Rural Community Immigration Pilot: Employer Designation Guide

The RCIP suits employers in participating communities who want to keep workers permanently, including in TEER 4 and 5 jobs that federal Express Entry does not cover. It is especially useful when:

• The job is in a sector your community has prioritized
• The worker already works for you on a temporary permit and wants to stay
• The job is outside a big city, where a low-wage LMIA may still be possible but only leads to temporary status

Jobs outside the 14 communities can't use it. In Atlantic Canada, the Atlantic Immigration Program is the closest equivalent. For the worker's view, see the Rural Community Immigration Pilot page.

Each community has set boundaries. The job must be located inside them. IRCC's pilot page has a boundary map and links to each community's economic development organization, which publishes its priority sectors and intake dates. For the francophone pilot, see the FCIP page.

According to IRCC, to be designated you must:

• Have operated continuously for at least 2 years in a participating community. A community may designate a newer business if it has made or will make a substantial contribution to the local economy.
• Be in good standing and comply with employment standards and occupational health and safety laws, and not be in violation of the employer compliance regime
• Do business in at least one priority occupation your community has identified
• Do at least 75% of your business work inside the community
• Complete the free onboarding training and the free intercultural competency training
• Agree to support the settlement of newcomers and their families

Not eligible: consulates, staffing and employment agencies, businesses majority-owned by the candidate, businesses offering erotic services, employers that made false job offers, employers that owe administrative monetary penalties, and businesses owned by authorized immigration representatives.

There is no cost to become a designated employer. You apply directly to the community's organization.

1. Get designated by the community.
2. Find a candidate who meets the pilot's requirements. Candidates can be abroad or in Canada.
3. Make a job offer that is full-time, non-seasonal, in a priority occupation, and meets the pilot's wage requirement for that occupation.
4. Submit the recommendation application to the community with your candidate's details.
5. The community decides. Each community has a limited number of recommendations per year. Some use intake windows or rank candidates, so a job offer does not guarantee a recommendation.
6. The candidate applies to IRCC for permanent residence with the recommendation.
7. Optional work permit. You can request a referral letter so the candidate can apply for a work permit to start while PR is processed.

Candidate requirements include at least 1 year (1,560 hours) of related paid work in the last 3 years (some local graduates are exempt), a high school diploma or foreign equivalent, settlement funds unless already working in Canada, and language skills by job level:

Fees from the IRCC fee list. Never charge a candidate for a job offer or recommendation. Compare with other routes in Canada employer costs.

The biggest variable is the community. Designation and recommendation speed depends on the community's staff, intake windows, and remaining recommendations for the year. IRCC's PR processing time is shown on our processing times tool. Pending RCIP applications from workers in smaller communities are among those IRCC is fast-tracking under the 2026 In-Canada Workers Initiative.

Low-wage LMIAs in rural areas outside census metropolitan areas are not affected by the metro-area refusal rule, so some employers use an LMIA to bring a worker in first, then support an RCIP application later. Plan this with the community.

• Keep the job as offered. Pay, hours, duties, and location must match what you told the community and IRCC.
• Support settlement. Help the worker and family connect with local settlement services, housing, schools, and health care, as you agreed at designation.
• Stay in good standing. Follow provincial employment standards and health and safety laws. If the worker holds a temporary work permit while waiting for PR, the federal employer conditions and inspections apply. See Canada employer compliance.
• Tell the community about changes, such as a layoff or the worker leaving before PR, so it can advise on next steps.

• Offering a job outside the community's boundary or outside its priority occupations.
• Assuming a recommendation is automatic. Communities have limited spots.
• Using a staffing agency to hire. Staffing agencies can't be designated.
• Skipping the training before applying.
• Charging candidates, directly or through recruiters, which can end your designation and lead to penalties.