There are still no guarantees, but Sudbury Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe said she’s optimistic the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program will be made permanent.
“It has been very successful,” she told Sudbury.com this week, adding that she met with a receptive Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller last month.
“We talked about the importance of the program and the benefits it has had both in terms of growing populations in Northern Ontario, and specifically in Sudbury, and also in addressing skilled labour shortages we have.
“I am very encouraged by the conversation I had with the minister, and he certainly understands the importance of the program to the north.”
The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce drew attention to the program, which aims to fill job vacancies with immigrants, in an open letter to Lapointe and Nickel Belt Liberal MP Marc Serré, noting the pilot program is coming to a close soon.
Applicants are slated to stop being accepted in February, and the program is scheduled to expire in August.
“The chamber is concerned that the conclusion of the RNIP program next month does not reflect the difficult labour environment we continue to find ourselves in,” according to the letter.
“We need to prioritize the continuation of attracting talent to Northern Ontario and other rural communities where it is often difficult to draw the labour our businesses need to remain productive.”
The RNIP program began in 2020, and by the end of 2023 had brought 884 candidates to Greater Sudbury.
When including family members, this amounts to nearly 1,754 newcomers coming to the Nickle City.
During its three years, the program has grown in scope, accepting 11 applicants in 2020, 84 in 2021, 265 in 2022 and 524 in 2023.
Lapointe has been advocating for the pilot program to become permanent for the past several months, Greater Sudbury city council passed a unanimous motion in 2022 advocating for it to be made permanent.
These and other points of advocacy from throughout Northern Ontario has helped local MPs make their case in Ottawa, Lapointe said.
“It’s very clear that the community is telling the minister and the ministry that RNIP needs to be made permanent, so they lend their voice to us as local MPs.”
The program has been touted as instrumental in helping the city achieve Mayor Paul Lefebvre’s goal of hitting a population of 200,000 by 2051.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.