1. The candidate must meet the federal eligibility criteria.
2. The candidate must intend to live in the Community.
3. The wage offered in your offer of employment must $22 per hour or more, and must be above or within the range of wages for that occupation in the Job Bank for similar jobs in the region.
   • Note: Candidates who are currently working, studying, and/or residing for at least the last six months in the West Kootenay region will be exempt from the Community specific wage criteria of $22.00 per hour and may be paid wages between $18.00 to $21.99 per hour.
4. To apply to the West Kootenay RNIP:
   • Carefully read through the Applicants page
   • Then submit a complete application through our portal.

EMPLOYER refers to a business registered and/or an individual who owns any part in one or more businesses, numbered companies, franchise outlets, or companies with multiple locations in the West Kootenay Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot region.

To ensure that the job offers are genuine, these requirements must be met:

1. The Employer must be based within the Community boundaries of West Kootenay and be eligible to issue genuine job offers, as defined in the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship RNIP website.  
2. The Employer must attest to their efforts made to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident prior to providing an eligible job offer.
3. The Employer must have operated in the West Kootenays for a minimum of two years (as defined in the Ministerial Instructions) or have made a business investment of at least $200,000 in the West Kootenay region.
4. The Employer must not be in violation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) and/or provincial employment standards.
5. The Employer must not request or accept any form of payment in exchange for providing a job offer.
6. The wage in the Job Offer must:
   • Meet or exceed $22 per hour
     • Note: candidates who have worked and/or resided in the West Kootenay region for the last six months are exempt from the Community Specific Wage Criteria of $22 per hour, and may be offered wages between $18.00 to $21.99 per hour.
   • Be above or within the range of wages for that particular occupation in the Job Bank for similar jobs in the region

To ensure that RNIP is available to as many employers in the region as possible, an Employer Recommendation Limit has been created. The number of times an Employer can use the Pilot will be based on the number of full-time employees (30 hours/ week) they have. The RNIP Coordinator will ask the employer for proof of the number of full-time employees currently employed.

RNIP Recommendations Per Employer

• 1-14 full-time employees:   4 recommendations per year
• 15-29 full-time employees: 6 recommendations per year
• 30+ full-time employees: 8 recommendations per year

Recommendation Limit Exemption: Job offers in priority NOCs, as outlined above, will not count towards this cap.

Note: Candidates must meet the minimum of 26 Community Criteria points to be eligible, unless the job offer is for a West Kootenay Priority NOC job.

This group is based on the 2016 NOC Major Category 72. Follow link to learn about the different jobs this includes.

NOTE: fast food franchise employees are not eligible to apply under this exemption.