Ontario opens new EOI stream for in-demand occupations including Healthcare workers

New Ontario EOI Stream For Healthcare Workers & Technicians

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) opened new immigration streams for in-demand skills since it first revamped the immigration system last year.

The new EOI system is now open for healthcare workers, technicians and other semi-skilled workers under the Employer Job Offer Category. The new stream will join the Foreign Worker and International Student streams in the EOI system that was open this year.

The province is yet to launch the EOI system for the Master’s Graduate, and PhD Graduate streams. As per the latest provincial release, the OINP webpage says these Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) will be a part of the EOI system “in the near future.”

(Note: a detailed list of targeted occupations is tabulated towards the end)

Revamped Immigration Intake System

To begin your process of qualifying for OINP draws, interested candidates must register their EOI profiles. Upon registration, their profiles will be evaluated and ranked on factors like job skill level, total work experience, education, proficiency in English or French. Study or work experience inside Canada can fetch you additional points.

The invited candidates may qualify for the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream. It is open to any foreign national who has at least:

two years of work experience in a relevant skilled occupation,
has an eligible job offer in Ontario, and
intends to settle permanently in the province.

There are a number of other eligibility requirements for in-demand skills candidates. Typically, candidates need a high school education, a language score of at least 4 in all proficiencies, and sufficient settlement funds, among other requirements.

Ontario’s Growth Is Dependent On Immigration

A report prepared by Scotiabank sees an influx of up to $2.9 billion in Ontario’s economy through the rise in newcomers as per the current immigration plans. Additionally, the federal investment of $1million in 2021 in Northern Ontario will boost immigration.

Beyond 2022, immigrants are expected to make up half of the economic growth generated in the province. Without newcomers, Ontario’s GDP could be 20% lower than the present year, about $157 billion.

Some of the most demanding occupations among the invited workers include Software engineers and designers, Computer programmers, Interactive media developers, IT systems analysts, Technology consultants, and Healthcare professionals.

The Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP) allows immigration of foreign workers through Express Entry streams, Tech Pilot streams, Human Capital Priorities Stream.

List of in-demand occupations:

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 8431- General farm workers
NOC 8432- Nursery and greenhouse workers
NOC 8611- Harvesting labourers
NOC 7611- Construction trades helpers and labourers
NOC 9462- Industrial butchers, meat cutters, poultry preparers, related workers

Available only to candidates outside the Greater Toronto Area

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

Take this free assessment online to find the perfect immigration stream that suits your work profile.

You may also contact our consultants to clear all your queries about immigration to Canada during the pandemic.

British Columbia Invites Another 395 Immigration Candidates To Apply for Provincial Nominations

New British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) draws held on June 22 held one general draw and another occupation-specific draw. Both these draws resulted in a total of 395 invitations to apply for provincial nomination.

Since February 2021, BC PNP has been conducting two separate nomination draws simultaneously. All the 395 invited candidates in the latest draws were nominated from the Skilled Worker, International Graduate, and Entry Level and Semi-Skilled sub-categories of Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC streams.

Out of the invited candidates, the first draw issued 341 invitations to candidates having minimum scores ranging between 75 and 93 points and any work experience in any occupation recognized by the province.

The occupation-specific draw targeted retail and wholesale trade managers and restaurant and foodservice managers, NOC 0621 or NOC 0631, respectively. A total of 54 invitations were issued to candidates with a minimum score of 109. The province is said to conduct the occupation-targeted draw due to many people registered in the BC PNP Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS) with these two occupations.

All these invited candidates have 30 days to submit a complete application through the BC PNP online system.

With this draw, British Columbia has now issued 5730 invitations through various BC PNP streams. In principle, these many candidates are now eligible to receive permanent residence in Canada.

Take this free assessment online to evaluate your chances of immigrating to Canada.

How To Receive Provincial Nominations from BC PNP?

British Columbia offers excellent work opportunities for foreign workers. The provincial program is well-designed to serve the interests of immigrants by providing a chance to apply for permanent residency in a quick time.

Using two provincial streams: Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC, the province fulfils its labour demand. The province issues provincial nominations under the stream to all eligible candidates who had earlier shown their interest in settling in the province. As permanent residency remains to be under the federal government’s exclusive authority, the provincial nomination can at best fast forward the application time usually required to receive permanent residency.

