(Supplied by Town of Claresholm)

By David Opinko

Thousands of profiles made for Claresholm’s immigration pilot in first week

Feb 18, 2020 | 11:18 AM

CLARESHOLM, AB – Yes, the Town of Claresholm is turning to immigrants for employment, but no, jobs that could have gone to Canadians are not being stolen.

The town’s portal for the Rural & Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) opened Tuesday, February 11. The program was created by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which is a branch of the federal government.

It allows people who either do or do not currently reside in the country to apply for jobs in the Claresholm area, and if they meet the criteria set out by the federal government, they might have an easier time obtaining Permanent Residency status.

“Essentially, it’s trying to do two things, is encourage immigration to rural and remote areas of Canada as well as fitting labour shortages,” says Economic Development Officer Brady Schnell.

LNN spoke to Schnell on Friday afternoon, February 14. At that time, he said nearly 2,400 profiles had been created on the site.

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That does not necessarily mean that they have received 2,400 applications, but rather, that number of people have shown interest in applying.

Schnell says the community has been suffering from labour shortages for a long time.

“Back in 2018, I did a number of business visits in the Town of Claresholm and found that the most common red flag for business owners was a lack of labour, a lack of good full-time workers who will commit to their job and be there every day. It didn’t matter what industry I talked to, they had almost the same thing to say about the workforce.”

11 Canadian communities are part of the RNIP or are in the process of becoming part of it. Claresholm is the only one in Alberta.

While some municipalities have geared the program towards certain employers or industries, Schnell tells LNN that they are keeping it open to all sectors.

“Claresholm’s looking for people who intend to contribute and reside and stay within the boundaries of Claresholm. That’s a really important part of this.”

While immigrants are being sought out to fill job vacancies, he says none of the positions are being reserved specifically for immigrants. The local government and many business owners agree that they should still try to hire “locals first”.

The RNIP in Clareshom also includes Stavely, Granum, and parts of the M.D. of Willow Creek.

This is a three-year program to start.

For the first year, Schnell says they are looking to take no more than 20 immigrant workers and their families. Should the RNIP prove to be successful, they might look at increasing that number for future years.

Job posting are expected to go up on Friday, February, 21. For more details, use this link.

More information on the RNIP from the federal government can be found here.