How this route actually works
One fact governs this pilot and everything else is secondary to it. You are tested in French only, at a flat level that does not move with the job, and an English test result cannot be used here at all.
French only, at a flat level, and English tests are not accepted
You need Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens level 5 in each of the four abilities, being reading, writing, listening and speaking. It does not vary by occupation level. Only the TEF Canada and the TCF Canada are accepted, and results must be less than two years old when you apply.
The English tests accepted under the rural pilot are not on this pilot's list. If you booked the CELPIP General, the IELTS General Training or the PTE Core because you read that Canada accepts English or French, that result cannot be used for this pilot.
And the comparison runs the way most people do not expect. The rural pilot's requirement falls as the occupation level falls, to benchmark 4 at TEER 4 and TEER 5. This pilot holds benchmark 5 throughout. So at the lower occupation levels this pilot is the harder of the two, not the softer one.
Your workplace does not have to run in French. The job offer definition still contemplates employment requiring proficiency in English, French, or both, as a condition of employment. You are tested in French. The employer is not.
- A community organisation recommends you, not a province and not IRCC. The economic development organisation for the community issues a certificate of recommendation, and you must hold a valid one when you apply.
- The route is employer led, and you do not approach the community. IRCC states that the pilots do not match candidates with jobs. You find the employer. The employer must already be designated by that community. The employer makes the offer and the employer files the recommendation application.
- No labour market impact assessment is needed. Not for the permanent residence route and not for the two year bridging work permit, which is exempt.
- Six communities, and the list is not the rural pilot's list. Sudbury and Timmins run both. Kelowna runs only this one. Everything else differs between the two pilots.
- Nobody may charge you for the recommendation or for the designation. The Instructions prohibit it, and charging you is a ground to revoke the employer's designation.
- The certificate lasts six months and IRCC does not publish that. It is the deadline that most often loses a file that was otherwise sound.
The order of operations, and the document you must be holding
| Step | Who does it | What it produces |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Employer designation | The employer, with the community organisation | Designated employer status, after free IRCC onboarding training and intercultural competency training. There is no cost to become designated |
| 2. You approach the employer | You | Nothing formal. The pilots do not match candidates with jobs, and several communities will not correspond with candidates at all |
| 3. The job offer | The employer | A signed offer of employment on IMM 0251, which you also sign |
| 4. The recommendation application | The employer, not you | Filed directly with the community. The employer must show it could not fill the job locally, that the offer meets the pilot requirements, that you meet the requirements, and that it will connect you with settlement services |
| 5. The recommendation | The community organisation | A certificate of recommendation on IMM 0253, valid six months and revocable |
| 6. Permanent residence | You | Online through the Permanent Residence Portal only, with the certificate, the signed offer, Schedule 1 on IMM 0252, and the rest of the package |
| 7. The optional work permit | You, after your employer | A two year employer specific permit. Your employer submits its portal offer of employment and pays the $230 compliance fee, the portal returns a seven digit offer of employment number, and you cannot start the work permit application until the employer has given it to you. Inside Canada, proof that your permanent residence application was submitted is part of the package as well |
The forms are the pilot's own and they are not interchangeable with the rural pilot's IMM 0247, IMM 0248 and IMM 0249. In Sudbury and Timmins, which run both pilots, using the wrong set of forms means applying under the wrong class.
The recommendation certificate is valid for six months, and IRCC does not publish that anywhere
The Ministerial Instructions state that a certificate of recommendation is valid for six months from the day it is issued unless the economic development organisation revokes it, and that you must hold a valid certificate at the time of application which has not been revoked before permanent residence is granted. One community's own site confirms the six months independently.
We could not source that period anywhere on canada.ca. It is a hard deadline that IRCC does not tell applicants about, and six months is not much time to assemble police certificates for every country you have lived in for six months or more since the age of eighteen, complete a medical, and submit through the portal. Diarise it the day the certificate issues.
Four separate clocks run at once and they are different lengths. The recommendation certificate lasts six months. Language results must be less than two years old when you apply. An educational credential assessment must be less than five years old on the date you apply. If you rely on the graduate exemption, the credential must have been obtained no more than eighteen months before you apply. Any one of them lapsing invalidates the application, and IRCC states that an incomplete application is rejected rather than corrected.
