What is the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)?

What is the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)?

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) is the province’s economic immigration program. It is offered in partnership with the Government of Canada through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
What does the OINP consist of?

The program facilitates the immigration of skilled foreign workers, professionals and managers, and foreign students to meet the human resource needs of Ontario businesses. The OINP identifies candidates for permanent residence who have the skills and experience that Ontario's economy needs.

Interested applicants must follow a two-step process: applying for OINP designation with the provincial government and then, if nominated, applying for permanent residence with the federal government. IRCC will have the final say in approving applications for permanent residence.

To be designated by the POCI, you must belong to one of these three categories:

    The Job Offer Category: for workers who have received a permanent job offer from an Ontario employer;
    The Human Capital Category: for workers with relevant work experience, education and language skills, as well as a profile in the Government of Canada's Express Entry system, or for graduates;
    Business Category: for entrepreneurs who want to start a new business or buy an existing business in Ontario.

Job Offer Category

This category has 3 components:

    The foreign workers component, for people who can occupy a specialized position;
    The Foreign Students Stream, for new graduates in Ontario;
    The Sought-after Skills component, for workers with an intermediate specialization in specific sectors, such as agriculture, construction, trucking and personal support services.

Human Capital Category

This category includes 2 sub-categories: that for foreign applicants with a diploma and that of the Ontario Express Entry Program.

There are two streams for foreign applicants with a diploma:

    Foreign applicants with a master's degree
    Foreign applicants with a doctorate component

The Ontario Express Entry Program has three components:

    The Francophone Skilled Worker component, for Francophones with the required work experience, education and language skills (French and English);
    The Priority component based on human capital, for skilled workers with the required work experience, education and language skills (French or English);
    The Skilled Trades Stream, for people with Ontario work experience in an eligible skilled trade.

Business Category

This category is for foreign entrepreneurs looking to start a new business or buy and grow an existing business in Ontario.

To be eligible, you must, among other things:

    have at least 24 months of full-time business experience within the past 60 months
    have a minimum equity worth of C $ 800,000 if your proposed business is located in the Greater Toronto Area, or C $ 400,000 if it is located outside of this region
    control at least one-third of the company's stock and make a minimum personal investment of C $ 600,000 if your proposed business is located in the Greater Toronto Area, or C $ 200,000 if it is outside this region
    create at least two permanent full-time positions for Canadian citizens or permanent residents if the business will be located in the Greater Toronto Area, or at least one permanent full-time position for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident if it will be located outside of this region or in the digital information and communications technology sector, regardless of location.

For more details on the eligibility criteria for this stream, you can go directly to the Government of Ontario website.