Who Won Big in Ontario’s 2024 PNP? Tech and Healthcare Lead the Way

The OINP is Ontario’s economic immigration program, running alongside federal immigration pathways to help meet the province’s workforce needs. It targets candidates in sectors with critical labour shortages, including healthcare, technology, and skilled trades. 

OINP Nominations by Stream in 2024 

Here’s how Ontario’s 21,500 nominations were distributed across its various immigration streams: 

Healthcare Nominations Reach Record High 

To address shortages in the healthcare sector, Ontario nominated more than 3,200 healthcare workers in 2024 — the highest number in the program’s history. This represented around 15% of all nominations issued by the province last year. 

Healthcare roles nominated through the OINP included: 

• Pharmacists 

• Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses 

• Nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates 

• General practitioners and family physicians. 

Technology Occupations Dominate 

Technology workers made up roughly 30% of all OINP nominations in 2024 — more than 6,300 people. In-demand tech roles included: 

• Software engineers and designers 

• Software developers and programmers 

• User support technicians 

• Information systems specialists 

• Business systems specialists. 

BC vs. Ontario — How 2024 Numbers Compare 

We also previously reported on BC’s Annual PNP Report for 2024. While BC’s allocation is smaller, it’s reporting is much more detailed. We thought we’d run a quick comparison of the two PNPs, since Vancouver and Toronto are two of Canada’s major cities that attract newcomers.  

While BC’s PNP issued just under 8,000 nominations in 2024, Ontario’s allocation was far larger at 21,500 — more than double BC’s. 

Sector focus differed as well: 

• In BC, healthcare accounted for 16.8% of Skilled Immigration nominees (excluding Health Authority non-clinical roles), while in Ontario healthcare made up about 15% of all nominees. 

• Technology roles formed a smaller share in BC at 16% of Skilled Immigration nominations, compared to Ontario’s 30%. 

• BC distributed 42% of its nominees to regional communities, while Ontario’s regional distribution data was not included in its 2024 summary. 

Our Insight 

Ontario’s 2024 OINP results show a heavy concentration of nominations in technology and healthcare, two sectors where demand is expected to remain high into 2025. With Ontario’s allocation more than twice BC’s, the province was able to invite a larger pool of candidates last year.  

That said, Ontario’s focus for 2025 appears to have shifted to healthcare and regional immigration – given that its allocation has been reduced by 50% for this year. We aren’t surprised to see the shift away from tech occupations, given widespread reports of higher-than-usual unemployment in the tech sector across Canada – and particularly in Toronto.