The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), which helps foreign nationals immigrate to Canada to take hard-to-fill jobs in such areas as healthcare, specialized skilled trades, and technology, hit a record number of nominations for permanent residency last year, reports that provincial government.

“Demand for the OINP continues to be strong with the OINP issuing its largest number of nominations in its history in 2023,” notes the OINP website.

“In 2023, the province’s nomination allocation from the federal government was 16,500 nominations. The OINP met its full 2023 nomination allocation in December.”

The most popular immigration program for foreign nationals hoping to settle in Ontario through the OINP last year was the Masters Graduate stream which resulted in 5,407 nominations, followed closely by the Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream which resulted in 4,985 nominations, and the Ontario’s Express Entry Skilled Trades stream for another 3,017 nomination. 

The Employer Job Offer program’s three streams resulted in 2,421 nominations, or 1,122 under the Foreign Worker stream, 443 under the In-Demand Skills stream, and 856 under the International Student Stream.

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The PhD Graduate stream of the OINP resulted in 422 nominations and Ontario’s Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream led to another 251 nominations.

The most populous province in Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) also attracted three new immigrant entrepreneurs to Ontario to further boost its economy.

“In 2023, the OINP issued the highest number of nominations to skilled trades workers in its history, nominating over 4,500 skilled trades workers,” notes the OINP website. 

“Approximately, 28 per cent of all nominations were made to individuals with work experience or a job offer in a skilled trade occupation.”

Those included:

• welders and related machine operators;
• telecommunications installation and repair workers;
• supervisors, motor transport and other ground transit operators;
• user support technicians, and;
• construction millwrights and industrial mechanics.

OINP Helped Almost 2,000 Foreign Nationals Land Healthcare Jobs In Ontario Last Year

The OINP also nominated more than 2,000 healthcare workers, the largest number of healthcare workers in its history. Last year, roughly 12 per cent of all OINP nominations were made to healthcare workers.

Those included:

• pharmacists;
• general practitioners and family physicians;
• registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses;
• dentists, and;
• nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates.

Tech jobs attracted about a third, or more than 5,000, of the total number of nominations to the OINP last year, including:

• software engineers and designers;
• software developers and programmers;
• database analysts and data administrators;
• data scientists, and;
• computer and information systems managers.

With Ottawa giving the green light for targeted occupation Express Entry draws last year, francophone immigration to Ontario shifted to federal immigration programs.

“Nearly 300 nominations were made to individuals with high French-language proficiency,” notes the OINP.

“Most francophone applicants received nominations under the French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream. 

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“The program’s ability to nominate francophones in 2023 was significantly impacted by the federal government’s new category-based selection initiative, which included targeted rounds of invitations issued to francophone immigrants in the Express Entry system, many of whom would have otherwise applied to the OINP.”

The three immigrant entrepreneurs who settled in Ontario last year join five previously nominated since that stream was launched in 2016.

“By the end of the year, 53 additional applicants were in the stream’s compliance monitoring process actively running their businesses in Ontario,” notes the OINP.

Foreign nationals applying under the OINP now have to complete the Application Consent form but no longer need to provide an Attestation Form for applications made under the province’s Expression Of Interest (EOI)system stream.

Ontario Now Demanding Applicant Consent Form From All Immigration Applicants

“As of Feb. 26, 2024, all new applications for an … OINP nomination must include the Applicant Consent Form,” notes the province.

That form must be:

• completed;
• correctly dated;
• signed by the applicant;
• signed by the applicant’s spouse and dependents, if applicable, and;
• uploaded with other documents in the application.

“If the form is not completed correctly, your application will be returned as incomplete and your fee will be refunded,” notes the latest OINP update.

Representatives, including immigration lawyers, are not allowed to sign this form on their clients’ behalf.

“You must complete this form after you have received an Invitation To Apply (ITA), or a Notification Of Interest (NOI),” notes the province.

Ontario Immigration is advising all new applicants to carefully review the stream-specific document checklist to ensure they submit all mandatory documents.

The province also announced this year that it is now also accepting the Pearson Test of English (PTE) Core from Pearson Canada as proof of English proficiency for all OINP streams which require proof of English language proficiency and for OINP EOI points claims.

“Consistent with recent changes to federal policy, the OINP will The PTE will be an additional test that applicants may submit to the program to demonstrate their language ability,” notes Ontario immigration.

India remained the top source of new permanent residents to Ontario through its PNP last year, followed by China and Nigeria.

Canada operates a two-tier immigration system which allows foreign nationals to gain their permanent residency through the Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC), as well as the PNPs of the 10 Canadian provinces.

Under the Express Entry system, immigrants can apply for permanent residency online and their profiles then are ranked against each other according to a points-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The highest-ranked candidates will be considered for an ITA for permanent residence.

Those receiving an ITA must quickly submit a full application and pay processing fees, within a delay of 90 days.

Through a network of  PNPs, almost all of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories can also nominate skilled worker candidates for admission to Canada when they have the specific skills required by local economies. Successful candidates who receive a provincial or territorial nomination can then apply for Canadian permanent residence through federal immigration authorities.