The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) is designed to allow the province to nominate and invite individuals who have the necessary skills and experience to live and work in Ontario. This program targets foreign skilled workers, entrepreneurs, international graduates who can help resolve the province’s skill shortages. The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program collaborates with the Canadian government through Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Ontario is the social, political and economic heart of Canada. It is the country’s most populous province with almost 40% of Canadians calling Ontario home. Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, and its largest city, Toronto, is also found in Ontario.
The Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP) accepts applications under three different categories:
- Human Capital Category
For individuals with relevant real work experience, education, language skills, and an Express Entry profile in Canada, or graduate students. - Employer Job Offer Category
For individuals who’ve already been offered a permanent position by an Ontario company. - Business Category
For businessmen who want to establish a new enterprise or purchase an existing one in Ontario.
Human Capital Category
The human capital category has two sub-categories, Ontario’s Express Entry and International Graduates, which is further sub-categorized into two and three streams, respectively.
Ontario Express Entry Streams
To be eligible for one of Ontario’s Express Entry streams, you must have received a notice of interest from the province and have an up-to-date profile in the federal government’s Express Entry system with your most recent work experience, language tests, and education.
- Ontario Human Capital Priorities – Express Entry Stream
Human Capital Priorities employs a merit-based method to identify qualified and experienced skilled workers from the federal Express Entry pool who can contribute to Ontario’s workforce long-term. - Ontario French-Speaking Skilled Worker – Express Entry Stream
The French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream of the Ontario Express Entry is for French-speaking skilled workers who have a strong command of the English language and want to establish themselves and settle in Ontario. - Ontario Skilled Trades – Express Entry Stream
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program’s (OINP) Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream allows skilled trades workers with work experience in a qualifying trade to settle permanently in Ontario using the federal Express Entry immigration system.
International Graduates Streams
The streams under this category operate under an expression of interest system. For international alumni to qualify under the two streams — the Master’s Graduate or Ph.D. Graduate streams — they need to create a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal.
Then, they should register an expression of interest for your specific graduate stream (which depends on the respective degree they attained from an Ontario university), have received an invitation to apply, and apply within two years of getting your graduate degree from a Designated Learning Institution in Ontario.
- Ontario Masters Graduate Stream
For international graduates who have a master’s degree from an Ontario university - Ontario PhD Graduate Stream
For international graduates who have a PhD degree from an Ontario university
Employer Job Offer Category
This immigration category has three streams that function under an expression of interest system. For you to qualify in one of the three streams under this category, you must create a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal. You must then register an expression of interest for the employer job offer category, have been invited to apply, and have been offered full-time, permanent employment by an Ontario business.
- Foreign Worker Stream
The Ontario Foreign Worker Stream, which falls under the Job Offer category, is open to applicants from both inside and outside Canada who have received an eligible job offer from an employer in Ontario. - International Student Stream
The International Student Stream of the Employer Job Offer category in Ontario provides a pathway to permanent residence for international students who have an offer of employment in an eligible skilled occupation in the province. - In-Demand Skills Stream
For intermediate skilled workers in specialized sectors such as construction, trucking, agriculture, and personal support workers
Ontario Regional Immigration Pilot
The Ontario Regional Immigration Pilot operates under the Employer Job Offer Category. The pilot program assists Ontario in attracting and retaining immigrants to meet labor shortages in rural and small towns. It also helps these communities’ economies thrive.
This pilot is for individuals who have been offered a job in a pilot community by a business. For the year 2021, Ontario has 150 nomination slots available.
The Ontario Regional Immigration Pilot is made up of three pilot communities:
- Chatham-Kent
- Cities of Belleville and Quinte West
- City of Cornwall
You must have a full-time, permanent work offer from an employer in one of the pilot communities and meet the requirements for a stream of Employer Job Offers category to be eligible to immigrate to Ontario under its Regional Immigration Pilot.
To apply for the pilot, you must first fill out an Expression of Interest Form (EOI). You will be asked if you want to apply under the Regional Immigration Pilot while doing so.
Business Category
There is just one stream in the business category — the Entrepreneur stream. To qualify, you must be an entrepreneur from outside of Canada who wants to start a new business in Ontario or purchase and expand an existing one.
- Entrepreneur Stream
For entrepreneurs from outside Canada interested in starting a new business or purchasing an existing one in Ontario
Here are Related Articles You Can Read Now
Canadian Immigration Pathways
Immigrate to Canada with Express Entry
Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs)