Beyond the Numbers: Assessing the Settlement Trajectory of Highly Skilled Immigrants in Ontario's Rural Landscape


Monisha Poojary, York University

Canada’s rural regions have experienced a decline in population rates over decades. Yet, recent regional-based immigration programs such as the AIP and RNIP have aimed to address such shortages within participating regions. While the AIP focuses on attracting applicants based on an employer-centric model, the RNIP uses a community-centred approach that focuses on attracting applicants that are most likely to remain in the region by focusing on factors like number of family/friends living in the region, previous experience living or working in the region or a similar small-mid town region. These immigration programs have been considered a success with population sizes within some of Canada’s rural region experiencing an increase after years of declining rates. Nonetheless the long term impacts of such immigration programs on these particular regions has yet to be seen. While programs like the RNIP adopt a merit-based approach to selecting applicants based on factors like education, financial status, skills and occupation level, it remains to be seen whether these regions will have the infrastructure and opportunities in place to sustain this new population. Using data from the 2021 census, this explores the settlement experiences of highly skilled immigrants in five rural regions in Ontario that have participated in the RNIP program (North Bay, Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay). By looking at factors like labour force status, housing, and financial status, this paper seeks to examine whether such highly skilled immigrants are able to achieve financial stability or whether lack of infrastructure and poor resources means these individuals will undergo processes of deskilling. In doing so, this paper calls to attention the importance of sustainable growth initiatives that aim to address the growing need for immigration in small to mid-size regions while also addressing these infrastructure issues that can sometimes create barriers to long term settlement. 

This paper will be presented at the following session: