Agri-Food Immigration Pilot with Low Threshold and Low Cost!

Why does Canada launch this project?In July 2019, in order to fill the labor shortage in the agri-food industry, especially in the areas of meat processing and mushroom production, Canada launched the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot.Agriculture and the agri-food industry are important contributors to Canada's economic growth and vitality, providing one-eighth jobs across the country. Canadian Agricultural Federation Chairman Mary Robinson pointed out that without addressing the shortage of workers in the non-seasonal agriculture and food processing industries, many potential Canadian investors will be discouraged.In order to solve this problem, a new pilot project of immigrants came into being, which targeted the agricultural labor force. Canada hopes that by providing opportunities for foreign workers to become permanent residents, it will attract these qualified foreign workers to stay and contribute to Canada's agriculture.The project complements Canada's economic immigration strategy and will be implemented in May 2020 for a three-year period. There are about 2750 quotas per year.Let's take a look at the application requirements, project advantages, and project application process of the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot.

Project requirements for applicants:

1. You must have Canadian work experience.

Your Canadian work experience must be

· 1 year of non-seasonal, full-time work (at least 1,560 hours in the past 3 years), and

· in an eligible occupation within an eligible industry, and

· through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

o A Labour Market Impact Assessment with a minimum 12-month duration must have been submitted by your employer when hiring you.

· The wage must meet or exceed the Job Bank’s prevailing wage for your job offer’s occupation 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 but outside of Quebec.

2. You must prove your ability in English or French.

The minimum language requirements for the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot are CLB/NCLC Level 4 in

You must submit your results from an approved language test. These results must be less than 2 years old when you apply.

3. Educational requirements

You must have at least a Canadian high school diploma, or an educational credential assessment (ECA) report, from a designated organization or professional body, showing that you completed a foreign credential at the secondary school level or above.

4. Settlement funds

If applicable, you must prove you have enough money to get settled in Canada. You’ll need to support yourself and any family members you may have, even if they’re not coming to Canada with you.

Those already working in Canada with a valid work permit are not required to provide proof of funds.

Eligible industries

Your employer needs to include the industry code in your job offer.

Eligible industries for the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot are

· meat product manufacturing (NAICS 3116)

· greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production, including mushroom production (NAICS 1114)

· animal production, excluding aquaculture (NAICS 1121, 1122, 1123, 1124 or 1129)

Eligible jobs under the pilot program

Eligible jobs for the pilot are classified by the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code. You can see the duties for each job by searching the National Occupational Classification website.

Eligible jobs for each eligible industry are listed below.

For 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 labourers

For 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 labourers

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

Application limits by occupation

There are annual limits on the number of applications that are processed for each 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. For the first and final years of the pilot, the annual limits are adjusted based on the remaining period for that year under the pilot.

CIC will refund the fees for any applicant whose application is rejected because the limits have been reached.

Project Advantages:

1. Without a scoring system, applicants can meet the basic requirements;

2. No age restriction;

3. Educational requirements are low, high school education or above is sufficient;

4. Low language requirements, CLB 4 is enough (IELTS listening 4.5, reading 4.0, reading 3.5, writing 4.0);

5. Can land as soon as possible and enjoy the benefits of Canada;

6. The federal pilot project is strongly supported by the government and the trial period is short.

Application Process:

1. Signing and evaluation;

2. Match applicants with employers who have obtained LMIA (1-3 months);

3. Get a job offer;

4. Prepare materials and submit work permit application (1 month);

5. Obtain a three-year work visa and work for an employer (2-3 months);

6. Submit an immigrant visa application (12 months) after one year of work;

7. Immigration visa approval (6 months);

8. The immigration visa is approved and permanent status is obtained.

Therefore, those who want to immigrate through this project can start to act now! !!For example: start WES certification in advance, start to learn IELTS, and people with zero foundation can basically achieve IELTS 4 points after a period of study. In short, the difficulty factor of this project is extremely low, as long as you are willing, it is feasible! The only thing to note is: Finding an employer in Canada to get a work permit is the important part!J&M has a lot of employer resources in Canada, such as in British Columbia, Ontario, and Manitoba, etc.!!Any pilot project is loose at the beginning. After the number of applicants increases, the review requirements or policies are gradually tightened. For employers too, when the project just started, there are relatively many suitable employers; after the project is applied for more, employer resources will be less and less, and the difficulty will naturally increase. So those who are interested, hurry up!