Ontario conducted two draws on 8th February. Both of them were held with the help of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).
The province has the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) to invite applicants and ask them to request a nomination. They select the applicants by going to the Express Entry pool.
OINP conducted two draws and sent out 828 invites. Out of the total, 622 invites were sent to applicants who may have eligibility for Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream. The basic requirement was to have a profile on the federal immigration platform and a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score from 463 to 467. Profession-wise they should have worked for at least 12 months in any of the eligible occupations.
Those are:
- 2175 Web designers and developers
- 2147 Computer engineers
- 0213 Computer and information systems managers
- 2172 Database analysts and data administrators
- 2173 Software engineers and designers
- 2174 Computer programmer and interactive media developers
Applicants eligible for the French-Speaking Skilled Worker (FSSW) stream secured the rest of the invites. The CRS threshold was the same as for 828 applicants.
FSSW has a further requirement in language proficiency, which they measure through Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB). The applicants should have a score of at least 6 in English and 7 in the French language.
Ontario also asks for transparency in the applicant’s financial status. They try to determine whether the applicant has the capital to comfortably settle in the province.
The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) of Ontario allows 45 days to complete the application after getting the invite.
Advantages of PNP
For provinces:
PNPs give a helping hand to provinces in cherry-picking the applicants who are suitable for their labour market.
For Applicants:
Applicants under Express Entry who get a nomination from any province effectively secure their positions in the upcoming federal draws for permanent residency. The nominated individual gets an extra 600 in their CRS. That helps them to get an Invite to Apply (ITA) in future draws.
