The City of Brandon and Economic Development Brandon announced on Friday that the city is now officially online as part of a new Federal pilot program that has the promise of attracting a further diversity of professionals who are likely to settle in the community on a long-term basis.
As one of just 11 communities in Canada participating in the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, Brandon has now launched an online service that gives employers the opportunity to advertise chronic job vacancies and an outlet for those from other nations (or in Canada on temporary status) to be matched with those vacancies.
Employers participating must be within a 55km radius of Brandon. According to information published on the new program’s local website, a need must be demonstrated through past recruitment activities that positions cannot be filled by Canadians or permanent Canadian residents. Positions must be full-time and permanent.
Foreign nationals are able to create a profile on the program’s website and then are able to apply for vacancies through the service. Economic Development Brandon then serves as a middle-person, screening applicants before forwarding to the employer. Currently there are eight separate positions listed across three employers.
Each of the 11 participating communities across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC and Ontario are able to make a set number of recommendations per year, said to be an average of 100 per community. Candidates are screened based on pre-determined evaluation criteria, with literature on the local program website indicating that “Community Recommendation” will be given to the highest-scoring applicants who intend to live and work in the community.
The city has become an increasingly diverse community in recent years, having welcomed over 7000 newcomers from points across the globe over the past decade. 2016 census data showed top countries of birth for immigrants in the city to be China (1,295), El Salvador (905), India (870) and Philippines (460).
For more information, the website for Brandon’s participation in the RNIP is http://www.economicdevelopmentbrandon.com/BrandonRNIP
More on the program federally can be learned at:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/rural-northern-immigration-pilot.html