Local employers across Northeast BC will have an easier time hiring and retaining international talent, including international students who graduate from Northern Lights College, thanks to a new immigration pilot program from the federal government.
Northeast BC has been chosen as a hub for the Northeast BC Rural Community Immigration Pilot program. Community Futures Peace Liard (CFPL) and Northern Lights College (NLC) are entering into a joint partnership to coordinate the program for the region.
The purpose of the pilot is to spread the benefits of economic immigration to smaller communities by creating a path to permanent residency for skilled foreign workers who want to live and work in participating communities. Fourteen communities across Canada have been selected for the program, including three in BC. The Northeast was the only new community added in BC for this round of the program. The other two BC communities, North Okanagan and West Kootenay, took part in an earlier version and are continuing in this round.
The local pilot program will engage with employers across the region, who will be able to sponsor newcomers for permanent residency through the program, to address labour market needs in the Northeast.
"The key to the success of the project will be our local partnerships. I'd like to acknowledge the support of our municipal partners and our funders," said Moira Green, General Manager at Community Futures Peace Liard. "Now the work begins, as we work to establish agreements and secure resources to ensure the success of this important project."
NLC will co-lead the working group of community partners with CFPL that will guide the program's development, in partnership with local municipalities, Chambers of Commerce, and immigrant settlement agencies. Together, they will engage local employers to participate in the pilot, ultimately boosting immigrant recruitment and retention in the Northeast.
"This is a great new opportunity for our communities, as well as a huge attraction and retention tool for the Northeast," said Scott Clerk, Associate Vice President, Educational Services for Northern Lights College. "We see so many great international students coming into the region, and this provides a new path for many of them to stay after graduation in the communities where they've started to build a new life."