To receive provincial nomination under BC PNP, any candidates must first register under B.C.’s Skills Immigration Registration System (SIRS). Candidates are further assigned a score based on education, work experience, and language skills and ranked accordingly.

The weekly draw invites the highest-scoring candidates from each sub-category to apply for a provincial nomination. June 22 BC PNP draw required candidates to have a minimum provincial score between 75 and 93 points.

The nomination is valid for approximately six months from the date of confirmation. Upon a successful provincial nomination, you’re eligible to receive an additional 600 points under the CRS. This score is high enough to qualify for any Express Entry draw to receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence.

Here’s how tech workers can expedite their immigration to Canada with BC PNP.

You can contact CanApprove to explore more immigration options based on academic & work profile. Please book your free appointment with us today!

Ontario PNP invites Express Entry candidates in 10 priority occupations

Ontario Targets 583 Express Entry Candidates Including Nurses, Accountants, Bankers

Ontario held a surprise draw on June 23 targeting about ten high-priority, skilled occupations for provincial nominations. Among the invited candidates were nurses, investment managers, and accountants already registered in the federal Express Entry pool.

Quick Highlights on June 23 Ontario PNP Draw

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) issued targeted invitations to apply for provincial nomination under its Express Entry Human Capital Priorities (HCP) stream. These draws were identical to the previous HCP draws held this year on February 2 and on March 2.

#1 Qualifying Score: As candidates having only registered Express Entry profiles were considered, the qualifying score was based on their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). A CRS score is given to candidates based on their human capital factors like age, language proficiency, work experience, and education qualification. The score is given out of 1200 points.

The qualifying CRS score for the October 15 draw varied between 464 and 467.

#2 Occupation of invited candidates: All the 583 invited candidates were required to have a mandatory work experience of one year or more in any one of the following occupations:

NOC 0122	Banking, credit, and other investment managers
NOC 0124	Advertising, marketing, and public relations managers
NOC 0125	Other business services managers
NOC 0601	Corporate sales managers
NOC 1111	Financial auditors and accountants
NOC 1112	Financial and investment analysts
NOC 1121	Human resources professionals
NOC 1122	Professional occupations in business management consulting
NOC 3012	Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
NOC 4163	Business development officers and marketing researchers and consultants

Also read how Ontario’s Northern Regions All Set To Attract New Immigrants.

Applying for Canada PR with Ontario Provincial Nomination

Receiving an invitation to apply for permanent residency remains under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government. A provincial nomination will, however, fast-track the total time taken to receive an invitation to apply.

Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP) issues provincial nominations to eligible skilled workers under its famous Human Capital Priorities stream. The province also invites candidates already registered in the federal pool under its Tech draw.

Express Entry is a database management system for any foreign skilled workers with/without a job offer to show their interest to migrate to Canada for permanent residence. Those with provincial nominations like the one from Express Entry Human Capital Priorities (HCP) stream or Ontario Tech Draw or any other stream will get preferential treatment to obtain permanent residence. The inclusion of extra 600 CRS points makes the entire process even simpler.

Since the start of 2021, Canada has been holding program-specific draws where it invites candidates either with provincial nominations or prior work experience in Canada. With a target of issuing 108,000 new ITAs for Canada PR in 2021 under Express Entry alone, Canada is more likely to exceed it.

Take this free online assessment to know your eligibility.

Book a free appointment with our consultants to improve your chances of qualifying for Canada PR.

Latest Express Entry Draws Invite 6,000 CEC-only Candidates for Canada PR

Canada held yet another program-specific Express Entry draw on June 24, exclusively issuing permanent residency invitations to candidates with prior work experience in Canada.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have held on to the trend of conducting alternate PNP-only & CEC-only Express Entry nomination draws since the imposed travel restrictions in March 2020. The previous nomination draws were dedicated to inviting 1,002 candidates who already received provincial nominations.

The latest Express Entry round of invitations is the 194th draws since its introduction in 2015. A summary of the nomination draw is as below:

Draw Size Remain Large: With a whooping draw size of 6,000 nominations, candidates in the federal pool with prior work experience in Canada receive invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residency (PR).

