The Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP) Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) program, which launched last year as part of the Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP), has proven to be a success.
SLEP Economic Development Officer Cari Meloche said the program reached its main goals by the time it wrapped in December 2025.
"We actually met the target of the 200 nomination spaces in just one year. And what we were finding was that we were hearing from employers across the county in a very positive way to help them retain talent that they (already) had," said Meloche. "Oftentimes, we were hearing that these were difficult to fill positions. They were having a hard time attracting candidates for the position, and so they saw this as a great way to retain amazing talent at their place."
The REDI program was in collaboration with the federal government.
The goal was to not only assist local residents finding work, but the provincial government was also able to nominate people, such as foreign workers and international students, with the skills and experience. The federal government would then decide whether to approve applications for permanent residence.
"With the conclusion of the ready pilot as of the end of December, we see this as a great opportunity that it has brought awareness to the OINP, which still exists. And so our future goal at the Economic Partnership is to continue to support employers through the program, so that is not going away, that it will be a continued effort through the province, and we'll continue to support employers as they have questions for their hiring needs as well," said Meloche.
The program was intended to help accelerate skilled immigration to meet labour needs outside the Greater Toronto Area that weren't being met.
"We primarily heard overwhelming response from employers in the industry, such as healthcare, and that can be varying level of positions. We also had an overwhelming response from daycare centres and early childhood educators," said Meloche. "The intention has always been to fill those (spots) that have been hard to fill. And so even saying that, with the industries that we've seen such a demand and interest in, there are still positions in those hard to fill roles. So the labour needs are still there."
Throughout the program, SLEP collaborated with community partners such as Lambton College, the Chamber of Commerce, and local economic development offices to maximize the program's impact.
Employers from all sectors were able to participate, and the program found that overall, many employees continued in their positions once the program ended.
