Ontario announces new changes in proposed immigration programs
Ontario announces new changes in proposed immigration programs
Canadian province Ontario has released new details of proposed changes to its key Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program’s streams. All the new changes would come into effect after a 45-day public consultation period that ends May 30, 2019.
According to OINP, these changes would help in increasing numbers of qualified responses to meet its current labor demand and employer needs especially in those places where the rate of immigration is very low.
Proposed changes to the following OINP streams in 2019 are:
Entrepreneur Stream
Two prime changes in entrepreneur stream in 2019’s budget include a reduction to the minimum investment and net worth threshold for the stream. The OINP believes that these amendments in this stream will enhance the quality of business proposals in the province.
The following is the table of a revised threshold amount of investment for the stream which gets reduced by half or more than the half of the current requirement in some cases:
| Current minimum investment requirement | Revised investment requirement |
| $1,000,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be located within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) | $600,000 |
| $500,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be located outside the GTA. | $200,000 |
| $500,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be in the ICT/Digital Communications sector regardless of location. | $200,000 |
The following is the table of the revised amount of minimum net worth for the stream:
| Current net worth requirement | Revised net worth requirement |
| $1,500,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be located within the GTA. | $800,000 |
| $800,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be located outside the GTA. | $400,000 |
| $800,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be in the ICT/Digital Communications sector regardless of location. | $400,000 |
Besides these amendments, job-creating requirements also get changed in the budget. Currently, any business regardless of the geographical location or industrial sector has to create a minimum of two permanent, full-time jobs in the province for Canadian citizens or permanent citizens within the first 20 months of establishing or acquiring it there.
However, now, only those businesses located in the GTA would have to create a minimum of two permanent, full-time jobs within the first 20 months of establishing or acquiring the business.
Whereas, any business located outside the GTA or in the Information and Communications Technology / Digital Communications sector would have to create only one permanent, full-time job within the first 20 months of establishing or acquiring the business.
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream
Currently, this stream is facing a shortage of lower-skilled labor under Canada’s National Occupational Classification (NOC) as Skill Level C or D. So, in 2019 budget, the government added truck drivers and personal support workers to the list of eligible occupations under the stream.
The following is the list of three new occupations added in the Ontario’s in-demand occupation list:
| NOC | Occupation title |
| 3413 | Nurse aides, orderlies and patient services associates |
| 4412 | Home support workers and related occupations, excluding housekeepers |
| 7511 | Transport truck drivers |
Moreover, other amendments in the eligibility criteria for this steam include lowering the amount of paid, Ontario work experience in the occupation from one year to a minimum of nine months only.
Express Entry-aligned streams
In OINP, there are three Express-linked streams including Human Capital Priorities, French-Speaking Skilled Worker and Skilled Trades streams. Initially, the required work experience for Express-Entry linked streams assessed from the date that an applicant received the Notification of Interest from Ontario. However, now under the new criteria, work experience would assess from the date of application for a provincial nomination.
Masters Graduate and Ph.D. streams
Under the proposed changes, applicants who wish to enter a profile for Masters Graduate and Ph.D. Graduate streams would have to submit either proof of their degree from a certified Ontario’s institution or a letter from any certified Ontario’s institution mentioning that they completed all the necessary requirements for the respective degree.
However, remember, all the document submitted must not be more than two years old before the date of the application.
Corporate Stream
The Government of Ontario decided to terminate the OINP’s Corporate Stream as it was unable to achieve its intended objective of bringing international businesses to Ontario.
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