Updates on the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program for July 2020

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) was extremely active in July 2020, the details of which have been noted below. It is worth mentioning that Ontario is a highly sought-after province and gained over 139,000 new immigrants in 2019 alone. All of OINP’s programs are extremely popular, but their Foreign Worker Stream and Masters Graduate Program are most popular, due to their limited intake quota and online registration process. On July 21, 2020 the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream Program opened and closed its registration on the same day, as they reached their internal registration limit of 1,300 within hours. The program is now closed and an update on when the program will reopen for 2020 is to be followed.

On July 29, 2020, OINP also issued Notifications of Interests (NOIs) to candidates through their Express Entry Human Capital Priorities (HCP) Stream. Candidates who had work experience in specific National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes and with a comprehensive ranking score (CRS) points ranging between 463 to 477 received NOIs in this draw. Candidates who received an NOI in this draw were required to have work experience in the targeted technology occupations, specifically in NOC 0213: Computer and information systems managers; NOC 2147: Computer engineers; NOC 2172: Database analyst and data administrations; NOC 2173: Software engineers and designers; NOC 2174: Computer programmer and interactive media developers; or NOC 2175: Web designers and developers. In addition to these above two programs, OINP also opened their intake to the Regional Immigration Pilot in early July 2020.

What this means for you?

While OINP provides opportunities for candidates to obtain permanent residence, candidates must be competitive in the type of work they are completing, as well as their CRS points. Candidates and their employers (if applicable) must also be vigilant of program requirements and must ensure that they fulfill these requirements earlier on. This will allow one to register themselves into their eligible program as soon as the program opens online. Seeing how competitive it is to obtain a NOI from Ontario, it is also important for candidates to look at and consider all other viable options to successfully obtain Canadian permanent residence.

For further information on OINP or any Canadian immigration matters, please contact 416-320-1751 or email pinaz@prmlaw.ca.