Sault Ste. Marie is a city, which is located in Ontario and separated by a river from the Michigan city of the same name. The Canadian Sault Ste. Marie accepts applications from immigration candidates under the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.
The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is a program for foreigners who wish to live and work in small and remote communities of Canada. One of the communities participating in the program is Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Participants in this pilot program must meet both federal requirements and community-specific criteria.
Sault Ste. Marie uses a point system to select candidates. Applicants must score a minimum of 70 points based on the following requirements (it is not necessary to meet all the criteria at the same time):
- job offer for an occupation in demand (see the list below);
- at least two years of work experience in this occupation;
- age between 18 and 47 years old;
- at least one year of work experience at Sault Ste Marie;
- minimum one year of post-secondary studies in Sault Ste. Marie;
- residence in Sault Ste. Marie (a contract of purchase or rental agreement);
- personal relations with a permanent resident of Sault Ste Marie;
- family relation to a citizen or permanent resident of Canada;
- at least one visit to Sault Ste. Marie for a minimum of five days in the last three years, during which the applicant met with at least two potential employers;
- genuine knowledge and interest in the recreational and cultural life of Sault Ste. Marie.
Occupations in demand include the following groups of professions according to the National Occupational Classification (NOC):
- NOC 07–09: Middle management occupations in trades, transportation, production and utilities
- NOC 11: Professional occupations in business and finance
- NOC 21: Professional occupations in natural and applied sciences
- NOC 22: Technical occupations related to natural and applied sciences
- NOC 30: Professional occupations in nursing
- NOC 31: Professional occupations in health (except nursing)
- NOC 32: Technical occupations in health
- NOC 34: Assisting occupations in support of health services
- NOC 40: Professional occupations in education services
- NOC 44: Care providers and educational, legal and public protection support occupations
- NOC 72: Industrial, electrical and construction trades
- NOC 74: Other installers, repairers and servicers and material handler
- NOC 75: Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
- NOC 76: Trades helpers, construction labourers and related occupations
- NOC 75: Transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations
- NOC 76: Trades helpers, construction labourers and related occupations
- NOC 92: Processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors and central control operators
- NOC 94: Processing and manufacturing machine operators and related production workers
- NOC 95: Assemblers in manufacturing
- NOC 96: Labourers in processing, manufacturing and utilities
- NOC 6321: Chefs
- NOC 6322: Cooks
A list of job vacancies can be found on the Sault Ste. Marie website.
The spouse or common-law partner of the main applicant will also get points for work experience and language skills:
- valid job offer in a priority occupation (see the list above) or at least two years of continuous work in a priority occupation;
- proficiency in English or French at the minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 in all four language abilities (writing, reading, speaking and listening).