Canada launched a new Agri-Food Pilot Immigration Program

Posted on MD RBPosted in News

The Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) launched a new Agri-Food Pilot program and it will accept applications from May 15, 2020, to May 14, 2023

Who are eligible to apply?

  1. Work Experience: You must have a minimum of 1 year of non-seasonal, full-time Canadian work experience in the past 3 years (at least 1,560 hours) in 1 or more of the below eligible occupations listed under 1 of the eligible industry
    • If you are applying through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program:
      A labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) with a minimum 12-month duration must have been submitted by your employer when hiring you.
      Any work experience you gained while holding an open work permit does not count.
  1. Job offer: The job offer must meet ALL of the following requirements:
    • The job must be in an eligible occupation listed under 1 of the eligible industries as stated above.
    • The job must be full-time – This means you work at least 30 paid hours per week.
    • The job must be non-seasonal – This means you have consistent and regularly scheduled paid employment throughout the year
    • Your employment is permanent – This means that there is no set end date.
    • For unionized positions, the wage must be determined by the applicable collective agreement.
    • For non-unionized positions, the wage must meet or exceed the Job Bank’s prevailing (median) wage for the occupation listed on your job offer in the province of employment (or at the national level if no provincial rate is available).
    • Your job offer must be for a job in Canada outside of Quebec.
  2. Language: CLB 4 on all bands and must submit your results from an approved language test and it must be less than 2 years old when you apply.
  3. Education: You must have at least a Canadian high school diploma or an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report from a designated organization. The ECA report must be less than 5 years.
  4. Settlement funds: You must have a minimum balance for the past 6 months as indicated below:
Number of Families Funds required in CAD
1 12,960
2 16,135
3 19,836
4 24,083
5 27,315
6 30,806
7 34,299
For each additional family member 3,492

What are the Eligible Industries?

Eligible Industries under the pilot by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS):

  1. meat product manufacturing (NAICS 3116)
  2. greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production, including mushroom production (NAICS 1114)
  3. animal production, excluding aquaculture
    • cattle ranching and farming (NAICS 1121)
    • hog and pig farming (NAICS 1122)
    • poultry and egg production (NAICS 1123)
    • sheep and goat farming (NAICS 1124)
    • other animal production (NAICS 1129)

What are the Eligible Occupations?

Under meat product manufacturing (NAICS 3116), eligible jobs are

  • NOC B 6331 – Retail butchers
  • NOC C 9462 – Industrial butchers
  • NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
  • NOC D 9617 – Food processing laborers

Under greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture production, including mushroom production (NAICS 1114), eligible jobs are

  • NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
  • NOC C 8431 – General farm workers
  • NOC D 8611 – Harvesting laborers

Under For animal production, excluding aquaculture (NAICS 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124, and 1129), eligible jobs are

  • NOC B 8252 – Farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
  • NOC C 8431 – General farm workers

How many applications will be accepted by eligible occupations?

There are annual limits on the number of applications that will be processed for each eligible occupation.

Starting on January 1 of each year, applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. This pilot will last for 3 years.

Eligible occupation Number of applications accepted per year
Farm supervisor or specialized livestock worker (NOC B 8252) 50
Industrial butcher (NOC C 9462) or retail butcher (NOC B 6331) 1470
Food processing laborer (NOC D 9617) 730
General farm worker (NOC C 8431) 200
Harvesting laborer (NOC D 8611) 300

How to Apply for Permanent Residence?

If you have both a job offer and work experience you can then apply for Permanent Residence. If you don’t meet both requirements, your application for PR will be refused.

Once the paper application is completed, mail your application to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Want to know your eligibility? Contact us.