– ONTARIO –

Ontario Pilot Pilot Provincial Nominee Program

The Nova Scotia Nominee Program seeks Skilled Workers who wish to settle in the province and who are qualified to fill critical skills shortages. Individuals in most skilled occupations can qualify, provided that a Nova Scotia employer offers standard wages and working conditions for that occupational field. Also, the employer must have exhausted all other means of finding workers.

What is a Pilot Provincial Nominee Program or PNP?

The Pilot PNP gives Ontario the ability to match immigrants’ skills to Ontario employers’ and labour market needs. It allows Ontario to nominate people for permanent resident status, and have their application fast-tracked by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). CIC will still perform important functions such as security checks on applicants. It’s a different route and process than for immigrants applying directly to the federal government.

What is Ontario’s Pilot PNP?

Ontario’s Pilot Provincial Nominee Program is employer-driven and has two categories: an Employer Category to help employers fill labour shortages in 20 specific occupations in the health, education, manufacturing and construction sectors; and a Multinational Investor Category for companies making significant investments in the province to bring in key employees who will contribute to the long-term success of the investment.

The Pilot PNP is applicable to the following areas: City of Toronto, Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions.

International Students

It is now easier for international students in Canada to transition to permanent resident status in Ontario.

International students will no longer be restricted to the Pilot PNP Occupation List, although their job offer has to be in a managerial, professional or skilled trades occupation (NOCs 0, A and B). Eligible students may have graduated within the past two years or be enrolled in their last semester in a publicly funded Canadian college or university. They must have completed at least half of their studies in Canada. This change helps Ontario attract and retain the best and brightest international students by providing a quick avenue to permanent status for gainfully-employed graduates.

Employers

It is now easier for regional employers outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to qualify and take advantage of the program.

Employers outside of the GTA will now require minimum gross revenues of $500,000 in the previous fiscal year and a staff of at least three permanent full-time employees to qualify for the program. Employers outside of the GTA can now request one position for every three full-time employees. The change is designed to better reflect the needs of regional employers and the scale of many regional economies outside the GTA.