal (year-round)
• Indeterminate (no end date)
  • Volunteer work and unpaid internships don’t count.
• At a similar TEER level as your qualifying work experience.

Skill level

Your work experience must be at a skill level related to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category of your job offer.

• My job offer is TEER 0 or 1
  • Your work experience must be in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3.
• My job offer is TEER 2
  • Your work experience must be in TEER 1, 2, 3 or 4.
• My job offer is TEER 3 or 4
  • Your work experience must be in TEER 2, 3 or 4.
• My job offer is TEER 5
  • Your work experience must be in the same 5 digit NOC code

International students

Language requirements

You need to have a certain level of English or French to apply for permanent residence. This level depends on the type of job offer you have. To prove your language skills, you must

• Schedule your test with an approved agency
• Pay the test costs

You can take any of these approved language tests:

English

• CELPIP: Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program
  • You need to take the CELPIP-General test.
• IELTS: International English Language Testing System
  • You need to take the IELTS General Training test.
• PTE: Pearson Test of English
  • You need to take the PTE Core test.

French

• TEF Canada: Test d’évaluation de français
• TCF Canada : Test de connaissance du français

The minimum score you need depends on the NOC TEER category of your job offer:

• TEER 0 or 1: CLB 6
• TEER 2 or 3: CLB 5
• TEER 4 or 5: CLB 4

These results must be less than 2 years old when you apply. Keep a copy of them for your records and future use.

Educational requirements

You must have

• A Canadian high school diploma or
• An educational credential assessment (ECA) report, from a designated organization or professional body, showing that you completed a foreign credential that’s equal to Canadian secondary school (high school)
  • the ECA report must be less than 5 years old on the date of your application
  • the original ECA report must have been issued on or after the date the organization was designated

 

For education in Canada

A Canadian educational credential is a

• Canadian secondary school (high school) diploma
• recognized Canadian post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree from a designated learning institution

or

For education outside of Canada

An educational credential assessment (ECA) report from a designated organization or professional body that

• is less than 5 years old on the date you apply
• shows you completed a foreign credential equal to a
  • Canadian secondary school (high school) diploma or Canadian post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree

Professional bodies regulate certain jobs and industries in Canada.

It’s your responsibility to determine if your job is regulated in Canada.

If you want to work in one of these jobs and have credentials from another country, you need their assessment before you can work:

Doctors (NOC 31100, NOC 31101 or NOC 31102)

If your primary occupation is as a specialist in clinical and laboratory medicine (NOC 31100), a specialist in surgery (NOC 31101) or general practitioner/family physician (NOC 31102), you must provide an assessment from the Medical Council of Canada (professional body for doctors) for your primary medical diploma.

If you have a different primary occupation, another designated organization can provide your assessment.

Pharmacists (NOC 31120)

If you need a licence to practise, you must provide your assessment from the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (professional body for pharmacists).

For example, you would need a licence if you were caring for patients in a

• community pharmacy
• hospital pharmacy
• long-term care facility
• other practice settings

If you don’t need a licence, one of the other designated organizations can assess your credentials. For example, you may not need a licence to work in the pharmaceutical industry or in a government job where you need a pharmacy degree for the job, but don’t need a licence to practise pharmacy.

Settlement funds

Unless you’re already working legally in Canada when you apply, you must prove you have enough money to support yourself and any family members while you get settled in your community.

You must prove you have enough money to support any family members you may have, even if they’re not coming to Canada with you.

Find out more about settlement funds.

Intend to live in the community

To participate in the pilot, you must plan to live in the community.