Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)

Overview

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

Foreign workers, international students and others with the right skills, experience and education apply to the OINP for a nomination.

The OINP recognizes and nominates people for permanent residence who have the skills and experience the Ontario economy needs, and the Government of Canada makes the final decision to approve applications for permanent residence.

For other ways to immigrate to Ontario, visit the Government of Canada’s website.

What you need to know

There are three ways you may qualify for a nomination:

• Employer job offer category: for workers who already have a permanent job offer from an Ontario employer
• Human capital category: for workers who have valuable work experience, education, language skills, and a profile in Canada’s Express Entry system; or for graduate students
• Business category: for entrepreneurs looking to start a new or buy an existing business in Ontario

Employer job offer category

The employer job offer category has three streams which operate under an expression of interest system. To qualify under the employer job offer streams you must create a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal then register an expression of interest for your employer job offer category, have received an invitation to apply and have a full-time and permanent job offer from an Ontario employer.

• Foreign Worker stream: for workers in skilled positions
• International Student stream: for recent graduates in Ontario
• In-Demand Skills stream: for intermediate skilled workers in specific sectors, such as agriculture, construction, trucking and personal support workers

Human capital category

The human capital category has two sub-categories, the international graduate streams and Ontario’s Express Entry streams.

International graduates

These streams operate under an expression of interest system. To qualify under the Masters Graduate or PhD Graduate streams, you must create a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal then register an expression of interest for your graduate stream, have received an invitation to apply and apply within two years of getting your graduate degree from an eligible Ontario university.

• Masters Graduate stream
• PhD Graduate stream

Ontario’s Express Entry

These streams operate through the federal government’s Express Entry System. To qualify under Ontario’s Express Entry streams, you must have received a notification of interest from Ontario and have an up-to-date profile with your most current work experience, language tests and education in the federal government’s Express Entry system.

• French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream: for French-Speaking skilled workers with the required work experience, education and language proficiency in French and English
• Human Capital Priorities stream: for skilled workers with the required work experience, education and language proficiency in French or English
• Skilled Trades stream: for workers with work experience in Ontario in an eligible trade occupation

Business category

The business category has one stream. You must be an entrepreneur from outside of Canada who is looking to implement a new business idea or buy and grow an existing business in Ontario.

• Entrepreneur stream

Application process

There are four main steps to follow when applying for permanent residence:

1. Make sure you qualify

Once you’ve selected the stream you would like to apply under, make sure you meet all the mandatory requirements for that stream.

2. Create a profile and receive an invitation to apply or a notification of interest

Before you can apply to be nominated, you must create a profile in the appropriate system for your stream. Profiles will be ranked according to a scoring system.

Top candidates will receive an invitation to apply or a notification of interest.

Employer job offer streams and international students: register an expression of interest for your chosen stream(s) by creating a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal.

Express Entry streams: submit a profile to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry system.

3. Apply to be nominated by the OINP

If you have received an invitation to apply or a notification of interest, you may apply to be nominated by the OINP.

Employer job offer and international students: if you received an invitation to apply, you may apply online within 14 calendar days through the OINP e-Filing Portal.

Express Entry streams: if you received a notification of interest, you may apply online within 45 calendar days through the OINP e-Filing Portal. It takes between two to three hours to complete the application.

The application cost for:

• the employer job offer and human capital streams is either $1,500 or $2,000
• the business streams is $3,500 per business partner or key staff applicant

We only accept Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard and MasterCard Debit.

Application processing times vary, read application processing times and nominations issued for more information.

4. Apply to the Government of Canada for permanent residence

If your application is successful and you are nominated by the OINP, the next step is to apply for permanent residence through IRCC.

The Government of Canada makes the final decision on who becomes a permanent resident.

Support for businesses

The Business Immigration Services team takes an active role in helping employers find talent solutions with immigration. We are here to help businesses navigate the immigration system to:

• fill labour shortages
• retain international students
• get skilled workers faster

As a designated referral partner under Canada’s Global Skills Strategy, OINP business services can help innovative companies that are scaling-up or significantly investing in Ontario. We offer personalized service that can help businesses get an expedited work permit and labour market impact assessment (LMIA) processing for your highly skilled talent needs.

We provide info-sessions, in-person or teleconference meetings, and dedicated staff for your assistance.

Contact us today at business.immigration@ontario.ca

Contact us

If you have general questions about the OINP:

• send us an email at:
  • ontarionominee@ontario.ca
  • business.immigration@ontario.ca (for Entrepreneur Stream only)
• Call us Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at:
   
  • Tel: 416-327-0374
  • Toll-free: 1-866-214-6820 (toll-free within North America only)
  • TTY: 416-325-0866
  • Toll-free TTY: 1-866-853-2137

If you have questions about your application for a visa or temporary permit or your application for permanent residence, please contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada through their website or by telephone at 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only).