The province of Ontario has announced its intention to issue Notifications of Interest (NOIs) to candidates in the Express Entry pool on a weekly basis. These NOIs will be issued under the Human Capital Priorities stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).

This stream is aligned with the federal Express Entry system. Successful applicants are awarded 600 additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points and placed at the front of the line to issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in a subsequent draw from the pool.

The OINP had already announced that it planned to issue NOIs intermittently throughout 2017; we now know that this will be a regular, weekly process.

Ontario’s Human Capital Priorities stream is something of an outlier among the many Express Entry-aligned Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) available throughout the country, due to it operating on a passive model. That is to say, the process is neither first-come, first-served, nor Expression of Interest-based. Instead, the OINP searches the pool for eligible candidates who may settle in the province successfully, and issues them a NOI, which serves as an invitation to apply to the program for a provincial nomination certificate.

Once a NOI is issued, the invited candidate has six months to register on Ontario’s online application system and submit the application. Once registered, the candidate has 14 days to submit the application.

Applicants must pay a government processing fee of $1,500 CAD.

Eligibility

To be eligible under the Ontario Human Capital Priorities stream, candidates must:

• Have a profile in the Express Entry pool and score a minimum of 400 points under the CRS. The score must remain at or above 400 during both the Ontario nomination processing stage and at the federal application for permanent residence processing stage;
• Have a minimum level of work experience;
  • Candidates who choose to be assessed against the Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSWC) criteria must have at least one year of continuous and full-time employment experience, or part-time equivalent, in a National Occupation Classification (NOC) level 0, A, or B occupation in the five years prior to the date of the Notification of Interest from the OINP.
  • Candidates who choose to be assessed against the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) criteria must have at least one year of cumulative and full-time employment experience, or part-time equivalent, in a NOC 0, A, or B occupation in Canada in the three years prior to the date of the NOI from the OINP.
• Have a Canadian Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degree OR an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report produced by a designated organization indicating that their foreign education credential is equivalent to a Canadian Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD;
• Demonstrate English or French language proficiency level of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 or above in all four competencies (speaking, reading, writing, and listening);
• Intend to reside in Ontario;
• Possess sufficient funds to cover settlement costs in Ontario; and
• Meet the additional criteria under either the FSWP or CEC.

Additional notes from the OINP

In an update on its website posted on May 5, the government of Ontario encouraged potentially eligible candidates in the Express Entry pool to create a new profile in the Express Entry system to make it easier for Ontario to identify their profile during its search of the Express Entry pool. Candidates who create a new profile must delete their old profile.

To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, the first step to immigrating to Canada through Ontario’s Human Capital Priorities stream, please fill out a free online assessment today.

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