BARRHEAD – Woodlands County wants to become the next community to receive the Rural Renewal Stream designation.
Or more accurately, they hope to become one of the communities to receive the special designation under the GROWTH Alberta umbrella.
GROWTH Alberta (also known as the Grizzly Regional Economic Alliance Society) is one of nine Regional Economic Development Alliances (REDA). Its purpose is to create economic growth through marketing.
At their Feb. 1 meeting, Woodlands County councillors voted to support GROWTH Alberta's application to become a Rural Renewal Stream.
The Rural Renewal Stream enables rural communities with less than 100,000 people to attract and retain immigrants by working with local employers and settlement-providing organizations to offer employment and support services, including housing, language training, health care, and education. The stream requires that communities apply for designation through the provincial government.
The program is part of the province's Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP). The AAIP is part of the province's efforts to combat the growing labour shortage. It does this by helping employers recruit foreign nationals to apply for jobs.
Once a community receives a Rural Renewal Stream designation, a local council or a settlement organization can endorse a potential immigrant by writing a letter of support. A prospective worker could then use the letter as part of an immigration application package.
Woodlands economic development officer Bert Roach noted that receiving the designation would allow GROWTH member communities, such as the towns of Swan Hills, Mayerthorpe and Woodlands County to become de facto Rural Renewal Stream communities.
"Because of current labour market conditions, a couple of our Woodlands County businesses have approached us asking if the municipality would be willing to apply for the designation," he said, adding three of Woodlands County's neighbouring communities, including the Town of Whitecourt, and the town and county of Barrhead, have applied for the designation.
In order for a business to qualify for the program, it must have at least one vacant full-time position defined as a minimum of 30 hours a week. The position must not be seasonal. It is worth mentioning that nominated candidates must live in the community where their job is.
Roach also noted that in order to qualify, selected communities must have the endorsement of a settlement assistance organization or organizations which will collaborate with the community to identify and plan for settlement needs for the successful integration of newcomers into the community. According to the program's website, the organizations do not have to be local.
"By combining our forces with the REDA, we can create a better regional settlement plan as well as help more of our communities become designated communities so that all those collective businesses can identify nominated candidates and put them forward in the program," he said.
In the public agenda package, it notes GROWTH will ask the two public school divisions in the REDA — Pembina Hills School Division and Northern Gateway Public Schools — to serve as two of the settlement support agencies along with the Yellowhead Regional Library along with its affiliated branches.
Current GROWTH members include Swan Hills, Mayerthorpe, the County of Barrhead and Lac Ste. Anne County. However, it should be noted that Lac Ste. Anne County informed the REDA that they did not believe they were getting enough benefits from the organization and would not be renewing their membership, which is set to lapse on March 31.
Goose Lake/Freeman River Coun. Peter Kuelken supported GROWTH's application.
"It shows that we are actually trying to develop a regional strategy," he said.
Reeve John Burrows agreed, saying, "It is a fantastic use of the REDA and it is going to show other communities that there is value in the organization."
At one time, the organization's membership roster was in the teens, but in recent years that number has dwindled.
The organization is in the process of attempting to rebuild itself, focusing on its newly relaunched WILD Alberta tourism brand, characterized by a yearly brochure/magazine and a website.
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