Ontario - The Visa Managers

EMPLOYER JOB OFFER: IN-DEMAND SKILLS STREAM

The Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream is an immigration stream under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

It gives foreign workers with a job offer in specific in-demand occupations, such as in agriculture, construction, trucking or personal support work, the opportunity to apply to permanently live and work in Ontario.

This stream is open to foreign workers in and outside of Canada.

You must apply online to be nominated by the Ontario government for permanent residence.

If you are nominated, your next step is to apply to the federal government through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). They make the final decision on who becomes a permanent resident.

Before you apply

Make sure you meet the mandatory requirements

This stream has a number of mandatory requirements you must meet before you can apply. These include:

Job offer requirements – what your job offer must include
Applicant requirements – what you need to have before you apply
Employer requirements – what your employer needs to have before you apply

2. Understand the application process

3. Have your supporting documents ready

Job offer requirements

To qualify under the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream, you must have a job offer in Ontario from an employer that meets the following requirements.

Full-time and permanent

The job offer must be for a full-time and permanent position.

Full-time means the job must be a minimum of 1,560 hours a year and a minimum of 30 hours of paid work per week.

Permanent means the job must have no end date (also known as an indeterminate duration). Job offers that are seasonal and/or contract based are ineligible.

Note that your job offer will not qualify if it affects the employment of a person involved in a labour dispute.

Eligible occupation

The position offered can be in any location in Ontario (inside and outside the Greater Toronto Area) and must be in one of the following occupations in National Occupation Classification (NOC) Skill Level C or D:

NOC 3413 – nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
NOC 4412 – home support workers and related occupations, excluding housekeepers
NOC 7441 – residential and commercial installers and servicers
NOC 7511 – transport truck drivers
NOC 7521 – heavy equipment operators (except crane)
NOC 7611 – construction trades helpers and labourers
NOC 8431 – general farm workers
NOC 8432 – nursery and greenhouse workers
NOC 8611 – harvesting labourers
NOC 9462 – industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers

The position offered must be outside the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto, Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions) and must be in one of the following occupations in National Occupation Classification (NOC) Skill Level C or D:

NOC 9411 – machine operators, mineral and metal processing
NOC 9416 – metalworking and forging machine operators
NOC 9417 – machining tool operators
NOC 9418 – other metal products machine operators
NOC 9421 – chemical plant machine operators
NOC 9422 – plastics processing machine operators
NOC 9437 – woodworking machine operators
NOC 9446 – industrial sewing machine operators
NOC 9461 – process control and machine operators, food, beverage and associated products processing
NOC 9523 – electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors and testers
NOC 9526 – mechanical assemblers and inspectors
NOC 9536 – industrial painters, coaters and metal finishing process operators
NOC 9537 – other products assemblers, finishers and inspectors

Median wage level

The pay of the job offered must meet or be higher than the median wage level, for that occupation, in the specific region of Ontario where you will be working. To find the median wage, go to the Job Bank website and enter the National Occupation Classification code of your job offer into the occupation search. On the next webpage, enter the location where you will be working into the filter search.

If you are already working in the position, the wage of the job offer must be equal to or greater than the wage level that the employer currently pays you in that position, in addition to meeting or exceeding the median wage level.

These wage requirements do not apply if you have a collective agreement (a written contract between the employer and a union), in your workplace, that determines your wages.

Position is necessary to employer’s business

The position offered must be necessary to your employer’s business. This means that the job offer must align with your employer’s existing business activities and the position must be needed to maintain or grow ongoing business activity.

Work based in Ontario

The work you do while in the position of the job offer must occur primarily in Ontario.

You or any member of your family may only hold or have held equity in your employer’s business, either directly or indirectly if the equity is/was less than 10 per cent and only if it was obtained as part of the remuneration package as an employee. The combined total amount of equity held by you, or any of your family members, cannot exceed or have exceeded 10 per cent.

Note that a family member includes your spouse, common law partner and children under the age of 22, including their children.

Applicant requirements

Before you apply, you must meet the criteria below.

Work experience

You must have at least 9 months of cumulative paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in part-time work) in Ontario, in the same in-demand occupation (same NOC code) as your job offer.

