Ontario Expands In-Demand Skills Stream to Include More Occupations for Provincial Nomination

More newcomers may now be eligible to apply for provincial nomination through the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).

On July 4, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development announced that it has added occupations under 35 National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes  to the list of jobs that will be considered when the province issues Expressions of Interest (EOIs) under the stream.

The Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Occupations Stream is one of several streams in Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
The stream is specifically designed to fill urgent job vacancies throughout the province. These professions typically include those in agriculture, construction, trades, and manufacturing.

The job offer must be from an Ontario employer and be full-time, meaning at least 1,560 hours a year and a minimum of 30 hours a week. Jobs with an end date (such as contract positions) are not eligible.

Candidates also require at least nine months of cumulative, paid, full-time work experience in Ontario in a position that carries the same NOC code as their job offer. Experience can be gained over three years prior to the date an application is submitted.

They also require a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark score of four in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in either English or French and a Canadian high school diploma or credential (or its foreign equivalent). Those with no Canadian education will need to submit an Education Credential Assessment.

Finally, if a candidate’s job offer is in a licensed profession, they require a license from the appropriate provincial regulatory authority before they apply for nomination.

Each Canadian province and territory (except Quebec and Nunavut) has a PNP.

They allow provincial governments to select the economic immigration candidates who are best suited to the local economy and nominate them. This means that the candidate then has a much stronger application should they decide to apply to Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence.

In 2023 Ontario issued 16,506 nominations to OINP candidates. Of these, 463 went to candidates in the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Occupations Stream.

The federal government has increased the number of nominations for OINP to 21,500 in 2024, the highest allocation of nominations received by any PNP in Canada.

Overall, Canada expects to welcome 110,000 newcomers through the PNP by the end of this year.

Source : https://www.cicnews.com/2024/07/more-jobs-now-eligible-for-employer-job-offer-in-demand-occupations-stream-of-ontarios-pnp-0745245.html#gs.c247zk