The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program Is Accepting applications.

The OINP is in essence, an immigration program for immigrants who already have an existing job offer in Ontario. By virtue of this program, it aids employers to find the right fit of suitably skilled workers foe enterprise. Similar to LMIA, the employers or investors strive to recruit, in some cases recruit, foreign nationals or temporary residents, and the corresponding applications are subject to approval by the province of Ontario. Once the potential employee receives the nomination, he/she can then apply for Permanent Residence with IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada). As far as the categories of nominees go, here’s a quick glance at the various streams through which you can apply:

• General Category
• Employers can aim to recruit through Employee Job Offer International Student Stream
• Individuals can apply for themselves through International Masters Graduate Category & Ph.D. Graduates Category
• For business owners and entrepreneurs, the applications can be sent through the Corporate Stream and Entrepreneur Stream

General Category

To be considered eligible to apply through this stream, the following criteria need to be met:

• You either live outside or in Canada presently with legal status ( like a work permit)
• Possess a valid job offer in Ontario that comes under Skill Type 0 ( titles that resemble managerial positions and occupations) or Skill Level A ( those with professional designations) or at the very least, Skill Level B ( technical jobs and skilled trades category) as seen on the Canadian National Occupational Classification ( NOC).
• Have the support of an employer who has been pre-screened and approved by Opportunities Ontario.

The application process can be initiated only after your employer has nominated you and only the employer can begin the application; not by yourself.

Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream

To apply under this stream, you must:

• Possess a diploma or degree from an eligible Canadian College or University
• Have a Job offer that corresponds to Skill type O, A or B
• Have an employer who has been pre-screened and approved of by Opportunities Ontario is

The highlight of this stream is that the job offer you have need not necessarily be related to your field of study.

International Masters and Ph.D. Graduates

A major advantage of this stream is that the Ph.D. graduates and those who have completed their International Masters do not require a job offer. Through this stream, you don’t even need an employer. To be eligible for this stream:

To be eligible under the International Masters Graduates category, you must:

• Have to apply within 2 years of completing a Masters Degree
• Have legal status in Canada and reside in Ontario.
• Plan to live and work in Ontario in the future on top of having lived in Ontario for at least one cumulative year during the past two years.
• Be able to demonstrate a high level of English and French proficiency
• Have no intention of pursuing further studies in Ontario.

To be eligible under the International Ph.D. Graduates category, you must:

• Apply within two years of earning your Ph.D. Degree
• Have legal status in Canada (although you can apply from outside Canada)
• Intend to live and work in Ontario.

Corporate and Entrepreneur Streams

To be eligible under the Corporate stream, your corporation and its key staff must:

• Have at least invested $5 million in a business in Ontario.
• Allocate 5 full-time and permanent positions for permanent residents or Canadian Citizens for every key staff position.
• The hired key staff must not only be essential to the business, but they also need to exhibit a minimum language requirement ( Canadian language Benchmark 5 at the very least )

To be eligible under the Entrepreneur stream, you must:

• Personally invest a sum no less than $500,000
• Create or fill at least two full-time permanent positions for Canadian citizens or permanent residents
• Demonstrate t a minimum language requirement (Canadian Language Benchmark 5)

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) is now in the process of accepting applications to the Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream.

One must act fast as once the intake limit has been met, the system shall automatically prevent any further registrations from being submitted. At the moment, the opening has been paused due to some technical issues, but the OINP is investigating the issue and shall have it continue operations at the earliest Also, on a side note, the Employee Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream shall be reopened shortly in 2020. Stay tuned!