THUNDER BAY – The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) was quite successful and the plan all along was to make it permanent.
That opinion was shared by Marcus Powlowski, Thunder Bay-Rainy River member of Parliament, following Thursday’s announcement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller in Sudbury that the pilot program was going to continue.
“It was just a matter of timing. The government doesn’t want to announce things before the right time,” Powlowski said Friday.
For Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, there were 475 successful applicants of the program for 2023 and approximately 1,000 since the program began in 2019.
Federal officials have indicated that 4,595 newcomers received permanent residency through the RNIP.
Powlowski said the program has benefited individuals like one newcomer from Ukraine who is now living in Atikokan.
“She was applying for permanent resident status, and we just heard back that she was admitted into the rehabilitation nursing technician program,” he said.
“A very smart woman who learned to speak English in a year and a half wants to stay in Atikokan.
“That’s what we want to see, people who want to stay and work in Northwestern Ontario.”