You must have gained this work experience within the three years prior to submitting your application while legally living and working in Ontario.

Cumulative means the work you’ve done must add up to 9 months – it does not have to be 9 months of continuous work.

Full-time work experience means working in a job with at least 30 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 1,200 hours of paid work over a 9-month period.

Part-time equivalent work experience means:

working in one job for at least 15 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 1,200 hours of paid work over an 18-month period or
working in more than one job for at least 30 hours of paid work in a week for nine months that amounts to at least 1,200 hours of paid work in that 9-month period

Vacation periods, regular sick leave and other standard paid leave entitlements as provided for in collective agreements, workplace legislation and/or individual employer policies are not considered interruptions to full-time employment. Extended leaves are considered interruptions to full-time employment and are not to be included in the calculation of work experience.

If you are using periods of self-employment, you will need provide employment documentation that is independently verifiable through third parties. This can include client reference letters indicating your duties and periods of work, as well as evidence of ongoing payments to you personally, for the services provided (e.g. invoices). Please also note that your hours of self-employed work must be quantifiable to ensure that you accumulated at least 1,200 hours over 9 months of employment. Reference letters from yourself, your business partners and/or a family member are not accepted by the program.

Valid licence or other authorization (if applicable)

If your job offer is for an occupation that requires a mandatory licence or other authorization in Ontario, you must hold a valid licence or authorization from the appropriate regulatory body in Ontario when you apply.

Language

You must be able to understand, read, write and speak either English or French at a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 4 or higher.

Education

You must have a Canadian secondary school (high school) diploma or credential, or its equivalent in another country.

If you completed your studies outside of Canada, you need to get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) that proves your education is equivalent to a Canadian high school diploma.

You must submit a copy of the ECA report when you submit your application. The report

Intention to live in Ontario

You must intend to live in Ontario after you’ve been granted permanent residence. OINP determines this by examining your ties to Ontario, which can include doing things such as:

working or having worked here
getting job offers, applying to or interviewing for jobs
studying
volunteering
leasing or owning property
visiting
having professional networks and affiliations, family ties and personal relationships

Legal status in Canada (if applicable)

If you are applying from within Canada, you must have legal status (a visitor record, study permit, or work permit) at the time you apply and should maintain that status until

Employer requirements

General requirements

To qualify under the In-Demand Skills Stream, your employer must:

have been in active business for at least three years prior to submitting your application
have business premises in Ontario where you will work
have no outstanding orders made against them under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000or the Occupational Health and Safety Act
demonstrate that enough effort was made to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident prior to offering the position to you (this only applies if you are currently living outside of Canada or working outside of Ontario)

Revenue requirements

Your employer’s business must also meet the following requirements for its most recently completed fiscal year (the year used for tax or accounting purposes):

a minimum of $1,000,000in total gross annual revenue if you will work or report to work at a location in the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto, Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions) or
a minimum of $500,000 in total gross annual revenue if you will work or report to work at a location outside the Greater Toronto Area

Meaning of report to work

In cases where the applicant will work at more than one location, the location where the applicant will report to work means:

the location where the applicant’s immediate supervisor or manager works, or
the location of the administrative office where the applicant will receive work assignments

Full-time employee requirements

Your employer’s business must also have at the time of application submission:

at least five full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents who work at the location where you will work, or will report to work, if you will work or report to work at a location in the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto, Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions) or
at least three full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents who work at the location where you will work, or will report to work, if you will work or report to work at a location outside the Greater Toronto Area

Meaning of full-time employee

A full-time employee is an employee who has worked a minimum of 30 hours per week.

Employer Form

Your employer must make an application for approval of an employment position by filling out and signing an Employer Form.

Your employer then must give you the form so you can scan and upload it with your application.

When OINP assess your application, they may need additional supporting documents from your employer to validate information included in the Employer Form.

Supporting documents

You must provide supporting documents to validate the information in your application and to prove you meet the eligibility criteria.

All supporting documents must be scanned and uploaded in your online application.

