Rocky Mountain House town council has voted to move forward with a program that aims to attract more newcomers to live and work in the region.
The Alberta government describes the program, known as The Rural Renewal Stream [as aiming] to address current labour needs and skill shortages in rural Alberta communities and helps newcomers settle into the community.
The program requires a community to apply to the Government of Alberta for community designation.
According to the government, once communities are designated, they will then work with employers to attract, recruit and retain newcomers by sharing information on settlement supports. This may include accommodation, education, health care and services such as language training.
Mayor Debbie Baich says the program is important for the community. “It fast tracks companies hiring immigrant employees. [They will receive support] making sure their paperwork is in order and [businesses] will be provided with another source of employees.”
The mayor says the town is moving forward with the initiative. “[Town council] passed it yesterday that we are moving forward with the program. The Chamber of Commerce received quite a high level of feedback that the community would like to see this move forward. It requires town participation for it to be possible. I know it’s been quite successful in surrounding communities in Central Alberta. And it just puts us at a point where now Rocky is comparable to other communities when businesses are looking to hire employees.”
Baich also notes the town, as required, is looking into hiring a staff member to facilitate the program. “Our administration has said that they will start working on some of the processes before a staff member is hired. We are looking to fill that position. We’re very conscientious about how many staff we have and what their duties are, but this definitely fills a need for our community.”
You can read more about the Rural Renewal Stream here.
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