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New Canada Immigration Pathways Revealed

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) published the eligibility criteria for two new pathways to Canadian Permanent Residence in the official Canada Gazette on December 14, 2024.

These new pathways are the Rural Community Immigration Class (RCIC) and the Francophone Community Immigration Class (FCIC) and they are scheduled to take effect sometime in early 2025.

 

1. Rural Community Immigration Class (“RCIC”)

 

The Rural Community Immigration Class is designed for foreign nationals who can economically establish themselves in a designated rural community in Canada.

Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

General Requirements

To qualify under RCIC, applicants must:

  1. Intend to reside in a rural community located in a province or territory other than Quebec.
  2. Maintain valid temporary resident status throughout the application process (if applying from within Canada).

Work Experience

Applicants must demonstrate relevant work experience for their occupation as per the National Occupational Classification (“NOC”).

The requirements are as follows:

  1. Minimum Duration:
    • At least 1 year (1,560 hours) of continuous, full-time work experience or equivalent part-time work experience in the past three years.
  2. Occupational Duties:
    • Work experience must align with the lead statement and substantial number of main duties described for the NOC occupation.
  3. Authorized Work:
    • Any Canadian work experience must have been gained while holding valid temporary resident status.
    • Applicants must meet specific requirements for work experience within their NOC Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (“TEER”) category.

International Graduates Exemption

Work experience requirements do not apply to international graduates who meet all of these conditions:

  1. Program Completion: Earned a degree, diploma, certificate, or trade credential from a designated Canadian post-secondary institution within 18 months of applying.
  2. Physical Presence:
    • Applicants for master’s/doctoral programs under two years in length must have studied full-time in the designated community.
    • For programs longer than two years, applicants must have spent at least 16 of the last 24 months in the community.
  3. Eligible Programs: Programs must not:
    • Include more than 50% of credits in language studies (English/French).
    • Consist of over 50% distance learning.
    • Be tied to scholarships requiring the graduate to return to their home country.

Genuine Offer of Employment

Applicants must secure a genuine job offer that meets these conditions:

  1. Designated Employer: The job offer must come from an employer approved by the Economic Development Organization (EDO) in the designated community.
  2. Non-Seasonal and Full-Time: The employment must be permanent, full-time, and non-seasonal.
  3. Community Connection: At least 75% of the work must be performed within the designated rural community.
  4. TEER Match: The job must align with the applicant’s work experience or educational background.
    • For TEER 0: Experience in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
    • For TEER 1: Experience in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
    • For TEER 2: Experience in TEER 1, 2, 3, or 4.
    • For TEER 3: Experience in TEER 2, 3, or 4.
    • For TEER 4: Experience in TEER 2, 3, or 4.
    • For TEER 5: Experience in the same NOC unit group.

Language Proficiency

Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English or French by submitting results from a language test approved under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Test results must:

  1. Be less than 2 years old at the time of application.
  2. Canadian Language Benchmark (“CLB”):
    • CLB 6 for TEER 0 or 1.
    • CLB 5 for TEER 2 or 3.
    • CLB 4 for TEER 4 or 5

Educational Requirements

Applicants must:

  1. Have a Canadian secondary or post-secondary educational credential, or
  2. Obtain an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for any foreign credentials, confirming equivalency to Canadian education standards.

Certificate of Recommendation

Applicants must secure a valid Certificate of Recommendation from the designated community’s Economic Development Organization.

This certificate:

  1. Confirms the applicant’s job offer and community connection.
  2. Will remain valid for 6 months after issuance.
  3. May be revoked if the designated employer loses their status or if fraudulent claims are discovered.

 

2. Francophone Community Immigration Class (“FCIC”)

 

The FCIC is an initiative under Canada’s Francophone immigration policy, that allows French-speaking newcomers who have professional experience in in-demand occupations in a community outside of Quebec, to settle permanently in that community.

Newcomers admitted through this pathway must intend to reside in the community that nominates them.

