Ontario’s nominee program 2019 indicates a bright future

The performance of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) in 2019, assessed via the nomination numbers looks very impressive. The general assumption can be made that for those willing to work in Canada, Ontario is a highly recommended job destination.

It’s been observed that there’s a high demand for the OINP. In 2019, the province had a nomination allocation of 6,650 in 2019 from the federal government. After the province met the federal allocation completely, the federal government granted it 700 more nominations. They were also allocated before the year ended.

In 2019, along with the streams for high skilled workers, nominations were also made for the NOC C Pilot. NOC Level C indicates a job type that usually needs a secondary education or job-specific training. This stream works under a federal-provincial partnership. It’s meant to increase Permanent Residency opportunities for low-skilled workers in demand. The stream includes jobs like:

• Long-haul truck drivers
• Industrial butchers
• Food and beverage servers

Under the NOC C Pilot, 41 applicants got nominated in 2019. The total principal applicants nominated, came to 7,391 last year. Adding the applications from their spouses and dependents, the number rose to 13,731. That many immigrants came to settle in Ontario.

Here’s a comprehensive table of data on the 2019 nominations:

Streams	Number of nominations
Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream	1.347
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream	1,195
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream	19
Masters Graduate Stream	805
Ph.D. Graduate Stream	234
Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream	2,710
Ontario’s Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream	639
Ontario’s Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream	401
NOC C Pilot	41
Entrepreneur Stream	0
Grand total	7,391

The tech draws initiative began in 2019. In this category, a high number of nominations were made in technology-related occupations. Approximately 33% of total nominations were made to those who cited either work experience or a high-tech job offered. The high-tech jobs included:

• IT systems analysts
• Technology consultants
• Computer programmers
• Software engineers and designers
• Interactive media developers

The following is a table that shows the number of nominations received by each tech category:

Top tech jobs	Number of nominations
Computer programmers and interactive media developers	598
Software engineers and designers	935
Computer and information systems managers	260
Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)	121
Database analysts and data administrators	184
Web designers and developers	113

OINP also crossed its 5% target for francophone immigration. 452 nominations were issued to applicants with high proficiency in French. This comes to 6.1% of total nominations. Most francophone applicants got nominations under the French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream and the Human Capital Priorities Stream.

No individual was nominated in the Entrepreneurship stream in 2019. Even then, there were 7 applicants in the last stage of the Entrepreneur stream’s process. This was of compliance monitoring. These Ontario residents have a Canada work permit visa to set up own business. They have good investment capacity. They are anticipated to make over 30 Million Dollars' worth of investment. They could also hire 136 Ontarians by establishing their businesses in the province.

The top 10 countries that sourced the nominees in 2019 were:

• India
• China
• South Korea
• Brazil
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Morocco
• Iran
• Philippines
• Ukraine

3,587 Indians received nominations in 2019. 1,351 Chinese received their nominations in the same year.

Almost 1,900 employers in Ontario issued job offers to the nominated individuals in 2019. These employers came from across every industry. Those among the nominees with a job offer before the nominations came to 35%. Those with a post-secondary degree were 96%.

Those with high language skills made up 53% of the total nominees. Their Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) scores were 7 or above.

The OINP aims to be responsive to employer needs. The program strives to be available all year round. But demand went beyond the annual allocation of nomination last year. Hence, intake to some of its popular streams was paused. These included:

• The Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream
• The Master's Graduate Stream
• The Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream

Even the Express Entry stream showed people’s increased interest in Ontario. They consider it as a destination for prospective PRs. This led to an increase in the CRS scores that are counted in issuing Notifications of Interests (NOI). Here’s a table that shows the number of days in 2019 in which each stream was open to immigrant intake.

Stream	Days open
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream	365
Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream	116
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream	143
Masters Graduate Stream	2
Entrepreneur Stream	365
Ph.D. Graduate Stream	365

OINP’s commitment is to be available to Ontario’s employers. It’s keen to respond to the broader labor market requirements this year and in the future. Continuous improvements in the following aspects will facilitate the fulfillment of that commitment:

• Customer service
• Program delivery
• Incorporating stakeholder feedback (to help address labor shortages in high-demand sectors)

The nomination allocation numbers for 2020 is much awaited. It will reflect the importance of the growth of Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Programs. The better it responds to the crucial labor market needs of the province’s employers, the better it will contribute to its economic development. It will also boost Ontario’s job creation.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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