Who can apply

To apply for permanent residence through the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP), you must:

• have a valid job offer from a designated employer in the community
• have at least 1 year (1,560 hours) of related work experience in the past 3 years
  What counts as related work experience?

  Your work experience must

  • be at a skill level related to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category of your job offer
  • include the actions listed in the description of your NOC
  • include most of the main duties

  My job offer is TEER 0 or 1

  Your work experience must be in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3.

  My job offer is TEER 2

  Your work experience must be in TEER 1, 2, 3 or 4.

  My job offer is TEER 3 or 4

  Your work experience must be in TEER 2, 3 or 4.

  My job offer is TEER 5

  Your work experience must be in the same 5 digit NOC code

  Exception for healthcare workers

  • If your work experience is in NOC 31301 (Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses – TEER 1), you can have a job offer in one of the following occupation categories:
    • NOC 33102 (TEER 3): Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates or
    • NOC 44101 (TEER 4): Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations
  Work experience exemption if you studied and graduated in the community

  You don’t need to meet the work experience requirement if you’re an international student who graduated from a public post-secondary school in the community with

  • an eligible credential in a program of 2 years or longer and you
    • studied full-time for the entire program
    • got your credential no more than 18 months before applying for permanent residence
    • were in the community for at least 16 of the last 24 months while studying
  • a master’s degree or higher that took 2 years or less and you
    • studied full-time for your entire degree
    • got your degree no more than 18 months before applying for permanent residence
    • were in the community for the length of your studies

  This exemption does not apply to international graduates if your credential is from a program where

  • studying English or French made up more than half of the program
  • distance learning made up more than half of the program
  • you received a scholarship or fellowship that requires you to return to your home country to use what you learned

  What is an eligible credential?

  An eligible credential means a degree, diploma, certificate, trade or apprenticeship credential from a publicly funded Canadian post-secondary institution in the recommending community.

• prove your language abilities by taking an approved test (opens in a new tab) 
• have a Canadian educational credential or the foreign equivalent
  What counts as a Canadian educational credential or the foreign equivalent?

  For education in Canada

  A Canadian educational credential is a

  • Canadian secondary school (high school) diploma
  • recognized Canadian post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree from a designated learning institution

  For education outside of Canada

  An educational credential assessment (ECA) report from a designated organization or professional body that

  • is less than 5 years old on the date you apply
  • shows you completed a foreign credential equal to a
    • Canadian secondary school (high school) diploma or Canadian post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree
• prove you have enough money (opens in a new tab)  to support your transition and your family’s transition into the community