More newcomers may now be eligible to apply for provincial nomination through the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).

On July 4, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development announced that it has added occupations under 35 National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes  to the list of jobs that will be considered when the province issues Expressions of Interest (EOIs) under the stream. They include:

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NOC 14400 – Shippers and Receivers

NOC 14402 – Production logistics workers

NOC 65320 – Dry cleaning, laundry and related occupations

NOC 74200 – Railway yard and track maintenance workers

NOC 74203 – Automotive and heavy truck and equipment parts installers and servicers

NOC 74204 – Utility maintenance workers

NOC 74205 – Public works maintenance equipment operators and related workers
NOC 75101 – Material handlers

NOC 75119 – Other trades helpers and labourers

NOC 75211 – Railway and motor transport labourers

NOC 75212 – Public works and maintenance labourers

NOC 85102 – Aquaculture and marine harvest labourers

NOC 94101 – Foundry workers

NOC 94102 – Glass forming and finishing machine operators and glass cutters

NOC 94103 – Concrete, clay and stone forming operators

NOC 94104 – Inspectors and testers, mineral and metal processing

NOC 94112 – Rubber processing machine operators and related workers

NOC 94120 – Sawmill machine operators

NOC 94121 – Pulp mill, papermaking and finishing machine operators

NOC 94123 – Lumber graders and other wood processing inspectors and graders

NOC 94142 – Fish and seafood plant workers

NOC 94143 – Testers and graders, food and beverage processing

NOC 94200 – Motor vehicle assemblers, inspectors and testers

NOC 94202 – Assemblers and inspectors, electrical appliance, apparatus and equipment manufacturing

NOC 94203 – Assemblers, fabricators and inspectors, industrial electrical motors and transformers

NOC 94205 – Machine operators and inspectors, electrical apparatus manufacturing

NOC 94211 – Assemblers and inspectors of other wood products

NOC 94212 – Plastic products assemblers, finishers and inspectors

NOC 95100 – Labourers in mineral and metal processing

NOC 95101 – Labourers in metal fabrication

NOC 95103 – Labourers in wood, pulp and paper processing

NOC 95104 – Labourers in rubber and plastic products manufacturing

NOC 95106 – Labourers in food and beverage processing

NOC 95107 – Labourers in fish and seafood processing

A candidate’s job offer must be located outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) unless the offer is for NOC 75119 – Other trades helpers and labourers.

These jobs were added following consultations between the Ministry and provincial stakeholders in Fall 2023.

Other eligibility criteria

The Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Occupations Stream is one of several streams in Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

The stream is specifically designed to fill urgent job vacancies throughout the province. These professions typically include those in agriculture, construction, trades, and manufacturing.

The job offer must be from an Ontario employer and be full-time, meaning at least 1,560 hours a year and a minimum of 30 hours a week. Jobs with an end date (such as contract positions) are not eligible.

Candidates also require at least nine months of cumulative, paid, full-time work experience in Ontario in a position that carries the same NOC code as their job offer. Experience can be gained over three years prior to the date an application is submitted.

They also require a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark score of four in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in either English or French and a Canadian high school diploma or credential (or its foreign equivalent). Those with no Canadian education will need to submit an Education Credential Assessment.

Finally, if a candidate’s job offer is in a licensed profession, they require a license from the appropriate provincial regulatory authority before they apply for nomination.

About OINP

Each Canadian province and territory (except Quebec and Nunavut) has a PNP. They allow provincial governments to select the economic immigration candidates who are best suited to the local economy and nominate them. This means that the candidate then has a much stronger application should they decide to apply to Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence.

In 2023 Ontario issued 16,506 nominations to OINP candidates. Of these, 463 went to candidates in the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Occupations Stream.

The federal government has increased the number of nominations for OINP to 21,500 in 2024, the highest allocation of nominations received by any PNP in Canada. Overall, Canada expects to welcome 110,000 newcomers through the PNP by the end of this year.

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