CANADA IMMIGRATION

SKILLED IMMIGRANTS DRIVE ONTARIO’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

The Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) pilot program will be delivered through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). Image credit: NEWS CANADA.

The Ontario government has launched the Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) pilot program to target highly-skilled immigration for four rural and northern regions with a high demand for skilled labour.

REDI enables local employers in Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, Sarnia-Lambton and Thunder Bay to attract up to 800 additional workers for in-demand careers that drive local economic growth, such as healthcare, technology, and the skilled trades, which includes construction.

The new REDI pilot will be delivered through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which prioritizes and accelerates skilled immigration to fill in-demand labour needs that cannot currently be met.

Internationally-trained workers interested in applying for permanent residence under the REDI pilot, who have a job offer from an Ontario employer for a position located in one of the pilot communities, are encouraged to visit the OINP website.

The province is also training over one million local workers for in-demand careers in every corner of the province by investing up to $1.4 billion through the Skills Development Fund Capital and Training Streams in partnership with local employers, including over $250 million to train rural and northern workers to date.

A few quick facts:

The four regions selected for the REDI pilot were identified based on their high demand for skilled labour. The pilot is running for one year from January 2, 2025, until December 31, 2025.

Enabling internationally-trained newcomers to work in the professions they studied for could increase the province’s GDP by up to $100 billion over five years.

Ontario is investing $100 million in 2024-25 in settlement and employment services that help newcomers learn English or French, access job-ready training and land careers.

In 2023, Ontario nominated 2,045 health care workers, including physicians, nurses and personal support workers (PSWs), through the OINP.

Ontario recently passed the Working for Workers Six Act, 2024, which expanded immigration pathways for self-employed physicians using the OINP.