RCIP in Claresholm, Alberta: How the Community Recommendation Works

Claresholm is the smallest RCIP community by allocations — 36 recommendations for 2026, issued three per month — and the most transparent about how it chooses: a published scoring grid, a monthly intake, and a committee that meets the Thursday after each intake closes. It is also the community with the clearest warnings for applicants, including a rule that the graduate work-experience exemption does not apply there at all. This post explains the whole process as the Town of Claresholm publishes it.

Sources: Claresholm RCIP — official Town page · 2026 Scoring Grid (PDF) · Short official page

The community and the program

The program is run by the Town of Claresholm — the Claresholm Economic Development Committee (EDC), with an RCIP Review Committee as a subcommittee of the EDC. Coordinator contact: eda@claresholm.ca, 403-468-8043, Town Office, 111 55 Ave West. The program launched April 29, 2025. The boundary is a 25 km radius including Granum and Stavely.

Allocations and intake. There are 36 allocations for 2026, issued 3 per month, with excess allocations usable at year-end. Sales & Service is capped at 6 allocations for the year. Intake periods run from the 1st of each month to the second-last Tuesday of that month; the Committee decides on the Thursday following; community recommendations are issued to the highest-scoring candidates two business days after the meeting. An application that is not fully completed — all forms and documents submitted and the interview completed — before the cut-off rolls to the next month’s meeting. By that rule, the November 2026 intake runs November 1–17, with the committee meeting Thursday, November 19. A 2027 priority-sector survey for employers closed November 2 at 11 AM, so 2027 selections are being set now.

Priority sectors — six, ranked highest to lowest priority

1. Health Care
2. Manufacturing & Utilities
3. Trades, transport and equipment operators
4. Education, Social, and Government
5. Agriculture
6. Sales & Services

Priority occupations — by sector

An occupation is eligible only under the sector it is listed under. A NOC cannot be moved between sectors.

Health Care: 33102 Nurse aides; 31301 Registered Nurse; 32101 Licensed Practical Nurse; 63200 Cook.

Manufacturing & Utilities: 65202 Meat cutters; 94103 Stone Saw Operator (effective July 1); 94140 Machine operators, Process control, food and beverage processing; 13110 Administrative assistant; 22100 Chemical technologist and technicians; 73100 Concrete Finishers; 72310 Carpenter; 22301 Mechanical Engineering Technologist and technicians; 94106 Machining tool operators; 72014 Concrete finishing foreman/woman; 94124 Woodworking Machine Operators; 92022 Supervisors, furniture and fixtures manufacturing; 93200 Aircraft assembler; 72404 Aircraft mechanic; 21390 Aerospace engineer; 20010 Engineering Manager; 22232 Senior Health and Safety Coordinator; 95106 Labourers in food and beverage processing.

Trades, transport and equipment operators: 75119 Mechanic Helper.

Sales & Services (full-service restaurant subsector only): 63200 Cook.

Education, Social, and Government: 13100 Administrative Officers; 72600 Flight Instructor.

Agriculture: 84120 Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators.

The page describes 25 occupations, but counting the listed entries gives 26 unique NOC codes — 63200 Cook appears twice, under Health Care and under Sales & Services. The sector lock is what matters: a cook in a full-service restaurant is scored under Sales & Services, while a cook in health care is scored under Health Care.

Scoring — how candidates are ranked

Claresholm is points-based. Each candidate needs at least 50 points total, with a minimum of 10 points in each of five categories: job offer, language, education, work experience and intent to reside (maximum 25 points per category).

Job offer points by sector: Health 22; Manufacturing & Utilities 17; Trades & Transport 14; Education, law, social, community and government 13; Natural resources & agriculture 12; Sales & Service 10.

Occupation bonus points: 33102 Nurse aides +3; 31301 Registered Nurse +2; 32101 Licensed Practical Nurse +1; 13100 Administrative Officers +2; 72600 Flight Instructor +3.

Language scales with TEER — for example, for a TEER 0 or 1 offer: CLB 6 = 10 points, CLB 7 = 15, CLB 8 = 20, CLB 9 or higher = 25; for TEER 4 or 5: CLB 4 = 10 up to CLB 7 or higher = 25.

Work experience: 1 year = 10 points, 2 years = 15, 3 years = 20, 4 or more years = 25.

Education: secondary diploma or foreign equivalent = 10, post-secondary credential of one year or more = 15, Bachelor’s degree = 20, Master’s or PhD = 25.

Intent to reside: a mandatory written statement = 10 points, plus up to 15 bonus points — previous work or education in the community (2–6 points), close family in the community for 12 or more months, volunteering or professional networks, rental or property ownership (2 points each), and a spouse or common-law partner with 6 or more months of work or study in the community (3 points).

How the process works — eleven steps

Step 1 — The Review Committee sets priority sectors and occupations for the year.

Step 2 — Employers complete the required training, apply for designation and meet with the Coordinator.

Step 3 — The Committee designates employers in priority sectors and occupations.

Step 4 — Designated employers recruit in Canada (temporary residents) or overseas, or support existing temporary workers.

Step 5 — Employers vet candidates against federal eligibility and make job offers. Candidates must contact and apply to designated employers directly; the EDC and the Coordinator play no role in hiring. All employers hiring through RCIP must list job offers on Canada Job Bank.

