November 21, 2023 – The Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) encountered an unprecedented surge of interest during the recent intake for the 2023 Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program.

CEDC had a limited capacity of 115 candidate spots remaining for 2023 and 2024. It was communicated that once the program met its capacity of applications scoring above 60% the portal would be closed to applications. 

The candidate application portal opened at 12:01 am EST on November 17, 2023 and closed at 1:00 am EST after receiving over 200 fully completed applications, each self-scoring above 60%. CEDC diligently monitored the candidate application portal. Despite a minor glitch upon the portal opening, which was addressed quickly, applications flowed in smoothly.

“The response to this final draw shows that there is a great appetite for economic immigration in our region- both from the candidate and the employer side,” says Jamie Taylor, Thunder Bay CEDC, CEO.

We acknowledge the disappointment of many employers and candidates in Thunder Bay and the surrounding region who were not able to submit to the portal. The CEDC is actively engaged in processing the candidate and employer applications received. Since the employer applications re-opened on October 1, 2023, the CEDC has processed over 160 new employer applications.

The RNIP has been essential to Thunder Bay’s and the Northwest Region’s economic growth. Through this last intake the CEDC will exhaust its recommendation allotment of 475 for 2023 given by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and its allotment of 100 recommendations for 2024.

“The CEDC is awaiting further news and direction from IRCC as to what the future of RNIP might be. Taylor continues, “IRCC has indicated that the RNIP should be a permanent pathway, however no announcements have been made to date.  The CEDC is eager to learn more about IRCC’s plans and what that may mean for the future of RNIP in Thunder Bay and catchment area”. 

Any future updates regarding the RNIP will be posted to the CEDC website, gotothunderbay.ca/RNIP, and across CEDC’s social media channels.