Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has confirmed that they will now accept expressions of interest (EOI) through their Masters and PhD Graduate streams. These streams provide recent eligible Ontario graduates a pathway to permanent residency.
OINP had announced late April 2021 that they would be opening this stream under an Expression of Interest system in addition to their Employer Job Offer streams.
How do the Masters Graduate and PhD Graduate streams work?
The Masters Graduate and PhD Graduate streams target recent graduates with a Masters or PhD degree from an eligible Ontario university. At least one full academic year of a Masters program, or at least two years of PhD studies must have been completed in Ontario.
Candidates eligible under the Masters Graduate stream must demonstrate language proficiency at a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in each area of an eligible French or English language exam.
Interested applicants must have resided in Ontario for at least one year of the past two years. Masters graduates must also be living in Ontario with legal status at the time of applying.
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 must be remitted. If nominated, the applicant will then be invited to apply for Canadian permanent residence.
Do I need a job offer to apply under the Masters or PhD Graduate streams?
Candidates applying under the Masters or PhD Graduate streams are not required to have a job offer in Ontario.
However, applicants must demonstrate proof that they have sufficient funds to settle in the province. If one does not need the minimum required funds, a job offer or ongoing employment in Ontario can be considered toward this requirement.
In addition, as applicants must demonstrate their intention to settle permanently in Ontario, a job offer may also help to establish one’s ties to the province.
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