Step 6 — With a job offer, the employer requests the application package from the Coordinator, works with the candidate to complete it and gather documents, and submits it on the candidate’s behalf within an intake period.

Step 7 — The Coordinator reviews the package, assesses federal eligibility, and meets with eligible candidates (interview).

Step 8 — The Committee issues recommendations per the intake schedule and scoring grid; the candidate applies to IRCC for PR.

Step 9 — IRCC assesses eligibility and admissibility.

Step 10 — The candidate may apply for a work permit (optional).

Step 11 — IRCC decides on the work permit and PR.

Employer designation

Request the employer application package by emailing eda@claresholm.ca (employers only) with all of the following: business name; physical address within RCIP boundaries; how long operating there (minimum 2 years); priority industry; main business activities; positions to be hired for; how long, through what methods and with what success they have been hiring locally (they must prove recent genuine local hiring attempts); and why and how they intend to use RCIP. The page warns that emails that do not include all of these items will not be responded to.

Designation criteria: a genuine business in continuous active operation under the same management for 2 years in the community; business in at least one priority occupation with at least 75% of work performed within the community; completed intercultural competency training and mandatory onboarding training; agreement to support settlement of the principal applicant and family; not in violation of employer-compliance or employment-standards and occupational health and safety law. Excluded: consulates; businesses recruiting to transfer or contract workers to other businesses; businesses majority-owned or controlled by the foreign national or their spouse or common-law partner; and businesses owned by a representative under IRPA s.91(2). Employers must provide evidence of attempts to hire Canadian citizens or permanent residents (job ads, résumés received, reasons not selected) and must post vacancies on Job Bank. Designation lasts for the pilot duration (about 5 years) unless de-designated or withdrawn, but an employer can only use the pilot when its industry and occupation are on that year’s priority list; designation does not guarantee allocations. The Committee decides designations, and before that the employer must meet in person with the Coordinator.

Designated employers — only four are hiring

The list is published on the official page and updated by the end of each month. Twenty-seven employers are listed; only four are marked HIRING — Structural Precast (Manufacturing), Modern Stone / Stone Concept (Manufacturing), Tim Hortons (Sales & Services) and Silver Slate (Sales & Services). All others are marked NOT HIRING, including Willow Creek Continuing Care Centre, Optima Living, El Molino, BRC Aircraft, Western Fine Meats, KC Doors, Capstone (Claresholm Solar), Meadow Creek Meats, CFI Flight Academy, Kaz’s Service, A&W, Fas Gas And Kitchen, Casa Roma, Antree, Roy’s Place, Tom Harris Cellular, Blackwood Coffee & Bistro, UFA Claresholm Farm Store, Olymel and Lamb Farms. The page warns: do not contact employers listed as not hiring for job offers. Many are using RCIP only to support existing temporary foreign workers, partly because housing in Claresholm is very difficult to find.

Rules that differ from the federal baseline

The graduate work-experience exemption does not apply in Claresholm. The page states it plainly: “we have no qualifying schools within our RCIP boundaries.” International graduates cannot use the exemption here.

In-Canada status must be a work permit. Claresholm requires temporary resident status in Canada to be in the form of a work permit — not merely study or visitor status.

Occupations are locked to their sector. An occupation listed under one industry cannot be used by another industry.

Charging for a job offer is illegal. An employer or consultant cannot request or accept money for a job offer or interview — report it to eda@claresholm.ca. The page also warns candidates to verify any job offer directly with the employer (in person or by online interview) and not to trust a consultant who will not put them in direct contact with the employer.

If an employer is de-designated for fraud or abuse, the PR application is paused, not withdrawn, and the candidate gets a chance to find a new Claresholm job offer.

Settlement support: Willow Creek Immigrant Services (free), contact Roan Santos, rsantos@ccisab.ca; plus the Welcoming Claresholm Committee.

Fees

No community fee is stated on official Claresholm pages.

What to do next

• Check the occupation against the sector it is listed under — the sector lock decides eligibility, not the occupation alone.
• If you are an international graduate, do not plan on the work-experience exemption in Claresholm. It does not apply here.
• If you are in Canada, hold a work permit. Study or visitor status does not meet Claresholm’s requirement.
• Contact only the four employers marked HIRING. Do not contact the others for job offers.
• Get the file fully complete — forms, documents and interview — before the second-last Tuesday cut-off, or it rolls to next month.
• Never pay anyone for a job offer or an interview.

Frequently asked questions

How many recommendations does Claresholm issue? 36 for 2026, three per month, with excess allocations usable at year-end. Sales & Service is capped at 6 for the year.

Do I need 50 points to be considered? Yes — at least 50 points total, with a minimum of 10 in each of the five categories (job offer, language, education, work experience, intent to reside).

I graduated from a Canadian college. Do I still need work experience? In Claresholm, yes. The graduate exemption does not apply because there is no qualifying school inside the community’s boundaries.

Can I apply to the community directly? No. The employer requests the application package, completes it with you, and submits it on your behalf.

Does a recommendation guarantee permanent residence? No. It unlocks the PR application; IRCC makes the final decision.

How VG Immigration Services can help

If Claresholm is your community — or you are deciding between communities — book a consultation at vgis.ca or WhatsApp 416-578-9269. We check your occupation against the sector it is locked to, score your file against the published grid before an intake closes, and prepare the PR application once a recommendation is in hand.