The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)

Ontario is Canada’s most popular province for new immigrants. The OINP is the name of the provincial immigration department for Ontario. It specializes in managing economic immigration programs under the PNP.

There are two broad categories of OINP programs, which are observed across all other PNPs as well. They are: base PNPs, where prospective newcomers express their interest directly to the province, and enhanced PNPs which invite candidates who already have profiles in the Express Entry system.

Take Moving2Canada’s free Canada Immigration Quiz to see if you are eligible for the PNP or another Canadian immigration program.

All you need to know about the OINP in video

To get more info on the OINP, watch this video made with the help of Canada Abroad, one of Moving2Canada’s recommended Canadian immigration consultants.

Please note, this video was released October 2021 before Canada switched to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021.

Read the full transcript of Moving2Canada’s OINP video

Dane: Hello, what’s up everybody? Dane here from moving to Canada. And today we are joined by the wonderful Deanne Akers Lawns, a regulated Canadian immigration consultant and founder of Canada Abroad and Deanne, where are we right now?

Deanne: We are in front of the Canadian Parliament building in Ottawa.

Dane: We are. This is right where all of the Democratic magic happens. It’s a wonderful spot. And Deanne, what are we here to talk about today?

Deanne: We’re going to be talking about the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

Dane: That’s right or the OINP. And we are going to be giving a brief overview of the OINP helping you guys determine if it might be a good immigration option for you. We’re not going to go into a ton of detail today though. So if you want more information, check the links in the description here or you can book a consultation with Deanne and the team at Canada abroad. As you’re about to learn, Deanne is brilliant and her and her team would be so happy to help you assess if you’re a candidate for the OINP or assess your other Canadian immigration options. But enough of that, let’s jump into it. So Deanne, what is the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program?

Deanne: So it’s a provincial nominee program and it’s run by the Ontario government. So what these are, it’s basically many immigration programs. So the provinces of Canada get to hand out a certain amount of nominations each year and it’s specific to their province.

Dane: Ok, great. And if you do receive a provincial nomination, if you’re successful through the OINP like, what do you get? What’s the end result?

Deanne: It’s going to be permanent residence for you and your accompanying dependent. So this would be your spouse and your dependent Children, the whole family would end up getting Canadian permanent residency.

Dane: OK! And permanent resident status for those of you who don’t know, it’s pretty high value type of Canadian immigration status. It allows you to stay in Canada as long as you want, live wherever you want, move around. It gives you access to the health care system. Is there anything else Deanne?

Deanne: Well, eventually you can possibly obtain your citizenship. So that’s when you get the wonderful Canadian passport and you also get to vote.

Dane: Yeah,participation in democracy. You can vote for the people who run this building right here. The dream. The OINP has nine different streams and we’re going to be breaking down each of them briefly in today’s video and to do this, we’re going to group them into different categories. The first category we’re going to cover are the Express Entry-aligned streams. So, Deanne, what do we mean by Express entry aligned streams.

Deanne: So to be eligible for these streams, you have to have a valid Express entry profile in the Express entry pool of candidates. And a really great fact about the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program and their Express Entry-aligned programs is they’re passive. So this is a lot easier for you because basically what it means is as long as you’re in the Express Entry pool with a valid profile, you’re automatically going to be considered. You don’t have to do anything additional.

Dane: OK. Right. Because Ontario, the province has access to all the Express entry data, they can just go through and if they like your profile, they select you and they issue you what’s called a notification of interest or an NOI and receiving that. NOI allows you to then apply to Ontario for provincial nomination. So there are three different Express entry aligned streams within the OINP. Can you give us just a quick little rundown of each of them?

Deanne: Yeah. So we’ll start with the most popular which is the Human Capital Priority stream. And this one, basically people who have a high enough Comprehensive Ranking System score CRS score or they’ve worked in an occupation that Ontario feels is in demand can get picked based on that. And then the next one is the French Skilled Worker. So for this one, as the name implies, you have to be fluent in French, but only up to a level of a CLB seven. So you don’t have to get a nine or a 10, but you also have to be fluent enough in English to get a CLB level six on an approved language test as well.

Dane: Ok. So it’s called the French speaking skilled worker. But in reality, you’ve got to have like intermediate language skills in both English and French to be successful.

Deanne: Exactly. Yeah.

Dane: Ok. Great. And what about the last of the Express entry aligned streams?

Deanne: Yes. So this one is for skilled trades people and this one is a little bit misleading for some people because you’re experience in the skilled trade has to be at least one year in Ontario.

Dane: OK.

Deanne: So the international experience won’t count.

Dane: Ok, great. Thank you. And so if you are selected and you submit your provincial nomination application and you are successful, you will receive 600 points added to your CRS score in the Express Entry pool. This allows you to apply for PR through the Express Entry system and grants you access to that much faster express entry processing time. The standard is I think 80% of Express Entry PR applications are processed in six months or less. So that’s really great. So you come to the Ottawa River, this gorgeous view here to talk about the next streams which are the Employer Job Offer streams and there are three of them. Deanne. Can you give our audience a little bit of a breakdown of what these are?

Deanne: Yeah. So as the name implies, for each of these streams, you are going to have to have a job offer from a qualifying employer. And then depending what stream you’re applying through each of those job offers is going to have different requirements.

Dane: OK, great. And these streams are not passive like the last one, right? You have to actively apply to them?

Deanne: Right. So for these ones, you have to create what’s called an expression of interest. And that is through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee website. And then what you’ll do is you’ll create a profile and they’re going to give you a score and then depending on your score and also what occupation you work in, they do different draws. So then they’ll pick you either because your score was high enough or a combination of your score and your occupation was one that they were looking for in that specific draw.