A certificate can also be revoked. The organisation may revoke it where the offer came from an employer whose designated status has been revoked, and must revoke it where it becomes aware that the criteria for recommendation are not or were not met at any point since it was issued.
You must hold valid temporary resident status if you apply from inside Canada, and maintain it until permanent residence is granted. That is in the Instructions rather than on the public pages. IRCC also states that an incomplete application is rejected rather than corrected, so a lapsed test result or a missing certificate is not something you get a chance to fix in place.
The six Francophone communities, and who recommends in each
| Community | Province | The organisation that recommends | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acadian Peninsula | New Brunswick | Service de croissance regionale de la CSRPA | The community's own site is published in French only |
| Sudbury | Ontario | City of Greater Sudbury, Economic Development division | Also runs the rural pilot |
| Timmins | Ontario | Timmins Economic Development Corporation | Also runs the rural pilot |
| Superior East Region | Ontario | Superior East CFDC | Francophone pilot only |
| St. Pierre Jolys | Manitoba | Village of St-Pierre-Jolys, with the AMBM and CDEM | Ranks applications in a pool using a points based system |
| Kelowna | British Columbia | Societe de developpement economique de la Colombie-Britannique | Francophone pilot only, so there is no rural pilot route in Kelowna |
Check the boundary map linked from IRCC's page for the community rather than the town limits, because several of these organisations administer a far wider geography than their name suggests. The Acadian Peninsula, Sudbury, Timmins and St. Pierre Jolys also take part in the Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative.
- Kelowna is on this list only. There is no rural pilot in Kelowna, so a candidate there who does not have French has no community pilot route at all.
- Sudbury and Timmins are on both lists. Same city, same organisation, possibly the same employer, but two different immigration classes with different forms and different language rules. Choose deliberately.
- The Acadian Peninsula sits in New Brunswick, which also runs the Atlantic Immigration Program. So there may be a choice of route there, and it may be a choice on paper only. New Brunswick paused the acceptance of new employer designation applications under the Atlantic Immigration Program effective 3 February 2026, so unless the employer is already designated under that program, this pilot may be the only route actually open on the Peninsula. The comparison is on the Atlantic page and on the hub, and it starts with whether the employer is already designated.
- No further community can join. The community application window closed on 17 July 2024, and IRCC states that communities in Quebec could not apply to either pilot.
What the pilot requires of you and of the job
| Requirement | The standard |
|---|---|
| Who the employer is | Designated by that community's economic development organisation, and located in the community |
| Hours | Full time, at least 30 paid hours a week |
| Seasonality | Non seasonal, meaning consistent and paid all year |
| Duration | Indeterminate, with no end date, at every occupation level. The Atlantic Immigration Program accepts one year at TEER 0 to 3, and this pilot does not |
| Where the work happens | At least 75 per cent of the work performed inside the community. The Instructions apply that test twice, once to the employer's business and once to the employment itself, and IRCC publishes it on its employer facing designation page rather than on any page written for candidates. Regional travel, multi site coverage and remote work outside the boundary all put it at risk |
| Wage | At or above the federal job bank wage range for that occupation and region, clearing it both when you apply and when the visa is issued. The community may set a higher floor |
| Ownership | The employer cannot be a business you or your spouse or partner majority own |
| Occupation | On that community's current priority occupation list, which each community sets and revises at least annually |
| Labour market impact assessment | Not required |
Meeting all of this does not get you recommended. Communities rank candidates, run intake windows and work inside allocations, and a recommendation is discretionary.
| Job offer level | Work experience accepted |
|---|---|
| TEER 0 or 1 | TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 |
| TEER 2 | TEER 1, 2, 3 or 4 |
| TEER 3 or 4 | TEER 2, 3 or 4 |
| TEER 5 | The same five digit occupation code |
One carve out applies in health care. Experience in NOC 31301, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, supports a job offer in NOC 33102, nurse aides and orderlies and patient service associates, or NOC 44101, home support workers and caregivers. It runs one way only and is not a general nursing bridge.
- At least one year, being 1,560 hours, in the past three years. Three years, not the five that the Atlantic Immigration Program allows. Paid, not self employed, including the actions in the description of your occupation and most of its main duties. Volunteer work and unpaid internships do not count. Part time is accepted so long as the hours reach 1,560.
- The Ministerial Instructions require the year to be continuous. IRCC's public pages say paid, not self employed and within the past three years, and do not say continuous. The Instructions require the experience to have been acquired over a continuous period of at least one year of full time work or the part time equivalent. Plan on continuity.
- The Instructions add conditions the public pages omit. The work must have been done in the employ of a third party, unless acquired as a medical practitioner entitled to practise under the law of the place where it was acquired, and if it was acquired in Canada it must have been acquired while you were authorised to work and held temporary resident status.
- The experience does not have to be Canadian. Nothing in either source requires it.
Language, education and funds
| Job offer level | This pilot, French only | Rural pilot, English or French |
|---|---|---|
| TEER 0 or 1 | NCLC 5 | CLB 6 |
| TEER 2 or 3 | NCLC 5 | CLB 5 |
| TEER 4 or 5 | NCLC 5 | CLB 4, which is lower |
Accepted tests here are the TEF Canada and the TCF Canada only. Results must be less than two years old when you apply. At TEER 4 and TEER 5 this pilot asks more of you than the rural pilot does, which is the opposite of what most people assume.
- The minimum is a Canadian secondary school diploma or its equivalent. Or a recognised Canadian post secondary certificate, diploma or degree from a designated learning institution.
- An assessment is needed only for a credential from outside Canada. An educational credential assessment from a designated organisation, less than five years old on the date you apply, showing a foreign credential equal to a Canadian secondary school diploma or a Canadian post secondary certificate, diploma or degree. The designated organisations are the Comparative Education Service at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, the International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, World Education Services, the International Qualifications Assessment Service and the International Credential Evaluation Service.
- Three regulated occupations have their own assessment body. Architects at NOC 21200 through the Canadian Architectural Certification Board where a licence is needed, doctors at NOC 31100, 31101 or 31102 through the Medical Council of Canada, and pharmacists at NOC 31120 through the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada where a licence is needed. A general assessment report will not do in place of these.
| Number of family members | Funds needed in Canadian dollars |
|---|---|
| 1 | $10,507 |
| 2 | $13,080 |
| 3 | $16,080 |
| 4 | $19,524 |
| 5 | $22,143 |
| 6 | $24,975 |
| 7 | $27,806 |
| Each additional family member beyond seven | add $2,831 |
Identical on both pilots' proof of funds pages, each carrying a date modified of 3 September 2025 and a table stamped Updated 29 July 2025. The pages say the table is updated annually, so as at 19 August 2026 these figures are more than a year old on their face. They are what IRCC currently publishes and are therefore the operative amounts, and we confirm them against the live page for every file rather than relying on a figure printed here. Note that they are substantially higher than the amounts published for the Atlantic Immigration Program, which is a real planning difference between the routes.
- You are exempt if you are already working in Canada with a valid work permit. That is IRCC's wording on both pilot pages. The Ministerial Instructions word the exemption more broadly, as not applying to an applicant who is already employed in Canada, which on its face does not require a work permit. The two readings differ and we advise clients to satisfy the narrower published test.
- Family size counts people who are not coming with you. Yourself, your spouse or common law partner, your dependent children and your spouse or partner's dependent children, including those who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents and those not coming to Canada with you.
- The funds must be available twice. When you apply, and when IRCC issues the permanent resident visa.
- Acceptable proof is listed. Bank account statements, bank drafts, cheques or money orders.
The two year work permit, and the order it has to be done in
- Two years, and employer specific. It only lets you work for the employer who offered you the job, and it exists only for these pilots.
- It is exempt from a labour market impact assessment. Applying from outside Canada you select a work permit with a labour market impact assessment exemption, and a job offer status of temporary for at least one year. Applying from inside Canada you select the option for an active pilot project or public policy announced by IRCC.
