The Rural Northern Immigration pilot project is helping fill Thunder Bay’s health care jobs.
Emily Lauzon is the Workforce Development Officer with the Community Economic Development Commission. She announced today the program has helped fill 12 positions with international students who were already living in Thunder Bay.
“I’m sure for many of these candidates they came to Thunder Bay before the immigration pilot project even came up. It’s sort of like being in the right place at the right time as this program is really suited to them and I’m sure they’re very happy to have this security,” Lauzon said.
The positions filled range from registered nurses and personal support workers in a variety of local health care facilities.
The people who have accepted the health care jobs can now apply for permanent residency with this community recommendation.
The Thunder Bay RNIP allows eligible employers to make full-time, permanent job offers to skilled foreign workers to help fill identified labour shortages in the city.
When compared to other avenues for immigration, the RNIP program is able to directly fill priority occupations for all levels of jobs, while the other forms of obtaining a permanent residency in Canada focus mostly on higher occupational skills with no guarantees for obtaining a job or residency.
