How to apply for Canadian permanent residence through Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Programme

If you graduated from a Canadian university, there are two ways you can immigrate to Canada as a skilled worker: Express Entry or Provincial Nominee Programme (PNP). Which programme you choose depends on your individual circumstances. If you don’t qualify for Express Entry, you can apply for PR through the Ontario PNP if you have traits that support regional labour needs.

From this April, applicants can register an Expression of Interest (profile) for the PNP of Canada’s most popular province for immigrants at any time. This is because the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Programme (OINP) EOI system is now open for the following streams in the Employer Job Offer Category: Foreign Worker and International Student. Your EOI profile will then be scored — provinces award points based on your job offer, work experience, wage, education, language, region of degree earned and other factors.

From this April, applicants can register an Expression of Interest (profile) for the PNP of Canada’s most popular province for immigrants at any time. Source: Matt Winkelmeyer/AFP

The new EOI system was launched to “manage intake and the high demand for the programme, avoiding uncertainty associated with stream openings and the current ‘first-come-first-served’ model,” an Ontario spokesperson told CIC News.

A month later, on May 18, Ontario invited 138 international students — who had EOI profiles with scores of at least 77 and job offers in the province — to apply for provincial nomination and qualify for the Ontario Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream. This does not mean they’ve gotten the provincial nomination — they still need to meet the eligibility requirements.

If you want to join this group of individuals nominated for Canadian PR, you need to start by registering your Expression of Interest. Here’s how you do it:

Eligibility for Ontario PNP

You need to have graduated with a full-time degree or diploma programme (full-time study is 15 hours of instruction per week during the academic year) from a Designated Learning Institution in Canada. 

You must also have an approved full-time offer within the National Occupation Classification which includes Skill Type 0 (restaurant managers, mine managers, shore captains), Skill Level A (doctors, dentists, architects) and Skill Level B (chefs, plumbers, electricians). 

Ontario PNP applicants need to prove intention to reside in Ontario and maintain a legal status (visitor record, study permit or work permit). Source: Cole Burston/AFP

You also need to prove your intention to reside in Ontario and maintain a legal status (visitor record, study permit or work permit). To apply for the PNP, you have to also register an Expression of Interest (EOI) profile on the Ontario website and have a score of minimum 77.

You get it based on the skill levels of your job offer and work experience along with wage, education, official language ability, the region in which you studied or worked, among other things. 

When

You must apply within two years of completing your degree or completed more than half your studies while lawfully residing and studying in the country.

Application process

You must complete the process online via the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Programme (OINP) e-Filing Portal where you have 14 calendar days to submit the application. Your documents also need to be submitted in English or French and if you use a translator, the application files need to be notarised by them.

If you are nominated by the OINP, you’ll obtain a Nomination Approval Letter, a work permit support letter and a Confirmation of Nomination. While your application for permanent residence is being processed, you are allowed to get a work permit valid for six months.