Expression of Interest system to be launched by the Ontario immigration

Ontario province is planning to manage the application process for some of its immigration streams using a system of Expression of Interest.

A proposal was published on September 8, mentioning the changes in the system by the Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development.

Under the above-mentioned proposal, OINP (Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program) will launch the Expression of Interest system (EOI system) in the following streams:

• Employer Job Offer category.

                     1.Foreign Worker stream.

                     2. International Student stream.

                     3. In-Demand Skills stream.

•   Masters Graduate.
•   Ph.D. Graduate.

Expression of Interest system work in the similar way as the Express entry system of Canada.

The proposal states, “Under an EOI system, individuals would register with the OINP and be placed in a selection pool.”

“Individuals would then be required to provide personal information and other labour market and/or human capital information that would form the basis of any Invitation to Apply (ITA).”

In the proposal mentioned on Tuesday will include the rights to:

• Conduct both targeted and general draws
• Issue invitations to the candidate who score top points
• Reward points to various factors like language skills and education
• Publish and determine Expression of Interest point allocations
• Give scores to the prospective applicants in the EOI pool

The province states that the introduction of the system will facilitate it to respond to the specific labor market needs in a better fashion.

Many Canadian provinces already have their own Expression of Interest systems, including Quebec, which introduced the Arrima system in 2018 and started its invitations in 2019.

Ontario province is seeking stakeholder feedback on this plan, whose consultation period is October 23rd, 2020.

Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream 

• In order to become eligible for this stream, the applicants need to you have:
• Full-time permanent job offers under NOC 0, A, or B
• Mandatory license in Ontario if the position demands
• 2 years of appropriate work experience in the last five years
•  Interest and intention to settle in Ontario

Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream 

• The applicants need to have the following criteria is a want to settle under this stream
• Full-time and a permanent job offer in NOC 0, A or B
• Either should have graduated with a two-year degree from a publicly funded college of Canada
• Are graduated in a full-time graduate diploma program from a publicly funded college of Canada
• Have done a minimum of half of their education in Canada
• Have legal status in Ontario
• Apply within a couple of years from the date of the completion of the above-mentioned course
• Have the intention to settle in Ontario

Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream 

The stream is meant to attract candidates with specific skills in the in-demand professions in Ontario. Applicants need to have:

• Permanent and full-time job offer under some occupations in the fields of construction or agriculture and meet the median wage criteria in Ontario for the occupation
• 9 months of relevant work experience in the last three years in one of the eligible occupations. It should be paid and full-time experience or an equivalent part-time experience
• Educational qualification must be Canadian High School level or higher
• Valid certification for any acclaimed work experience
• CLB/NCLC 4 level of English or French language proficiency
• Should be living abroad or be working or visiting or studying in Canada on an appropriate visa
• Should have the intention to settle in Ontario

Masters Graduates Stream 

These stream applicants can obtain permanent residency if they are international students who got their master’s degrees in the province even if they do not have a job offer.

The applicants need to have:

• Graduation from a master’s degree program from an educational institution of Ontario whose duration is at least one-year and full time
• Have a language proficiency of a minimum of CLB/NCLC level 7 in either English or French
• Legal residency in Ontario for at least one year
• Funds to settle in the province
• Intent to work in Ontario
• Must have legal status in abroad or Ontario province

Ph.D. Graduates Stream

International students can get an opportunity to permanently settle in Canada if they have a Ph.D. degree from Ontario even if they do not have a job offer

In order to become eligible, the candidate must have the following criteria:

• Should have graduated from a Ph.D. program in an educational institution in Ontario and should have finished the mentioned course in at least two years and full time
•  Should be living in Ontario for at least 1 year in the past two years
•  Have sufficient funds to settle
•  Intend to work and live in the province
•  The applicant has to submit the application within two years of graduating from   the Ph.D. degree.