The two-year pilot is the newest addition to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which allows three new Ontario communities of Chatham-Kent, Cornwall and Belleville/Quinte West have been selected to nominate a set number of Economic-Class immigration candidates for permanent residence each year.t, which will launch in 2020. This Pilot program is introduce to fill talent gaps and support economic growth and a pathway for skilled foreign workers to become permanent residents in rural and small communities in the province.

The vast majority of immigrants to Ontario currently settle in and around the Greater Toronto Area and only 20 per cent settle in other parts of the province. It is the focus of several similar pilots across Canada, including the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot and the Atlantic Immigration Pilot.

Ontario’s Regional Immigration Pilot is conceptualized after identifying various stakeholders, their requirements of talent and their commitment to integrate the newcomers under this category to blend with respective areas. It also plans to let the immigration candidates to identify their occupations/areas of interest and apply for the same.

This pilot program is scheduled to nominate 150 candidates in such NOCs, which are identified in various regions/communities/ businesses /universities,etc.

The OINP advises immigration candidates to explore opportunities to move or work in three communities by visiting their websites:

• Municipality of Chatham-Kent
• Cities of Belleville and Quinte West
• City of Cornwall