If a supporting document is not in English or French, you must provide a copy of the document and a translation of the document. Please read Document translation and notarization for more information.

Remember if you do not upload all the required documents, your application will be returned.

Next Step:

Submit an application.

HUMAN CAPITAL PRIORITIES STREAM*

Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream is an immigration stream under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).

It gives foreign workers with the required skilled work experience, language abilities and education the opportunity to apply to permanently live and work in Ontario.

You must have a valid profile in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC’s) Express Entry system and receive a Notification of Interest from Ontario before you can apply online to be nominated by the Ontario government for permanent residence.

Before you apply

Create a profile in IRCC’s Express Entry system

You must have a profile in IRCC’s Express Entry system before we can send you a Notification of Interest (NOI), which you need before you can apply to Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream.

When you create a profile in the Express Entry system, you must indicate your interest in immigration to Ontario by selecting “Ontario” or “All Provinces and Territories.”

Make sure you meet the mandatory requirements

This stream has a number of mandatory requirements you must meet before you can apply.

Understand the application process

Please note:

from the date you receive a Notification of Interest issued by Ontario for Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream, you have 45 calendar days to apply to this stream.
you have to pay $1,500 to apply
you have to pay by credit card, we only accept Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard and Mastercard Debit

4. Have your supporting documents ready

You also need to make sure you have all your supporting documents, in English or French, scanned and ready to upload when you apply. If you do not, your application will be returned as incomplete and your application fee will be refunded.

Mandatory requirements

To qualify under Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream, you must meet the all the criteria in the seven categories below. You do not need a job offer to apply.

Work experience

You must decide which of the following two federal programs you would like to be assessed against:

Federal Skilled Workers Program
Canadian Experience Class

Federal Skilled Worker Program

Under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, you must have:

at least one year of continuous paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in paid part- time work) in Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC)

Your work experience must have been:

obtained within the last five years from the date of submitting your application to the OINP
in the same primary occupation as you identified in your Express Entry profile

You may have gained your work experience in Canada or overseas.

Continuous means:

no breaks in employment over a one year period

Please note: Work experience may consist of back-to-back jobs with the same or different employer(s) (with no gap in between), but at least one year must be in the same NOC occupation as your primary NOC declared in your Express Entry profile.

If you are using periods of self-employment, you will need to provide employment documentation that is independently verifiable through third parties. This can include client reference letters indicating your duties and periods of work, as well as evidence of ongoing payments to you personally, for the services provided (for example, invoices). Please also note that your hours of self-employed work must be quantifiable to ensure that you accumulated at least 1,560 hours over one year of employment. Reference letters from yourself, your business partners and/or a family member are not accepted by the program.

Canadian Experience Class

Under the Canadian Experience Class, you must have:

at least one year of cumulative paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in paid part-time work) in Canada in Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A or B of the NOC

Your work experience must have been:

obtained within the last three years from the date of submitting your application to the OINP
in one or more of the occupations that you identified in your Express Entry profile
in Canada while maintaining legal status in Canada

Cumulative means:

the work you’ve done must add up to one year – it does not have to be one year of continuous work

Please note: Paid work experience gained while studying full-time at a post-secondary institution (for example, on a co-op work term) and self-employment are not eligible under the CEC.

Under both programs:

your work experience must have been obtained over a period of at least one year – work experience totaling 1,560 hours obtained in less than one year period does not qualify
full-time work experience means working in a job with at least 30 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 1,560 hours of paid work in one year
part-time equivalent work experience means:
- working in one job for at least 15 hours per week, for two years that amounts to at least 1,560 hours in that two-year period, or
- working in more than one job for at least 30 hours per week, for one year, that amounts to at least 1,560 hours of paid work in that one year period
if your work experience was obtained in Ontario in an occupation that requires a licence or other authorization, only work experience acquired after becoming qualified to practice that occupation in Ontario will qualify
volunteer work and unpaid internships do not count as work experience

Education

You must have a Canadian bachelor’s, master’s or PhD degree or its equivalent in another country.

If you completed your studies outside of Canada, you need to get an Educational Credential Assessment report that proves your education is equivalent to a Canadian degree.

