Rural Community Immigration Pilot
Thank you for your interest in the Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) in the North Okanagan Shuswap region.
ABOUT US
The Rural Community Immigration Pilot (RCIP) is a community-driven program designed to spread the benefits of economic immigration to smaller communities by creating a path to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers who want to work and live in the North Okanagan Shuswap region.
In the North Okanagan Shuswap region, two Community Futures offices are helping meet local labour market needs and support regional economic development with Community partners. Our goal is to create welcoming environments to support new immigrants staying in rural communities. The intention is to increase long-term retention of skilled newcomers with community based partners, federal government partners and government’s support. For a deeper understanding of the legal, ethical, and community implications surrounding the various aspects of our process, starting from the review of employer’s application to valid job offer until the review of applicant’s file for recommendation, we encourage you to read our blog posts on this link.
Community Futures North Okanagan and Community Futures Shuswap are responsible for establishing priority sectors and occupations in the Community. Only these businesses and candidates who match the criteria can apply for the pilot. The objective of recruiting skilled workers through the pilots is to align with areas of economic growth or development. Not every sector or occupation will be treated as an equal priority. These sectors are reviewed annually and may be adjusted over the next three years. Community Futures North Okanagan was awarded the agreement to offer the Pilot in February 2025 for a 3 year term, by the Government of Canada, Minister of Immigration. This region is one of the only 11 English speaking Pilot programs in Canada.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NOTICE – 2026 Schedule Released
We have finalized our schedule for 2026. There will be 5 intake windows throughout the year with our first recommendation meeting taking place in March.
|
Intake |
Dates |
Processing |
Meeting |
|
One |
January 17 to January 25 |
Jan 26 to Feb 28 |
Thursday March 5 |
|
Two |
March 22 to March 31 |
April 1 to April 30 |
Monday May 4 |
|
Three |
May 31 to June 10 |
June 11 to June 30 |
Monday July 6 |
|
Break |
|||
|
Four |
Sept 12 to Sept 20 |
Sept 21 to Oct 9 |
Monday Oct 19 |
|
Five |
Nov 8 to Nov 15 |
Nov 9 to Nov 30 |
Monday Dec 7 |
2025 SCHEDULE AND KEY DATES
| Title | Date |
| Employer Information Sessions (IRCC) – optional | Oct 7th and 8th |
| Employer One-on-one meetings (optional) | Oct 7th, 8th and 9th |
| Employer Designation opens | May 1st |
| Applicant Intake Window #1 opens (updated) | June 9th |
| Applicant Intake window #1 closes (updated) | June 20th |
| The cut-off score for our first intake window was 84 points. | |
| Applicant Intake window #2 opens (cancelled) | July 17th |
| Applicant Intake window #2 closes (cancelled) | July 31st |
| Applicant Intake Window #3 opens (updated) | August 26th |
| Applicant Intake Window #3 closes (updated) | September 9th |
| The cut-off score for our this intake window was 84 points. | |
| Applicant Intake window #4 opens (updated) | September 30th |
| Applicant Intake window #4 closes (updated) | October 14th |
| The cut-off score for the first round of this intake window was 90 points. | |
| Applicant Intake window #5 opens (updated) | Cancelled |
|
Applicant Intake window #5 closes (updated) |
Cancelled |
Our Community Boundary
The RCIP Community boundary for the North Okanagan-Shuswap includes all of the Regional District of the North Okanagan and electoral areas C, D, E, F, G of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District along with the City of Salmon Arm.
Eligible Communities include but are not limited to:
- Armstrong
- Ashton Creek
- Anglemont
- Blind Bay
- Celista
- Cherryville
- Coldstream/Lavington
- Deep Creek
- Enderby
- Falkland
- Grindrod
- Lumby
- Malakwa
- Salmon Arm
- Scotch Creek
- Sicamous
- Silver Creek
- Sorrento
- Spallumcheen
- Vernon
