Eligibility Requirements – Employers
Employers must:
1. Meet all of the federal eligibility requirements as stipulated by IRCC which includes but is not limited to the following:
- active operation under the same management for two years within the Community
- the employer carries on business in at least one priority occupation and at least 75 per cent of work is to be performed within the Community
- completion of both mandatory IRCC training modules
- can offer jobs that are non-seasonal, full time (30 hours a week or more), with an indeterminate end date.
2. Operate within one of the 5 priority sectors established by the Community.
3. Have the need to hire, or maintain a current worker, in a priority NOC code established by the Community.
4. Comply with the Community wage requirement and any other Community requirement.
5. Comply with Community requests and must submit requested documents.
6. Comply with Federal and Community settlement requirements.
Eligibility Requirements – Applicants
Applicants must:
1. Meet all of the Federal requirements as stipulated by IRCC. This includes but is not limited to the following:
- have, at minimum, completed a Canadian Secondary School diploma or the equivalent valid foreign credential
- have accumulated at least one year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time work in the 3 years prior to applying for recommendation OR be eligible for the International Student Exemption as mentioned by the IRCC under work experience exemption
- have a genuine job offer in the Community from an employer that carries on business in the Community. The job offer must be full-time, seasonal, for an indeterminate period (no end date), that meets the Community requirements
- have valid language test results from the last two years
- intend to reside in the Community.
2. Be offered a wage compliant with Community and NOC specific criteria.
3. Comply with requests from the Community and submit required documents.
4. Score at least 50 points in the Community point system.
Additional Information
For those looking for more information regarding Federal eligibility requirements, please review the Ministerial Instructions published by IRCC.
Community eligibility may change at the start of each year following a review of the program and eligible employers may be rendered ineligible due to changes made by the RCIP team. Any changes to the criteria will be announced in advance and will be updated on our website.
Immigration Representatives
You may choose to use a representative to act on your behalf by completing your RCIP application for recommendation or completing your Permanent Resident application. There are different types of representatives: paid and unpaid and, authorized and unauthorized. Representatives are authorized if they are:
- lawyers and paralegals who are members in good standing of a Canadian provincial or territorial Law society,
- notaires who are members in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec and
- citizenship or immigration consultants who are members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.
The Community will not communicate with, or allow for, unauthorized representatives to assist with your RCIP application. If you use an unauthorized representative, in Canada or abroad, we may return your application or refuse it.
It is important to note that using a representative does not change how your application will be reviewed or whether it will be approved or rejected. All applications are handled the same regardless of whether a representative is used or not. Immigration representatives cannot guarantee Community Recommendation, Permanent Residence, or a more expedient processing of an application.