Ontario is Canada’s most popular landing destination for immigrants from around the world.
As Canada’s most popular province, nearly 40 percent of Canadians call Ontario home. Ontario is also home to Canada’s capital city, Ottawa and its largest city, Toronto. In many ways, Ontario is the center of Canada’s economic, social, and political life. Ontario is by far the leading destination for newcomers to Canada. The province welcomes one third of all newcomers each year. People chose to land in Ontario because of its job opportunities, high income and diverse population. In fact, more than half of those living in Toronto were born outside of Canada.
Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is called the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).
Through this program, prospective immigrants with the skills and experience targeted by the province may receive a provincial nomination from Ontario, after which they can apply for Canadian permanent residence with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
If you wish to immigrate to Ontario, then you have three categories to choose from:
- Human Capital Category
- Employer Job Offer Category
- Business Category
The Human Capital Category is for skilled workers, French-speaking skilled workers and tradespersons. It is also for international graduates who graduated from an Ontario university with a Master’s or PhD degree. No job offer is required to apply through this category.
The Employer Job Offer Category is for candidates who have an eligible job offer in Ontario from an employer who is willing to nominate them.
Human Capital Category
The Human Capital Category itself divides into two sub-streams. One is the Ontario Express Entry. Programs in this sub-stream are enhanced. This means that they are linked with the Express Entry system.
The following programs fall into the Human Capital Category: Ontario Express Entry sub-stream:
- Human Capital Priorities: This category includes the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
- Skilled Trades: For individuals with relevant Ontario work experience in an eligible trade occupation.
- French-Speaking Skilled Worker: This program operates, like Human Capital Priorities, through FSWP and CEC. Applicants for French-Speaking Skilled Worker must have strong skills in both French and English.
If you receive a nomination through Ontario Express Entry, you will be notified. It will then be up to you, the candidate, to accept or refuse the nomination. Accepting the nomination awards you with an extra 600 CRS points. This means that you will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in the next all-program Express Entry draw.
The following programs fall into the Human Capital Category: International Graduates sub-stream. They are not aligned with Express Entry. An applicant must create a profile and register an expression of interest (EOI):
- Master’s Graduate Stream: For individuals who received Master’s degrees from an Ontario University
- Ph.D. Graduate Stream: For individuals who received Ph.D.’s from an Ontario University.
Employer Job Offer Category
The following three programs exist under the Employer Job Offer Category:
- Foreign worker stream: for skilled workers;
- International students: for recent graduates of Ontario post-secondary institutions;
- In-demand skills stream: for intermediate skilled workers in certain sectors, such as agriculture, construction, trucking and personal support workers.
Ontario Regional Immigration Pilot
The Regional Immigration Pilot works as part of the Employer Job Offer Category. The pilot helps Ontario attract and retain immigrants to rural and small communities in Ontario to fill labour shortages. It also supports the growth of the economy of in these communities.
This pilot is for people who have a job offer from an employer in a pilot community. Ontario has 150 nomination spaces for 2021 available.
There are three pilot communities that are part of the Ontario Regional Immigration Pilot:
- Chatham-Kent;
- Cities of Belleville and Quinte West;
- City of Cornwall.
To be eligible to immigrate to Ontario through its Regional Immigration Pilot, you must:
- Have a full-time, permanent job offer from an employer in one of the pilot communities;
- Meet the criteria for one of the Employer Job Offer streams.
If you wish to apply for the pilot, you first must register an Expression of Interest (EOI). When you are doing so, you will be asked if you intend to apply under the Regional Immigration Pilot.
Business Category
The Business Category is for those who wish to start a business or buy an existing business in Ontario. There is currently only one stream under the Business Category – Entrepreneur Stream.
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