- Inside Canada, proof that your permanent residence application went in is part of the package. Either an acknowledgement of receipt or the portal confirmation that the application was submitted and the fees paid. IRCC lists it among the documents for applicants inside Canada, and we could not source the same requirement for applicants outside Canada.
- Your employer has to move first, and the rest of the order is an inference. You need a seven digit offer of employment number from the employer portal before you can start the work permit application, and the employer generates it by submitting the portal offer and paying the $230 compliance fee. That much IRCC publishes, as a precondition on you rather than as an instruction to the employer to wait. Whether the portal offer should also come after your permanent residence application is our inference, resting on the proof of submission that IRCC requires of applicants inside Canada. We file in that order, and we do not present it as a rule IRCC states.
- Your spouse or partner can apply at the same time, with a limit. An open work permit, but one that only lets them work in the same community as you.
- A recommendation certificate already unlocks settlement services. Holders and their dependants are deemed eligible for needs and assets assessment and referrals, information and orientation, community connections and services that enable access, until the permanent residence application is processed. Worth using during the wait.
Nobody may charge you for a recommendation or for an employer designation
The Instructions prohibit economic development organisations from charging fees for designating or revoking a designated employer status, and for issuing, amending or revoking a certificate of recommendation. They also make it a ground to revoke an employer's designation where the employer, or anyone recruiting for it, has directly or indirectly charged or recovered fees from the foreign national.
So any community assessment fee, recommendation fee or designation fee demanded of you is a red flag, and it is grounds to have the employer's designation pulled. Community sites confirm the position in their own words, saying there is no cost to becoming a designated employer. The only fee near this process is the $230 employer compliance fee, which the employer pays to IRCC and only where you want the optional work permit.
Where this route is most often got wrong
- Booking an English test. The commonest and most expensive error here. English results cannot be used for this pilot at all, and the two year validity clock you started is worth nothing to it.
- Assuming the minority language pilot is the gentler one at low occupation levels. It is not. Benchmark 5 in French at TEER 5 is a higher bar than benchmark 4 in English under the rural pilot.
- Applying under the wrong pilot in Sudbury or Timmins. Two classes, two form sets, two language rules, one city. Correspondence does not convert one into the other.
- Targeting Kelowna without French. Kelowna is on the Francophone list only. There is no rural pilot route there.
- Approaching the community instead of an employer. The route is employer led and some communities will not respond to candidates at all. The employer files the recommendation application, not you.
- Reading the community's name as its boundary. Several organisations cover a much wider area, and the 75 per cent rule is measured against the mapped boundary rather than the town.
- Letting the six month certificate run down. Police certificates for every country you have lived in for six months or more since the age of eighteen, plus a medical, plus the portal submission, inside six months.
Where the official sources disagree
- The funds exemption is worded two ways. IRCC's page exempts an applicant already working in Canada with a valid work permit. The Instructions word it more broadly, as not applying to an applicant already employed in Canada, which on its face does not require a permit. We advise satisfying the narrower published test.
- Continuity of the work experience. The public pages say paid, not self employed and within the past three years, and do not say continuous. The Instructions require a continuous period of at least one year of full time work or the part time equivalent. Plan on continuity.
- The community eligibility rules sit under the old pilot's address. The page that governs which communities could join, and which records that communities in Quebec could not apply and that the window closed on 17 July 2024, is published under the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot path even though it governs these two pilots.
What we could not source, stated rather than left silent
- Any additional credit for English. No score, bonus or weighting for English appears anywhere for this pilot.
- A processing time. We could not source a published processing time for either community pilot. Check IRCC's own tool rather than relying on a figure. IRCC publishes processing times on its own live tool
- A date modified on one of the pages relied on. The rural pilot's language page did not print one when retrieved, so the comparison in the table above rests on the Instructions as well as on that page.
- Federal allocation figures per community. Communities do publish their own intake numbers, and at least one has published an annual figure, but we could not source a federal allocation table.
Where you stand under this pilot
A structured way to see where you sit against the published criteria and the Ministerial Instructions. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and it cannot predict a recommendation.
Your situation
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