Great news for all Express Entry applicants with ties to the province of Ontario!
After a long wait of over nine months, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has announced on February 21, 2017 that it officially reopened and launched a new online application system for the following streams:
1. Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream (OINP-HCP); 2. International Masters Graduate Stream (OINP-IMG); and 3. International PhD Graduate Stream (OINP-IPG).
OINP has originally issued a temporary pause on these streams on May 9, 2016 due to their popularity and the large number of applications that were received for these streams, especially for OINP-HCP under the Express Entry system.
OINP is now identifying qualified applicants for OINP-HCP from the federal government’s Express Entry pool and will issue Notifications of Interest (NOI) to applicants that meet the criteria. OINP has also launched an online application system to improve customer service, help improve processing times and make it easier to apply.
OINP will be monitoring the volume of applications to each of the streams that reopened. These streams will be paused and reopened periodically throughout the year until the province’s 2017 federal allocation is fulfilled.
A candidate cannot apply for OINP-HCP until he/she receives a Notification of Interest (NOI) from Ontario through the IRCC Express Entry system. This notification will invite the candidate to apply to OINP for nomination under the OINP-HCP.
OINP-HCP Stream Overview:
OINP-HCP is designed for skilled workers who want to live and work permanently in Ontario. This stream enables OINP to nominate individuals that have qualified for IRCC’s Express Entry pool and who have the required education, skilled work experience, language ability, and other characteristics to help them successfully establish and integrate into Ontario’s labour market and communities. To be eligible to apply under OINP-HCP, you must meet provincial and federal eligibility criteria. You will be assessed against both as part of the nomination process.
To qualify under OINP-HCP, you must:
1. Have a valid profile in the Express Entry pool; 2. Qualify for either the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) or the Canadian Experience Class (CEC); 3. Have received a Notification of Interest (NOI) from Ontario through the IRCC Express Entry system.
To be eligible to apply, you must meet the following provincial criteria:
1. Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Score: A minimum of 400 points in the CRS of IRCC’s Express Entry system. 2. Work Experience: A minimum of one year work experience within the past five years 3. Education: Equivalent of a Canadian Bachelor’s degree or above 4. Language: A minimum of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in English or in French
Express Entry Overview:
As of January 1, 2015, foreign nationals must receive an invitation from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) before they may apply to the above programs. Express Entry eliminates the requirement to process applicants in these programs through a first come first serve basis. IRCC aims to process 80 percent of complete Express Entry applications in six months or less. Under Express Entry, candidates who meet the criteria will be accepted into a pool of possible candidates for immigration to Canada. Candidates will be ranked against others in the pool using a point-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System. IRCC will regularly select the highest-ranking candidates from the pool by inviting them to apply to immigrate to Canada as permanent residents.
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