The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) recently announced the expression of interest (EOI) system for the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream is now open for submissions.
OINP announced late April of this year that they would be opening this stream under an Expression of Interest system, in addition to the Masters Graduate and PhD Graduate streams. The OINP has not yet announced when the latter streams will be opening.
How does the In-Demand Skills Stream work?
Eligible candidates must have a qualifying full-time, permanent Ontario job offer in an occupation identified as in-demand in the province. Candidates must also have a minimum of 9 months of full-time experience working in Ontario in the same in-demand occupation. Interested applicants must demonstrate language proficiency at a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4 in each area of an eligible French or English language exam. A minimum Canadian high school diploma or equivalent demonstrated through an Education Credential Assessment is also required to submit an Expression of Interest.
Ontario has been allocated a total of 8,600 nominations to issue, 250 of which are reserved specifically for temporary foreign workers working in NOC skill type C.
Applicants who meet the minimum eligibility requirements must submit an Expression of Interest to be ranked on a points-based system. Once a candidate submits an EOI, Ontario will assign the profile a score; subsequently, OINP will hold a draw and invite the highest ranking profiles to apply for nomination.
Once a candidate receives an invitation to apply for nomination, they have 14 calendar days to submit an application to the province. At this time, an application fee of $1,500 or $2,000 (depending on the location of the job offer) must be remitted. If nominated, the applicant will be invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence.
How does OINP determine my EOI score?
Ontario’s Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) ranks candidates on various applicant and job offer factors, including:
- The skill type and NOC type of the job offer (excludes Masters Graduate or PhD Graduate streams);
- How much the job offer pays annually (excludes Masters Graduate or PhD Graduate streams);
- Number of years of Canadian work experience;
- The skill type of the Canadian work experience;
- The annual salary of past Canadian work experience;
- Highest level of education (only considered for International Student Stream);
- Field of study (excludes Foreign Worker or In-Demand Skills streams);
- Canadian education experience (excludes Foreign Worker or In-Demand Skills streams);
- Official language ability (excludes Foreign Worker or In-Demand Skills streams);
- Location of job offer (excludes Masters Graduate or PhD Graduate streams);
- Location of study (excludes Foreign Worker or In-Demand Skills streams)
OINP may also add an additional 10 points to a candidate’s score to address labour market needs as required.
Lauren Boorman