All the invited candidates have either studied or worked in Canada before entering the Express Entry pool for nominations. More specifically, international graduates, temporary workers have a great chance of qualifying for Canada PR. They would require at least one year of work experience to qualify for the Canadian Experience Class immigration program under the Express Entry.

Qualifying Score Lowered: Any prospective candidates that seek to register their profile for consideration under the Express Entry system shall be assessed and ranked based on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

Such profiles are evaluated on a total of 1200 points and considers human capital factors like age, education, work experience outside Canada, language proficiency in English/French, spouse adaptability, Canadian study experience, etc. Those who receive provincial nominations through ‘enhanced’ PNP streams will get an additional 600 points towards their CRS score.

The minimum qualifying CRS score dropped down to 357 in the 194th Express Entry draw, registering 11 points drop from the previous CEC-only draws.

Tie-Break Rule: IRCC applies a tie-break rule to avoid disputes in the rankings in the case where two or more candidates are awarded the same CRS score. This draw invited candidates who had a minimum score of 742 and only if they submitted their Express Entry profile before February 17, 2021, at 10:15:50 UTC.

Afreen is 30 years old holding a bachelor’s degree in business analytics. Before getting employed in Canada as an analyst and gaining one year of work experience in Canada, she had been in the same occupation for 5 years in UAE. She speaks fluent English and was able to get a CRS score of 436. Based on her credentials, she is more than qualified to be invited to this CEC-only Express Entry draw for Canada PR.

All-Program Draws in 2021

In actual terms, the Express Entry system manages applications for three immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), and Canada Experience Class (CEC). Any fortnightly nomination draw would nominate candidates under all three programs, provided such candidates fulfilled the minimum qualifying score requirement.

However, since the start of 2021, Canada has only held program-specific draws linked to either Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) or Canada Experience Class (CEC). The candidates who qualified under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) are largely left out of the nominations for Canada PR. This is due to the COVID-related travel restrictions internationally.

FSWP candidates are mostly foreign skilled workers who do not have work experience inside Canada and do not hold a job offer in Canada. However, they may qualify for permanent residency based on their age, language proficiency, education, and relevant work experience abroad.

Canada is set to welcome 108,500 new immigrants through Express Entry-managed programs in 2021 alone. So far, about 80 per cent of the target has been achieved, i.e., 88,715 Express Entry candidates have been already invited to apply for permanent residency.

With business groups calling upon the government to reopen the border soon, it will not be a surprise if Canada issues a record number of total invitations for PR by the end of this year. Click here to get a quick review of nomination draws in January, February, March, April 2021, and May 2021.

Take this free assessment online to determine your eligibility for permanent residency.

For more latest updates on Canadian immigration, contact CanApprove.

1,002 PNP-only Express Entry Candidates with CRS 742 Receive ITAs for Canada PR

Canada held a new Express Entry nomination draw which resulted in issuing exclusive permanent residency invitations to candidates with prior provincial nominations.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) seemingly continued with the trend of holding alternate CEC-only & PNP-only nomination draws. The previous nomination draws were dedicated to inviting 6,000 candidates who already had work experience in Canada.

The latest Express Entry round of invitations is the 193rd draws since its introduction in 2015. A brief summary of the nomination draw is as below:

Biggest Draw Size: Canada issues 1,002 invitations to apply (ITAs) for permanent residency (PR) exclusively to those candidates in the federal pool who had already received provincial nominations. The previous PNP-only draw held two weeks ago issued 940 ITAs for Canada PR.

A provincial nomination is a certificate to immigrate to a certain Canadian province to fulfil its labour shortage demand. It is mainly issued by the concerned provincial government to fast-track one’s application to permanent residency in Canada which remains under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.

All the invited candidates have already demonstrated their connection to a province or territory and experience to succeed in the labour market by securing a provincial nomination. Further, they may qualify to receive invitations for permanent residency through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, or Canadian Experience Class.

Higher Qualifying Score: Any prospective candidates that seek to register their profile for consideration under the Express Entry system shall be assessed and ranked based on a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).

The 193rd Express Entry draw required candidates to have a relatively higher qualifying CRS score of 742 points than the previous 711. However, when compared to qualifying scores in CEC-only draws, candidates would only be required to score 142 points in actual terms. Additional 600 points get automatically added to their overall CRS score upon receiving a successful provincial nomination.