Completing a three-year program at a university, college, or other institute is not the same as having a bachelor’s degree. Your Educational Credential Assessment must state that you have the equivalent of at least a Canadian bachelor’s degree to qualify.

If you do not provide a copy of your ECA report and/or if you do not authorize an organization listed above to share the results of your assessment with the OINP, your application will be returned and your application fee refunded.

Language

You must be able to understand, read, write and speak either English or French at a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 or higher.

Settlement funds

You must have enough money to support yourself and your dependent family members when you settle in Canada.

Intention to live in Ontario

You must intend to live in Ontario after you’re granted permanent residence.

Legal status in Canada (if applicable)

If you are applying from within Canada, you must have legal status (visitor record, study permit, or work permit) at the time you apply and should maintain that status until the time of nomination.

You may apply if you are in ‘implied status’ at the time of your OINP application submission. ‘Implied status’ means that you submitted an application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to renew/extend your temporary status document (a visitor record, work permit, study permit) before its expiry date. You can remain in Canada and continue to work or study under the same conditions as your existing permit until a decision is made on your pending IRCC application.

Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)

If you choose to be assessed against the FSWP, you must score at least 67 points on the six selection factors (education, language skills, work experience, age, arranged employment in Canada and adaptability).

SKILLED TRADES STREAM*

Ontario’s Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream is an immigration stream under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).

It gives foreign nationals with Ontario work experience in eligible skilled trades the opportunity to apply to permanently live and work in Ontario.

You must have a valid profile in the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC’s) Express Entry system and receive a Notification of Interest from Ontario before you can apply online to be nominated by the Ontario government for permanent residence.

Before you apply

Create a profile in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry system

You must have a profile in IRCC’s Express Entry system before we can send you a Notification of Interest (NOI), which you need before you can apply to Ontario’s Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream.

2. Make sure you meet the mandatory requirements

This stream has a number of mandatory requirements you must meet before you can apply.

3. Understand the application process

from the date you receive an NOI issued by Ontario for Ontario’s Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream, you have 45 calendar days to apply to this stream
you have to pay $1,500 to apply
you have to pay by credit card, we only accept Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard and Mastercard Debit

4. Have your supporting documents ready

You also need to make sure you have all your supporting documents, in English or French, scanned and ready to upload when you apply. If you do not, your application will be returned as incomplete and your application fee will be refunded.

Mandatory requirements

To qualify under Ontario’s Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream, you must meet all the criteria in the seven categories below. You do not need a job offer to apply.

Work experience

You must have:

at least one year of cumulative paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in paid part-time work) in Ontario in a skilled trade that is listed in Minor Group 633 or Major Groups 72, 73 or 82 of the National Occupational Classification(NOC)

Your work experience must have been:

obtained within the last two years from the date of submitting your application to the OINP
in one or more of the occupations that you identified in your Express Entry profile
in Ontario while maintaining legal status in Canada

Cumulative means:

the work you’ve done must add up to one year, but it does not have to be one year of continuous work

Full-time work experience means:

working in a job with at least 30 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 1,560 hours of paid work in one year

Part-time equivalent work experience means:

working in one job for at least 15 hours per week for two years that amounts to at least 1,560 hours in that two-year period, or
working in more than one job for at least 30 hours per week for one year that amounts to at least 1,560 hours of paid work in that one-year period

Please note:

your work experience must have been obtained over a period of at least one year
work experience totaling 1,560 hours obtained in less than one year period does not qualify
if you worked in a compulsory trade, only work experience acquired after becoming qualified to practice that occupation in Ontario will qualify
paid work experience gained while studying full time at a post-secondary institution (for example, on a co-op work term) and self-employment are not eligible
volunteer work and unpaid internships do not count as work experience

Valid certificate or licence (if applicable)

If you are claiming work experience in a compulsory trade, even if you are no longer working in the trade, you must have a valid certificate or licence in Ontario at the time you apply and you must have held a valid certificate or licence that covers the period of work experience that is being used to meet the minimum one year of work experience in an eligible skilled trades occupation.

Find out if your job is in a compulsory trade that requires a licence.