Dane: OK, great. Thank you so much for that. And can you break down these three streams? Just give us a little bit of detail about each of them?

Deanne: Yeah. So the first one is the Foreign Worker job offer stream. So for this one, you do have to have a job offer. And then depending on the field that your offer is in, you have to have work experience in that field or you have to already be licensed with the province of Ontario if your job requires it.

Dane: Ok. Great. And those are skilled job positions, right? It’s NC skill level zero A or B.

Deanne: Exactly. So whatever your job offer is, you have to make sure that it is under the skill level O, A or B. It’s CD, it’s not going to qualify for this particular stream.

Dane: Ok, great. And just a heads up guys, these are brief descriptions of the eligibility criteria. These are like the big hurdles that people usually have to cross but it’s not everything. So again, if you want full details about eligibility criteria, check out the links in the description or better yet, book a consultation with Deanne and the Canada Abroad team by clicking a link right down there in the pinned comment. So Deanne, what is the second of the employer job offer streams?

Deanne: This one is for international students. So for this one, you still have to have the job offer, but you don’t have to have the work experience in the field in which you’re being offered the job. But you do have to have a degree, a certificate or diploma issued by—

Dane: An eligible institution in Ontario.

Deanne: Exactly. And then also on top of that, the job offer that you’ve got again has to be in skill level 0, A or B.

Dane: Ok, great. And just a heads up, not all credentials from all institutions are eligible. There’s a little bit of, of criteria there that we can a little deeper in. We’re not going to today. But again, check out the links in the description book, a consult with Deanne. What is the third Employer Job Offer stream?

Deanne: So this one is the Occupations In Demand. And this one is the only program where C and D occupations are eligible. But with this one, there’s actually a very specific list of occupations that are accepted. So it’s not all C and D level occupations. So you’ve got to have the job offer. You have to have at least one year of work experience in Ontario in that position. And that’s the key things to know.

Dane: Yeah. And again, that’s work experience in Ontario plus the job offer. So that one, it’s a bit tough to qualify for. But again, if you are eligible, the way that you apply to this, you create your expression of interest and if you’re competitive enough, they’re going to invite you to submit your application for provincial nomination and be aware you’re applying for provincial nomination to Ontario, but then you apply federally through the non-Express Entry system. So it’s a bit of a longer processing time than the ones we talked about before. Right?

Deanne: Yeah, these are not done in six months or less. These ones are going to take a lot longer. You’re probably looking at anywhere from a year to a year and a half right now.

Dane: Wow, a year to a year and a half. So if you are, you know, a strong candidate under one of the Express entry aligned streams. And also these ones just be aware that Express entry will almost always be your faster option. Great. So let’s go on to our next options. The master’s graduate and phd graduate streams, Deanne. What do our viewers need to know about these two streams?

Deanne: Well, the main thing is you need to have graduated from an approved Ontario University with a master’s or a phd. So if you didn’t qualify with one of the, that’s not going to qualify you for this program.

Dane: Great. So there are pretty strict criteria if you are eligible, these streams actually use the same expression of interest system as the Employer Job Offer streams. So you create your expression of interest, you get a score. If your score is high enough, if you’re competitive enough, you get invited and then you apply for nomination.

Deanne: And then also don’t forget if you need to improve your score, you can probably get a Post Graduate Work Permit. And then if you get Canadian work experience that can help improve your score so that you can get selected based on your expression of interest.

Dane: So you can gain that valuable Canadian work experience, maybe even make yourself competitive under Express Entry, which again gives you access to those faster processing times. So on to our last option, the OINP Entrepreneur Stream, Deanne who is the stream for?

Deanne: It’s for entrepreneurs and I mean serious entrepreneurs.

Dane: OK, serious. So you’re using that word serious. What does that mean? Serious entrepreneurs only?

Deanne: Yeah, I mean, if we look at this program depending on where you want to open your business, your net worth has to either be $800,000 Canadian or $400,000 Canadian and then your minimum investment depending on where you’re going to open. Your business has to either be $200,000 Canadian or higher.

Dane: OK. So serious entrepreneurs only. Not for like broke college grads have like a great idea for a new dating app?

Deanne: No, this would not be the dream for them.

Dane: OK? And the op entrepreneur stream also has a very complicated application process. We’re not going to go into detail about that today. Again, check the link in the description or dean. Do you have experience preparing these entrepreneur applications?

Deanne: Yeah, I’ve dealt with them before and they are a little bit complicated and multi steps involved.

Dane: Ok, great. Actually, do you have experience preparing applications for all of the streams that we’ve talked about today?

Deanne: Yeah, we do and I do specifically.

Dane: Ok, amazing. So you just heard it here guys, if you want more information, book a consultation with the with the team at Canada abroad, they’ll be able to advise you on if you’re eligible for O MP or the application process or they can just kind of help you prepare like a general Canadian immigration plan and you can do that by clicking the link right down there in the pinned comment. And that’s it for today’s video. We’ve made it through all nine streams of the OINP. Thank you Deanne for sharing your expertise for joining us here in the nation’s capital.

Deanne: Yeah. No, it’s been a beautiful day and thanks for having me over.

Dane: Yeah, of course. And thank you guys for tuning in. Always a pleasure to bring you the latest. If you like this video, make sure you like this video and if you want more Canadian immigration updates, make sure you subscribe to our channel. Thank you so much and we will see you next time.