The program involves three key stakeholders:

  1. Designated communities: A Canadian community outside of Quebec that includes a minority Francophone population and that is included in the list of communities designated by the Immigration Minister as eligible to participate in the FCIC;
  2. Economic development organizations: An organization that is invested in the local economy of the designated community, and chosen by the Immigration Minister to issue certificates of recommendation to eligible applicants; and
  3. Designated employers: Employers that have been chosen by the economic development organization to participate in this program through the hiring of eligible applicants.

Candidates who receive an offer of employment for a priority occupation from a designated employer who operates in a designated community may be eligible to receive Permanent Residence under this new pathway.

Under the FCIC, economic development organizations must publish a list of priority occupations by March 31 of every year.

Language Proficiency

Applicants must:

  1. Demonstrate advanced proficiency in French (CLB/NCLC 5 or higher) in each of the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Certificate of Recommendation

To receive a certificate of recommendation applicants must

  1. Have the required work experience relevant to the TEER level of the offered employment;
  2. Have a genuine offer of employment in a designated occupation (as established by a designated organization), with wages within acceptable levels (as prescribed by Canada’s Job Bank, or the designated organization itself), and supported by supplementary documentation;
  3. Possess the required French language proficiency;
  4. Meet the education requirements; and
  5. Intend to reside in the designated community they will be working in.

Certificates of recommendation are valid for six months from the date of issue.

Genuine Offer of Employment

An applicant must demonstrate that they have received a qualifying genuine offer of employment that is

  1. for employment that they are qualified for, able to perform and are likely to accept and carry out, as indicated by their past work experience or education related to the lead statement and main duties of the occupation as set out in the occupational descriptions of the National Occupational Classification
  2. from a designated employer;
  3. for non-seasonal, full-time work for an indeterminate period;
  4. for employment that is located in the designated community and where at least 75% of the work is to be performed within that designated community;
  5. in an occupation for which they have attained the necessary recent work experience as stated below:
    • For TEER 0: Experience in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
    • For TEER 1: Experience in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
    • For TEER 2: Experience in TEER 1, 2, 3, or 4.
    • For TEER 3: Experience in TEER 2, 3, or 4.
    • For TEER 4: Experience in TEER 2, 3, or 4.
    • For TEER 5: Experience in the same NOC unit group.

Work Experience

To be eligible for this pathway, applicants must have work experience that

  1. Was acquired over a continuous one-year period of full-time work, or the equivalent part-time work, in an occupation listed in the NOC;
  2. Was acquired no earlier than three years prior to the day the applicant applied for Permanent Residence;
  3. Involved the performance of duties of the role, as described in the NOC system (both in the lead statement and the occupation descriptions); and
  4. Was performed under the employ of a third party (unless acquired as a legally licensed medical practitioner).

If the applicant’s work experience was gained in Canada, then the applicant must have been legally authorized to work in Canada.

The required level of an applicant’s work experience is also determined by the level of the occupation they are being hired for, as described in Canada’s TEER criteria:

  • For TEER 0: Experience in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
  • For TEER 1: Experience in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3.
  • For TEER 2: Experience in TEER 1, 2, 3, or 4.
  • For TEER 3: Experience in TEER 2, 3, or 4.
  • For TEER 4: Experience in TEER 2, 3, or 4.
  • For TEER 5: Experience in the same NOC unit group.

International graduates may be exempt from the work experience requirement for the FCIC, provided that

  1. They maintained their full-time status throughout the duration of their program;
  2. They obtained their credential within 18 months of their application for Permanent Residence through the FCIC;
  3. For those in master’s or doctoral degree programs that were less than two years in length, the applicant was physically present in the designated community where they will be applying to settle in, for the duration of the program;
  4. For other kinds of degrees that were less than two years in length, the applicant was physically present for 16 of the 24 months preceding the day they received their credential, in the designated community where they will be applying to settle in.

Educational Requirements

Applicants must have a Canadian credential of secondary school education or higher “OR” an equivalent Education Credential Assessment (ECA) for foreign credentials.

Participating Communities

IRCC has not released the list of designated communities (nor designated economic development organizations) participating in the FCIC.


Further information will be published on Abrams & Krochak website once it is made available by IRCC.

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