Current residence in Ontario and legal status in Canada

You must be living in Ontario and hold a valid work permit at the time you apply.

If your work permit expired, you may still apply to the OINP if you have submitted an application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to renew/extend your work permit before its expiry date. In these cases, you are considered to be in implied status. You can remain in Canada and continue to work under the same conditions as your existing work permit until a decision is made on the pending application.

You are not required to have a job at the time you apply.

Language

You must be able to understand, read, write and speak either English or French at a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 5 or higher.

To prove that you have the mandatory language skills, you must take an approved English or French language test before you submit your application to this stream.

The test must not have been taken more than two years from the time you submit your application.

For English tests, we accept:

International English Language Testing (IELTS) – we only accept the General Training test
Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) – we only accept the General test

For French tests, we accept:

Test d’évaluation de français pour le Canada (TEF)
Test de connaissance du français pour le Canada(TCF Canada)

Learn more about the English and French language tests.

Settlement funds

You must have enough money to support yourself and your dependent family members when you settle in Canada.

Intention to live in Ontario

You must intend to live in Ontario after you’re granted permanent residence.

Supporting documents

You must provide supporting documents to validate the information in your application and to prove you meet the eligibility criteria.

ENTREPRENEUR STREAM

Mandatory requirements

To qualify under the Entrepreneur Stream, you must have a viable business that is likely to provide material economic benefit to the economy of Ontario as a whole or to the local Ontario economy where the business will be located. You and one business partner (if applicable) must both meet the eligibility requirements.

If you are invited to submit an application, you must provide supporting documentation to demonstrate you meet the requirements.

Business experience

You must have at least 24 months of full-time business experience in the last 60 months.

Your experience must be as a business owner or as a senior manager (business management). As a business owner you must have had an active role in the business and owned at least one-third of the business. As a senior manager you must have had senior decision-making responsibilities in the business.

Net worth

If your proposed business will be located:

within the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto and Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions) you must have a minimum net worth of 800,000 CDN.
outside of the Greater Toronto Area you must have a minimum net worth of $400,000 CDN.

If your proposed business is in the information and communications technology/digital communications sector then regardless of location, you must have a minimum net worth of $400,000 CDN.

Personal investment funds and minimum equity

If your proposed business will be located:

within the Greater Toronto Area, you must make a minimum personal investment of $600,000 CDN and control at least one-third of the equity in the business
outside of the Greater Toronto Area, you must make a minimum personal investment of $200,000 CDN and control at least one-third of the equity in the business

If your proposed business is in the information and communications technology/digital communications sector then regardless of location, you must make a minimum personal investment of $200,000 CDN and control at least of one-third of the equity in the business.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) welcomes foreign national entrepreneurs willing to invest in Ontario. Candidates who are invited to apply for permanent residency nomination under the Entrepreneur Stream would be considered, but not guaranteed for approval, and applications are assessed against the criteria as set out under section 13 of Ontario Regulation 422/17 (General), as further explained in the Application Guide: Entrepreneur Stream. The criteria include an applicant demonstrating that they meet minimum personal net worth and investment criteria. While passive investments, including mutual and/or pooled fund securities, are permissible for the purpose of satisfying the personal net worth criterion, they are not eligible for inclusion in an applicant’s minimum business investment amount.

Active involvement

You must be actively involved, on an ongoing basis, in the management of the business.

Capital investment purpose

The primary purpose of investing capital in the business must be to make a profit. It must not be to derive interest, dividends or capital gains.

Job creation

If the business will be located inside the Greater Toronto Area, you must create at least two permanent full-time jobs for Canadian citizens or permanent residents. If the business will be located outside the Greater Toronto Area or in the information and communications technology or digital communications sector, regardless of location, you must create at least one permanent full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Jobs must be created within the first 20 months of establishing or acquiring the business, must be filled continuously for at least 10 months and must be paid at the median wage level for the position.