Tie-Break Rule: IRCC applies a tie-break rule to avoid disputes in the rankings in the case where two or more candidates are awarded the same CRS score. This draw invited candidates who had a minimum score of 742 and only if they submitted their Express Entry profile before February 18, 2021, at 04:04:56 UTC.

Anna & Ryan are a married couple in their mid-30s. Each holds a bachelor’s degree and hold a good IELTS score. They never studied or worked in Canada previously and entered the Express Entry pool as a married couple last year in April 2020.

Based on their credentials, Anna, the principal applicant got a provincial nomination from Ontario’s Human Capital Priorities Stream. With this provincial nomination, their CRS score jumped up to 1021 which is sufficient to qualify in this PNP-only Express Entry draw for Canada PR.

Learn more about Express Entry for Married Couples or Common-law Partners here.

Domestic Candidates Prefered

IRCC has regularly held Express Entry draws in 2021. Only program-specific draws linked to either Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) or Canada Experience Class (CEC) have been held so far, thereby ignoring the candidates who qualified under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). This may be largely due to the COVID-related travel restrictions internationally.

Canada is set to welcome 108,500 new immigrants through Express Entry-managed programs in 2021 alone. So far, about 80 per cent of the target has been achieved, i.e., 82,715 Express Entry candidates have been already invited to apply for permanent residency.

With business groups calling upon the government to reopen the border soon, it will not be a surprise if Canada issues a record number of total invitations for PR by the end of this year. Click here to get a quick review of nomination draws in the months of January, February, March, April 2021 and May 2021.

Take this free assessment online to determine your eligibility for permanent residency.

For more latest updates on Canadian immigration, contact CanApprove.

NSW, Victoria draw plans for students return to Australia in 2021

Australian States Announces Pilot Programme To Allow International Students Back

Getting admitted to one of the world’s top ten political science programmes at Australia’s top university which proudly produced Nobel Laureates and even Prime Ministers, is a fascinating achievement in itself. However, soon as the pandemic stuck, everything turned upside down.

Australia has remained closed for international travel since last year, affecting the future of several young international students and skilled worker immigrants.

Much to their relief, two of the largest Australian states, New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria announced plans to start a pilot programme, exclusively to facilitate the entry of international students back into the country. The programme has set a target to welcome back about 800 students per month.

Both NSW & Victoria have the largest cohort of international students. Speaking on the occasion, an Australian official admitted that the scope of the problem is much larger, but says this is an important first step. “We have over 470,000 people who are entitled to be in Australia, studying whether, in postgraduate, research, undergraduate or other elements of education, and currently 150,000 of those are offshore,” he told in an interview to a national daily.

He further added, “I’m not wishing to get their hopes up any higher. But what is positive is that two states, including Australia’s largest state, only last week announced pilot programmes to demonstrate not just to the federal government, but to the Australian community, that international students can return to our shores without there being a community health problem.”

“In Australia, they want to create a COVID-free environment, rather than learn to deal with COVID like Europe is doing.” At the best, International students may be able to return at the end of the first semester in 2022.

CanApprove Recommends…

Admission to top Australian universities is now open and in full swing with international students applying to begin their study program next year. However, as a responsible immigration consultant & overseas education counsellor, CanApprove is currently not actively endorsing any education programs in Australia because of uncertainty in travel restrictions. We’re expecting the situation to ease down soon.

Before the pandemic, Australia was among the leading study abroad destinations alongside Canada. Being a small country, Australia proudly hosts many universities in the top 100 in the world. Considering from a price point, tuition fees in Australia are more cost-effective than in North America and the U.K. The pilot programs announced last week will enable students to enter Australia soon, but there needs to be more clarity and better communication for immigration counsellors like us to endorse it.

Discover other exciting study abroad options by taking this free assessment online or get in touch with our consultants to know about your eligibility for immigration.

Express Entry candidates get nominated in new PNP draws

New PNP Draws Invites Express Entry Candidates Among Other for Canada PR

Immigration levels in Canada may have declined over the past year due to pandemic-induced travel restrictions. During the same time, the federal and provincial governments have taken every possible step to uphold the spirit of immigration by regular conduct of nomination draws and inviting candidates who are already present in the country to apply for permanent residency. International student immigration has also begun to Canadian designated learning institutions (DLIs) that are adhering to the COVID-19 readiness plan.

