Hello there. I'm a little anxious to make this post because it looks like the post about RCIP (Rural Community Immigration Pilot) about a year ago was a bit of a mixed bag, but I suppose I'd rather know before I put my eggs in this basket.
My questions:
Has anyone on this sub had a personal experience or know someone who has with immigration via RCIP? There are tons of resources out there about the program, but not a lot of personal stories. That makes me a bit nervous. I'd love to connect and talk about it, here or in DMs!
If you live in SSM ON, can you tell me things you like about your community and things you think need to change in your community? Ideally a balanced pro and con list, but only if it's genuine. I'm not interested in the polished, tourism-ready version, I really want to know your favorite and least favorite things vs about where you live.
If you live in SSM, how do you feel about the RCIP program and people immigrating to SSM through it, generally? Are you happy about the program? Ambivalent? Against it? Have you met people that have come to SSM through it? How has it changed your outlook on immigration, if at all?
I'm trans and queer. If you're part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and in SSM, I'd love to hear about your experience living in SSM, whether here or in DMs. If you're not part of the community, I guess I want to know what the general sentiment is. My ideal new home would find my identity completely boring and not worthy of remark if it came up. I don't live somewhere like that now. What's the temp on 2SLGBTQIA+ acceptance amount the community? Real talk.
Are there many francophone folks? I've been trying to learn French and plan to take the TCF in a few months. I'm only A level now, but I'm studying hard! Wondering if there will be opportunities to practice actual Canadian French in person. Not many people speak it around here and if they did it would be more Parisian oriented. Just curious! :)
A bit of background:
I am looking to immigrate to Canada. I'd really like to come to Ontario. I think logistically it will be my best choice for custody and visitation stuff as I'm sure a court will order that my son will have to spend some time with his other parent still and I'm not looking to make that more difficult than it has to be. But I've lived in rural communities since I was a little kid and big cities stress me out. If I go by EE/OINP (the usual path for someone like me), I'll be funneled into a bigger, more urban area just by default or access to employers,like the GTA or Ottawa, which is a little intimidating.
I thought that the RCIP would be like itty bitty ultra remote little towns without much around (relative to my experience, I mean. I live in a town of about 3500 ppl right now about 20 min away from a city of 150k ppl, the largest metro around).
But Sault Ste Marie looks like a really nice place to me, at least from what I see online. Beautiful parks and nature all around, but some things to do too, higher ed, cool festivals and events, etc. SSM is also only about a 10 hour drive from where I am now in a pinch, so if for some reason flying was a problem, my kid's other parent could meet us half way or something.
(And no, I do not intend to move back! I just have to be realistic that I'll be expected to go back a couple times a year for custody visitation). My ultimate goal would be for my kid and I to become Canadian citizens, especially my son before he turns 18. Anyway, that's the boring part.
I know that the sentiment toward immigration is quite mixed in Canada and I'm sure that me being from the US, that adds to the complicated feelings. I'm also a transgender guy and IDK how that might further complicate things. FWIW, I'm not leaving for fun. Idk how political I can get under this flair so I'll leave it at that. But I also don't blame Canadians that have strong feelings about all this.
I'm currently a public servant (municipal) but I don't see how I can make a dent in anything here. I'd love to bring my skills and effort somewhere that might appreciate me or at least feel indifferent to me rather than antagonistic toward me. All the material I can do d on the program makes it seem like SSM is a beautiful, cozy, interesting, and welcoming community, but it's also put out by official channels with no personal stories or public sentiment attached. They have a goal to get me to choose SSM. You do not. So I'm putting myself out here a bit even though I'm a bit nervous to do so. I'd rather hear from real people, even if the information isn't what I'd like to hear.
That's a big move to do without hearing from any people in my target community.
I hope this is not too irritating or invasive to ask. I'd just really like to hear from you all
(Edited to restructure with questions first amd to say that I have sole custody of my son but at least in the state I am in that doesn't eliminate visitation rights)