Additional requirements if purchasing an existing business

If you plan to purchase an existing business:

you must make at least one business-related visit to Ontario within 12 months from the date of registering an Expression of Interest
the business being purchased must have been in continuous operation by the same owner(s) for the previous 60 months
ownership of the business must be completely transferred to the applicant or any business partner
you must use at least 10% of your personal investment towards improving or expanding the business in Ontario
you must keep all permanent full-time employees that worked in the business prior to the transfer of ownership

PHD GRADUATE STREAM

Mandatory requirements

You can apply to the PhD Graduate Stream if you meet all the criteria in the six categories below. You don’t need a job offer to apply.

Education

You must have completed the requirements necessary to obtain a PhD degree. The degree must be from an eligible university in Ontario.

At least two years of your PhD studies must have been completed while legally living and studying in Ontario.

You don’t qualify if you have received a bursary, grant or scholarship that requires you return to your home country after you earn your PhD degree. You may only apply after you have fulfilled those commitments and can demonstrate an intention to live in Ontario.

Residency in Ontario

You must have legally lived in Ontario for at least one year in the past two years before you apply.

Note that your one year of residency can be cumulative. This means that there can be gaps provided that all the periods of residency in Ontario add up to 12 months within the past two years before you apply.

Settlement funds

You must have enough money to support yourself and your dependent family members when you settle in Canada.

Note that a family member includes your spouse, common law partner and children under the age of 22, including their children.

You can meet this requirement through one or a combination of any of the following:

funds as demonstrated by the balance listed in bank statements, or statements of accounts showing other investments such as non-locked in, fixed term deposits, mutual funds, etc.
annual earnings from ongoing employment in Ontario, and/or
a job offer in Ontario

xample: You have checked how much money you must have available and, based on your family size, you must have $29,000 (CAD). You have a job offer in Ontario with an annual wage of $25,000 and you have a balance of $5,000 in your savings account for a total of $30,000. By using a combination of your job offer and bank statement, you would meet the settlements fund requirement.

Note: if you provide bank statements that include a one-time large deposit, we may ask you to provide additional documentation to support that your funds are free of debt or liability.

Intention to live in Ontario

You must intend to live and work in Ontario after you’re granted permanent residence. We determine this by examining your ties to Ontario, which can include doing things like:

working or have worked in Ontario
getting job offers, or applying/interviewing for jobs
studying
volunteering
leasing or owning property
visiting
having professional networks and affiliations, family ties or social or personal relationships

Legal status in Canada (if applicable)

If you are applying from within Canada, you must have legal status (a visitor record, study permit, or work permit) at the time you apply and should maintain that status until the time of nomination.

Application period

You must submit your application within two years of completing the requirements necessary to obtain your PhD degree.

This means that the date on your degree must be within two years of your OINP application submission date. For example, if your degree is dated June 1, 2017, you must apply to this stream before June 1, 2019.

If you don’t have your degree yet, use the date on the official letter from your university which states when your degree will be granted.

FRENCH-SPEAKING SKILLED WORKER STREAM*

Ontario’s Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream

Mandatory requirements

To qualify under Ontario’s Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream, you must meet all the criteria in the seven categories below. You do not need a job offer to apply.

Work experience

You must decide which of the following two federal programs you would like to be assessed against:

Federal Skilled Worker Program
Canadian Experience Class

Federal Skilled Worker Program

Under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, you must have:

at least one year of continuous paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in paid part- time work) in Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Your work experience must have been:

obtained within the last five years from the date of submitting your application to the OINP
in the same primary occupation as you identified in your Express Entry profile

Your work experience may be from Canada or overseas.

Continuous means:

no breaks in employment over a one year period

Please note: Work experience may consist of back-to-back jobs with the same or different employer(s) (with no gap in between), but at least one year must be in the same NOC occupation as your primary NOC declared in your Express Entry profile.

If you are using periods of self-employment, you will need provide employment documentation that is independently verifiable through third parties. This can include client reference letters indicating your duties and periods of work, as well as evidence of ongoing payments to you personally, for the services provided (for example, invoices). Please also note that your hours of self-employed work must be quantifiable to ensure that you accumulated at least 1,560 hours over one year of employment. Reference letters from yourself, your business partners and/or a family member are not accepted by the program.

