Canada Immigration: New Brunswick announced Pilot Project for critical workers

On November 7, 2022, the Canada Immigration Minister, Hon. Sean Fraser announced the introduction of New Brunswick's 5-Year Critical Worker Pilot Program. This new pilot will provide a permanent residency pathway to skilled workers into occupations that are difficult to fill in 6 participating companies:

• Cooke Aquaculture
• Groupe Savoie Inc.
  
• Groupe Westco
  
• Imperial Manufacturing
  
• J.D. Irving Ltd.
  
• McCain Foods
  

The Federal Government and New Brunswick selected these employers for the pilot programs as they:

• have a history of being supportive towards newcomers
• have better understanding about the New Brunswick PNP
  
• have consistent immigrant recruitment practices
  
• have excellent settlement programs 
  
• provide language support and on-the-job training
  

Being a part of this New Brunswick's 5-Year Critical Worker Pilot Program, employers must meet the key requirements. They must:

• Have housing and transportation plan for supporting candidates
• Have inclusive human resources planning to recruit and hire international workers
  
• Provide a minimum of 200 hours of language training
  
• Provide support to those who wish to pursue their secondary education
  

This  5-year pilot program will be regularly monitored and evaluated for responsiveness to New Brunswick's immigration needs.