In just 15 minutes, the Southeast Alberta Economic Development Chamber filled its entire quota of applications for the Rural Renewal immigration program. This process, which aims to recruit and retain foreign workers outside major cities, is proving popular.
There was a lot of anticipation from both employers and foreign workers
explains Brady Schnell, economic development officer in Medicine Hat. We can’t imagine the extent to which newcomers are scrutinizing the path to permanent residence.
The Medicine Hat Economic Development Chamber launched the program on April 29. She manages it for the municipality as well as for the neighboring communities of Bow Islandof Redcliff and the county of Cypress.
For its first time, the agency limited requests to around thirty candidates and reached its quota very quickly. Half of the requests come from foreigners already in the region, the other half are still outside Canada.
Most employers would have liked to submit two or three candidates, but we have limited it to one for now
says Brady Schnell.
Two years of constant demands
Although the launch in the southeast of the province is recent, this immigration channel has existed for two years in Alberta.
Rural municipalities must obtain a designation from the provincial government. In total, 83 have received it to date.
The municipalities thus designated select candidates who are not permanent residents and who have found employment in the community. They provide them with a letter of recommendation.
With this letter, candidates can apply to the Alberta Advantage provincial nomination program and then obtain permanent residency with the federal government.
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Catering professions represent a large portion of applications for the Rural Renewal program. In Barrhead, however, employers are looking for a lot in the disability support sector.
Photo: iStock / monkeybusinessimages
Barrhead County and Municipality are one of the first rural areas to achieve designation and implement the Rural Renewal program. According to the special projects coordinator at Barrhead, Adam Vanderwekken, the popularity of the sector has not waned.
We will continue the program as long as employers in our community need it. Every month we receive a constant stream of questions from new employers or veterans who have new positions to fill
he explains.
Currently, 36 eligible Rural Renewal job openings are available in the county. Barrhead has already offered his recommendation to 94 candidates.
The consultant at Findus Immigration, Pierre-Constant Épailly, is not surprised by the success of this immigration program. He believes his strong suit is local management of labor needs.
Who is best placed to know what talent is needed in these regions? This is the region itself
he emphasizes.
Like any immigration program, Rural Renewal is not without flaws, he adds.
A long process
The process is therefore long. The municipal selection can take up to a month to wait. The provincial nomination varies from 6 to 12 months, as does the federal permanent residence process.
To avoid long waits for employers, Barrhead now only selects candidates already in its community, often temporary foreign workers whom employers wish to retain permanently.
The number of provincial nominations for permanent residence is also limited each year, which also lengthens the process.
Alberta’s allocated quota for 2024 is 9,750 appointments, a number Premier Danielle Smith wants to double. The provincial government has already paused two other immigration streams to manage the influx of applications.
After two years of the program, the number of permanent residents is therefore still limited. According to figures provided by the province, only 152 candidates have become permanent residents out of the 3,700 applications received since February 2022.
From attraction to retention
Once permanent residence has been obtained, nothing prevents the former candidate from moving to a large city.
This is a concern of all the municipalities in this program. The discussion has moved from how do we attract newcomers to our community to how do we keep these newcomers in our communities
underlines Adam Vanderwekken.
Designated municipalities are accompanied by immigration settlement programs to ensure that selected candidates are integrated and receive all the necessary resources.