Canadian Experience Class

Under the Canadian Experience Class, you must have:

at least one year of cumulative paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in paid part-time work) in Canada in Skill Type 0 or Skill Level A or B of the NOC

Your work experience must have been:

obtained within the last three years from the date of submitting your application to the OINP
in one or more of the occupations that you identified in your Express Entry profile
in Canada while maintaining legal status in Canada

Cumulative means:

work you’ve done must add up to one year – it does not have to be one year of continuous work

Please note: Paid work experience gained while studying full-time at a post-secondary institution (for example, on a co-op work term) and self-employment are not eligible under the CEC.

Under both programs:

your work experience must have been obtained over a period of at least one year – work experience totaling 1,560 hours obtained in less than a one year period does not qualify
full-time work experience means working in a job with at least 30 hours of paid work in a week, that amounts to at least 1,560 hours of paid work in one year
part-time equivalent work experience means:
- working in one job for at least 15 hours per week, for two years that amounts to at least 1,560 hours of paid work in that two year period, or
- working in more than one job for at least 30 hours per week, for one year, that amounts to at least 1,560 hours of paid work in that one year period
if your work experience was obtained in Ontario in an occupation that requires a licence or other authorization, only work experience acquired after becoming qualified to practice that occupation in Ontario will qualify
volunteer work and unpaid internships do not count as valid work experience

Education

You must have a Canadian bachelor’s, master’s or PhD degree or its equivalent in another country.

If you completed your studies outside of Canada, you need to get an Educational Credential Assessment report that proves your education is equivalent to a Canadian degree.

Please note that from November 21, 2019 until May 19, 2020 the International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS) will place a temporary pause on its assessment of educational credentials for immigration purposes so that it can address the backlog the organization is experiencing. IQAS will process applications for immigration purposes that were submitted and paid for before November 21, 2019.

Each organization charges a different fee and has different processing times. Please check the website of each ECA organization to choose the one that’s best for you.

You must give us a copy of the ECA report when you submit your application. The report cannot be more than five years old at the time you submit your application.

We must be able to confirm your ECA results with the organization that completed it. This means you must authorize the organization to share the results with the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (not IRCC).

You must authorize the organization to share the results of your assessment specifically with the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). Authorizing the organization to share the results of your assessment with IRCC is not sufficient for the purposes of your application to the OINP.

Language

You must be able to understand, read, write and speak French at a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 or higher.

You must also be able to understand, read, write and speak English at CLB level 6 or higher.

To prove that you have the mandatory language skills, you must take an approved French and English language test before you submit your application to this stream.

The test must not have been taken more than two years from the time you submit your application.

For French tests, we accept:

Test d’évaluation de français pour le Canada(TEF)
Test de connaissance du français pour le Canada(TCF Canada)

For English tests, we accept:

International English Language Testing (IELTS) – we only accept the General Training test
Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) – we only accept the General test

Settlement funds

You must have enough money to support yourself and your dependent family members when you settle in Canada.

Note that a family member includes your spouse, common law partner and children under the age of 22, including their children.

You can meet this requirement through one or a combination of any of the following:

funds as demonstrated by the balance listed in bank statements, or statements of accounts showing other investments such as non-locked in, fixed term deposits, mutual funds, etc.
annual earnings from ongoing employment in Ontario
a job offer in Ontario

Example: You have checked how much money you must have available and, based on your family size, you must have $29,000 (CAD). You have a job offer in Ontario with an annual wage of $25,000 and you have a balance of $5,000 in your savings account for a total of $30,000. By using a combination of your job offer and bank statement, you would meet the settlements fund requirement.

Note: if you provide bank statements that include a one-time large deposit, we may ask you to provide additional documentation to support that your funds are free of debt or liability.

Intention to live in Ontario

You must intend to live in Ontario after you’re granted permanent residence. We determine this by examining your ties to Ontario, which can include things like:

working or have worked in Ontario
getting job offers or applying/interviewing for jobs
studying
volunteering
leasing or owning property
visiting
having professional networks and affiliations, family ties and personal relationships

Legal status in Canada (if applicable)

If you are applying from within Canada, you must have legal status (a visitor record, study permit, or work permit) at the time you apply and should maintain that status until the time of nomination.

Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)