Education

The province of Ontario in Canada has held another round of invitations under the Provincial Nominee Program [PNP].

On July 27, 2021, Ontario PNP – officially the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program [OINP] – issued invitations by targeted occupations for Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities [HCP] stream. Ontario invited Express Entry candidates with work experience in one of 18 occupations.

All 1,031 invited candidates had profiles in the Express Entry system with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores between 458 and 467.

 

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) invited these candidates because they may be eligible for the Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream (HCP). This Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) gives foreign workers the opportunity to make Canada’s most populous province their new home.

Among the conditions for being eligible to be considered for the latest OINP draw was that of the HCP candidate having created their profile in IRCC Express Entry within the previous 1 year, that is, between July 27, 2020 to July 27, 2021.

 

An immigration stream under the OINP, Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream provides foreign workers – with the required skilled work experience, education, and language abilities – the opportunity for applying to live and work in Ontario as a permanent resident of Canada.

A valid IRCC Express Entry profile will be required. The candidate must also have received an NOI from the OINP before they can apply to the HCP stream.

Those successful in securing a nomination through the HCP stream of the OINP will have to then apply to IRCC for Canada PR as the next part of the process.

 

In this draw, the OINP invited Express Entry candidates to apply for the provincial nomination if they had work experience in one of the following 18 occupations listed on order of their National Occupational Classification (NOC) code:

  • NOC 0114 – Other administrative services managers
  • NOC 0122 – Banking, credit and other investment managers
  • NOC 0124 – Advertising, marketing and public relations managers
  • NOC 0125 – Other business services managers
  • NOC 0211 – Engineering managers
  • NOC 0311 – Managers in health care
  • NOC 0601 – Corporate sales managers
  • NOC 0631 – Restaurant and food service managers
  • NOC 0711 – Construction managers
  • NOC 0731 – Managers in transportation
  • NOC 0911 – Manufacturing managers
  • NOC 1121 – Human resources professionals
  • NOC 1122 – Professional occupations in business management consulting
  • NOC 2161 – Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries
  • NOC 3012 – Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
  • NOC 3211 – Medical laboratory technologists
  • NOC 3231 – Opticians
  • NOC 3233 – Licensed practical nurses

 

OINP’s streams aligned with the federal Express Entry system involve the issuance of Notification of Interest [NOI] letters in the provincial draws held by Ontario from time to time.

 

The latest OINP draw was another of the “targeted draws” by the OINP. Those invited can apply to the OINP’s HCP stream only if they can demonstrate work experience in any 1 of the eligible occupations as per the National Occupational Classification [NOC] code.

Invited Express Entry candidates need to have at least one year of work experience in one of these occupations in order to receive the provincial nomination. If they are nominated under this, or any other Express Entry-linked PNP, they will be bumped to the front of the line to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence.

Canada’s Express Entry system

Express Entry is an application management system for three Federal High Skilled immigration programs:  Federal Skilled Workers Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), and Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Express Entry candidates may be eligible for one or more of these programs.

Once in the Express Entry pool of candidates, IRCC awards points to candidates based on their human capital factors such as age, work experience, education, language ability in English or French, and other factors. The highest scoring candidates are then invited to apply in an Express Entry draw.

Express Entry candidates who receive a nomination from a PNP automatically get an additional 600 CRS points toward their overall score. This effectively guarantees that they will receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) in a subsequent Express Entry draw.

During the pandemic, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been holding PNP-only draws, where candidates needed a PNP in order to be invited. The most recent draw took place last week.