Ontario invites 954 Express Entry candidates with tech experience in draw held January 15

Ontario has conducted a Tech Draw on January 15 inviting 954 Express Entry candidates with eligible work experience to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence.
Those who received a Notification of Interest (NOI) in the January 15 draw had Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores between 460 and 472.

The province of Ontario issues NOIs to express entry candidates to invite them to apply for provincial nomination.

With a provincial nomination, their scores jump by 600 points and they are prioritized for an invitation to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

Candidates selected in this draw also needed work experience in one of the following six occupations:

Software engineers and designers (NOC 2173)
Computer programmers and interactive media developers (NOC 2174)
Computer engineers (NOC 2147)
Web designers and developers (NOC 2175)
Database analysts and data administrators (NOC 2172)
Computer and information systems managers (NOC 0213)

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program launched Tech Draws in the summer of 2019. These draws were created to help Ontario meet the growing labour needs of the province’s tech sector.

Ontario is home to several of Canada’s major tech hubs, notably those in the cities of Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo, and Tech Draws are designed to meet growing labour needs in the sector.

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool

First step: Get in the Express Entry pool

In order to be considered for a Tech Draw, candidates must have an eligible profile registered under the Federal Skilled Worker Class or Canadian Experience Class, both of which are managed by the federal Express Entry system.

All candidates in the Express Entry pool are assigned a score under the CRS that is based on factors such as age, education, skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French.

How Tech Draws work

OINP Tech Draws are conducted through the province’s Human Capital Priorities immigration stream, which allows the OINP to search the federal Express Entry pool for candidates who meet the stream’s eligibility requirements.

A job offer is not required in order to be eligible for the Human Capital Priorities Stream.

The purpose of these draws is to search specifically for Express Entry candidates who meet the Human Capital Priorities Stream’s eligibility requirements and have at least one year of continuous paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in paid part-time work).

NOC stands for National Occupational Classification, which determines an occupation’s skill level and skill type.

Here is a hypothetical example of an Express Entry candidate who could have been selected in the OINP’s January 15 Tech Draw.

Ram is 32, has a Masters degree and has been working as a web developer for three years. Ram wrote the IELTS and scored an 8 in each category. Ram entered the Express Entry pool with a score of 462. On January 15, Ram received a Notification of Interest from the Ontario Human Capital Priority Stream. After applying for and being nominated by Ontario, Ram’s CRS score will increase to 1062 and he will be prioritized to receive an Invitation to Apply for Canadian permanent residence from the Express Entry pool.

Find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool