The Regional District of Central Kootenay will provide Community Futures Central Kootenay with $40,000 to help sustain its Rural Community Immigration Pilot. The pilot is the successor to the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, which ran from 2019 to 2024 to help fill jobs throughout the region. Community Futures asked the RDCK in October to consider providing financial support to keep the program sustainable. However, some questioned whether funding the pilot through the RDCK’s general administration service, funded by all taxpayers, was appropriate. “I’m just a little apprehensive that in the rural area we don’t see the benefit of this,” said Vandenberghe.