At exactly 10 a.m. on April 7, people around the world were poised in front of their computers to apply for a local immigration program.
Nelson-based Local Community Immigration Pilot (LCIP) had set up an online portal up to receive a maximum of 25 applications, and again once monthly for the rest of the year.
But when it opened, the site received 25 applications in less than two minutes and then shut down, leaving unknown numbers of applicants excluded and frustrated.
They thought their applications would be decided on merit, not on speed.
This prompted a dismayed anonymous letter to the Nelson Star as well many complaints on Facebook. The concern was that decisions about acceptance to the program were supposed to be made according to very specific qualifications and a points system, not on chance or internet speed.
What was the point, they asked, of preparing for weeks to compile various qualifying information just to be randomly shut out of the application process?
Andrea Wilkey, executive director of Community Futures Central Kootenay that runs the federal program locally, said she understands the criticism.
“I know there’s a lot of people that are frustrated and disappointed, and we recognize and acknowledge that,” she said.
The program is experiencing the effects of the federal government’s cutback in eligibility for immigration programs last year, said Wilkey. There are fewer programs, but just as many applicants.
“The federal government has reduced the number of immigration pathways and capped the number of new Canadians coming to our country,” she said. “So there’s more interest in our LCIP than there was (before those government changes) and it’s much, much more competitive now.”
She said in February the program received 22,500 unique visits on the Kootenay website.
Community Futures ran an earlier version of the program from 2000 to 2024, with manageable intake numbers, and in that time they placed immigrant employees in 700 jobs with 191 employers in the West Kootenay.
“And when we surveyed them a couple of years later,” Wilkey said, “90 per cent of them were still in the West Kootenay and 80 per cent were still with the same employer. So we see that as a resounding success.”
In 2022 the program won an innovation and excellence award from Community Futures BC.
The West Kootenay is one of 14 rural communities in the country running the pilot program. The point is to attract international workers, not to Canadian urban centres but to encourage them to work toward permanent residency status in rural areas that have worker shortages.
The federal government has allocated 200 job placements to the West Kootenay program for the remainder of 2026. Community Futures’ plan was to phase this in by accepting 25 per month starting in April.
To apply, an applicant must first have a local full-time permanent job offer from an established employer in a field of employment that is needed locally including a variety of occupations in health, community services, trades, business, and manufacturing.
They also must have work experience in the field, an appropriate educational credential, proven language proficiency, and proof of ability to support oneself after arriving in Canada. They must also show an intention settle in the West Kootenay.
Once they have collected this information and qualification, the applicant heads for the portal on the program’s website to formally apply, which many did on April 7.
Asked if Community Futures could not leave the portal open longer or take more than 25 applicants at a time, Wilkey said her office does not have the staff to process more applications. The federal government, she said, does not offer funding to administer the program, for which Wilkey has to spend much of her time applying for grants.
The program is overseen by a steering committee of local people involved in employment and education. Wilkey said the committee will have to discuss how to proceed.
“We don’t want applications to be accepted because of speed as opposed to merit.”
Perhaps they could leave the portal open longer, or open it more often, but then she worries that the quality of the program would suffer because she would not have the staff to run it effectively.
Given the overwhelming response and her staff shortage, Wilkey said Community Futures needs to consider whether to continue running the pilot at all.
Accepting more applications could mean a program run less effectively, and this could risk the program’s reputation with employers.
“So I just want to flag that a very real consideration for us is not continuing to do this.”
READ MORE:
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• Rural Community Immigration Pilot announces West Kootenay priority sectors
• West Kootenay immigration pilot receives award for excellence