Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot: West Kootenay, British Columbia

Those wishing to immigrate to Canada can apply for permanent residency in the municipality of West Kootenay.

The West Kootenay Region (Trail, Castlegar, Rossland and Nelson), located in British Columbia, is accepting applications under the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot. It is designed to allow foreign professionals to settle in communities where there is a labour shortage.

Applicants must receive a community recommendation. For this, you must meet the requirements of the immigration program and the requirements of the town where you plan to move.

Federal requirements

All applicants interested in applying for a recommendation from West Kootenay must meet the requirements of the federal government:

1 year of work experience within the last 3 years;
high school education;
language proficiency at the level appropriate to the profession;
sufficient amount of money;
job offer in a community.

West Kootenay community requirements

West Kootenay has additional requirements for applicants wishing to live in the community:

have resided in the West Kootenay for at least 6 months before submitting your application;
receive a job offer with a salary of at least CA$18 per hour and above the average for your position;
score 26 points in the assessment table (not required for those who have received a job offer in a priority profession).

West Kootenay awards points as follows:

Criterion	Points
Connections to the community
A close relative in West Kootenay (parent, child, sibling, spouse, common-law partner). 4 points for each relative, up to 8	8
A distant relative (cousin, nephew, niece) or friend in West Kootenay. 1 point for each relative/friend, up to 2	2
Residence in the community or traveling to the community
The candidate has lived in West Kootenay for 12 months or more	5
The candidate has lived in West Kootenay for more than 30 months	8
The candidate has lived in West Kootenay for more than 36 months	10
The candidate does not live in West Kootenay but has made a trip to the community for at least 7 nights	8
Work in West Kootenay and occupation
18 months of work experience in West Kootenay	5
24 months of work experience	8
30 months of work experience	12
36 months of work experience or more	15
A job offer in West Kootenay in one of the priority occupations (list below)	10
Salary and previous work experience
The wage offered is above $22 CAD per hour. 1 point for each $1 above $22, up to 10 points	10
1 point for each year of work experience in the occupation corresponding to the job offer, up to 15 points	15
Age
26 to 40 years of age	6
41 to 50 years of age	4
51 years of age and older	2
Language level on the CLB scale
CLB 4 and higher	4
Points for spouse/partner and children
The spouse/partner has 2 years of work experience within the last 5 years	4
The spouse/partner has at least 1 year of work experience in one of the priority occupations other than computer programmers and interactive media developers and software engineers and designers.	4
The spouse/partner has worked for at least 1 year in West Kootenay	2
The spouse/partner has lived for 1 year in West Kootenay	2
The spouse/partner has lived for 2 years in West Kootenay	3
The spouse/partner has lived for 3 years or more in West Kootenay	4
The spouse/partner passed a language test with a CLB level 4 or higher	2
The spouse/partner passed language tests with a CLB level 4 or higher in two official languages	1
The candidate's child is enrolled at West Kootenay's university or college	2

Priority occupations in West Kootenay

Applicants who have work experience and receive a job offer in one of the in-demand occupations have a higher chance of immigrating to West Kootenay. They do not need to score 26 points in the table above but must have worked in the community for at least 3 months before applying.

The list of priority occupations included: