New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot Program

New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot Program

Overview

The provincial government of New Brunswick has introduced the New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot Project (NBCWP). The new stream provides more flexibility by allowing participating employers to provide skills and language training as well as guidance and support to the newcomers they bring into the province. It is an employer driven program in which candidate’s application are made through the employer. The candidate is not allowed to apply without an employment offer from a participating employer under the pilot program.

Participating Partner Employers

Six participating employers who are spread throughout the province and span a wide range of industries and sectors:

• Cooke Aquaculture Inc.;
• Groupe Savoie Inc.;
• Groupe Westco;
• Imperial Manufacturing;
• D. Irving Ltd.; and
• McCain Foods

Settlement Support

The program select the economic newcomers through the New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program, the eligible applicants for the New Brunswick Critical Worker Pilot Project (NBCWP) will receive an additional settlement support. To ensure applicants receive this support, participating employers must prove that they can provide:

• Robust settlement plans for housing and transportation, to best support the successful establishment of candidates in their new jobs and communities, with a strong commitment to long-term retention;
• Comprehensive human resources planning for recruiting and hiring skilled international talent, and for on-the-job skills enhancement;
• Provide up to 200 hours of language training, as required, to candidates; and
• Offer guidance and support to candidates who may wish to pursue their Canadian secondary education equivalency.

Eligibility

• The applicants applying under the pilot program should have an employment offer from an eligible employer.
• It is to be considered for the nomination and must be able to demonstrate their intent to live in the province.
• The employment offers have the competitive wages as per the New Brunswick wage rates for the occupation.
• The applicants must apply directly to one of the program employers instead of the provincial government.

A spokesperson for Opportunities New Brunswick (ONB) wrote recently regarding the early success of the program and said this could translate into numbers reaching nearly 300 nominees and their families being supported through this pilot in 2023.

ONB says, “As the program is quite new, the government is still monitoring outcomes closely. At this stage, it is still too soon to provide any representative numbers.”

For now, it is not expected that the program will expand to include other employers. ONB says the pilot remains limited in its scope, and as such, it is not currently open to broader participation.

“While we’re all experiencing a bit of a learning curve, participant employers have been readily engaged and enthusiastic about the Critical Worker Pilot.”