{"id":225678,"date":"2019-08-04T06:03:02","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T10:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=225678"},"modified":"2019-08-04T06:03:02","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T10:03:02","slug":"first-steps-underway-for-promised-alberta-rural-immigration-programs-government-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/08\/04\/first-steps-underway-for-promised-alberta-rural-immigration-programs-government-says\/","title":{"rendered":"First steps underway for promised Alberta rural immigration programs, government says"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The province\u2019s immigration department is currently working on program design and \u201ccontinues to explore various options,\u201d spokesperson Gurshan Dhillon told\u00a0CIC News.\u00a0 (Pexels Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Consultations will begin later this year on two Alberta immigration programs that were promised by the province\u2019s new premier, Jason Kenney, during the recent general election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The province\u2019s immigration department is currently working on program design and \u201ccontinues to explore various options,\u201d spokesperson Gurshan Dhillon told\u00a0CIC News<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Consultations on the programs will begin in the fall of 2019 with stakeholders such as employers, settlement organizations, experts and immigrants who are already established in Alberta.<\/p>\n

Kenney, who served as Canada\u2019s immigration minister from 2008 to 2013, pledged to create the Rural Renewal Program and the Rural Entrepreneur Immigration Program if elected in order to \u201cuse the power\u201d of immigration to revitalize smaller communities around the province.<\/p>\n

A news release issued by Kenney\u2019s United Conservative Party (UCP) in February said the proposed programs would help bring skilled foreign workers and entrepreneurs to rural Alberta communities such as Brooks and Wood Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Kenney said both pathways could channel a combined 40,000 new permanent residents to these communities over the UCP\u2019s first four years in office \u2014 32,000 through the Rural Renewal Program and 8,000 through the Rural Entrepreneur Immigration Program.<\/p>\n

Rural Renewal Program<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0province of Manitoba\u2019s\u00a0success in attracting and retaining immigrants in rural communities<\/a>\u00a0through programs like the\u00a0Morden Community Initiative<\/a>\u00a0is a model that the UCP said it wanted to draw on for the Rural Renewal Progam.<\/p>\n

Around 20 per cent of all newcomers to Manitoba settle in rural communities around the province and communities like Morden have seen their populations grow significantly as a result.<\/p>\n

On the campaign trail, Kenney said the Rural Renewal Progam would be linked to the\u00a0federal Express Entry system<\/a>, which is Canada\u2019s principal source of skilled foreign labour.<\/p>\n

Express Entry manages the pool of candidates for three of Canada\u2019s main economic-class immigration programs \u2014 the\u00a0Federal Skilled Worker Class<\/a>,\u00a0Federal Skilled Trades Class<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Canadian Experience Class<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Candidates are ranked in the Express Entry pool based on\u00a0a score<\/a>\u00a0awarded for factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French, and those with a provincial nomination receive an additional 600 points.<\/p>\n

Alberta has an existing Express Entry-aligned provincial nominee stream,\u00a0Alberta Express Entry<\/a>, but the government did not say if it would be linked to the proposed Rural Renewal Program.<\/p>\n

Rural<\/strong>\u00a0Entrepreneur\u00a0Immigration Program<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As to the Rural Entrepreneur Immigration Program, Kenney\u2019s campaign-trail promise gave it a goal of welcoming 500 experienced immigrant entrepreneurs and their families each year.<\/p>\n

Among the program\u2019s potential criteria, prospective entrepreneurs would have to meet minimum investment and net worth thresholds and commit to actively managing and operating a business in which they have at least 51 per cent ownership.<\/p>\n

Successful applicants would receive a two-year temporary work permit and could later be eligible for a provincial nomination for permanent residence if certain terms are met.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Consultations will begin later this year on two Alberta immigration programs that were promised by the province\u2019s new premier, Jason …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":188322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-immigration","mauthors-shelby-thevenot","mauthors-stephen-smith","mauthors-cic-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225679,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225678\/revisions\/225679"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}