Here’s a brief of how provincial nomination draws spanned out last week.

Express Entry Candidates Receive Provincial Nominations

A significant percentage of permanent residency applications of foreign skilled immigrants in Canada has been channelized through the Express Entry system since 2015.

The Express Entry system is a database of immigrant applicants who qualify for either of the three federal immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skills Trades Program (FSTP), and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). All the registered candidates are given a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score for their age, work experience, education, and language proficiency in English or French.

Further, those who receive a provincial nomination are given an additional 600 points toward their CRS score which will effectively guarantee an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in a subsequent Express Entry draw. This has prompted all Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) to align their nomination streams with the federal Express Entry pool for quick nominations to meet their specific labour demand.

On June 17, Prince Edward Island’s (PEI) Express Entry stream actively invited about 101 candidates along with its Labour Impact category to apply for provincial nominations. The same day also saw a total of 10 invitations, also known as Letters of Advice to Apply (LAAs), going to eligible Express Entry candidates from Manitoba PNP. Two days earlier, on June 15, British Columbia had made about 72 provincial nominations to candidates qualifying its Express Entry and Skills Immigration stream.

To be considered for a provincial nomination from the province, Express Entry candidates need to create an EOI profile separately from the respective province.

‘Base’ Provincial Nominations

Apart from inviting candidates who are already registered in the federal pool, the Prince Edward Islands, British Columbia along with Manitoba scouted for candidates beyond the federal pool.

About 12 more invitations to apply for provincial nominations went to business immigration candidates under the PEI Business Impact category. The invitations were issued under the Work Permit Stream, which is for foreign entrepreneurs who want to own and operate a business on the island. Business Impact Category candidates need to meet the minimum provincial score requirement to proceed with their applications. In the latest PEI PNP draw, they had to score a minimum of 60 provincial points to qualify.

On the other hand, Manitoba PNP resulting in inviting 141 immigration candidates under its various provincial streams:

Skilled Workers in Manitoba – 95 invitations with a minimum EOI score of 430;
Skilled Workers Overseas – 24 invitations with a minimum EOI score of 703; and
International Education Stream – 22 invitations with no EOI score requirement.

Discover your eligibility for permanent residency in Canada by taking this free assessment online.

Canada is planning to make up for the immigration shortfall in the next three years and achieve an ambitious immigration target of inviting more than 1.2 million new immigrants. Under the current target, Canada’s PNP will admit up to 80,800 new immigrants in 2021. Contact CanApprove to make the most of the favourable time for immigration to Canada.

Express Entry Candidates Among the Invitees in the Latest Saskatchewan PNP Draws

In a line-up to weekly PNP draws, Saskatchewan held a new nomination PNP draw on June 15. The province ended up inviting about 255 eligible immigration candidates to apply for a provincial nomination.

All the candidates have been invited under the ‘enhanced’ Express Entry & ‘base’ Occupations In-Demand Saskatchewan PNP streams. Upon receiving provincial nominations, the time taken to obtain permanent residency (PR) gets shorten drastically.

‘Enhanced’ Express Entry Stream: Out of the total 255 invitations, 103 invitations went to candidates who already had their profiles in the federal Express Entry pool.

The federal Express Entry pool is a database of interested applicants willing to obtain permanent residence in Canada. Originally, the federal pool of candidates manages three of Canada’s main economic-class immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class. SINP stream Express Entry subcategory under the SINP can directly nominate select candidates from the pool.

‘Base’ Occupations In-Demand Stream: Out of the total 255 invitations, 152 invitations went to candidates who have specific work skills that are in demand in Saskatchewan. Those candidates who barely qualify to register a federal Express Entry profile may be nominated under the Occupations In-Demand sub-category.

Currently, all the invited candidates under SINP are selected within the list of 55 in-demand occupations.

Interesting Read>> How To Qualify For Canada PR Under Canada PNP?

How To Get Nominated In Future Saskatchewan PNP Draws?

To be considered for nominations under the upcoming Saskatchewan Immigration Nominee Program (SINP) draws, candidates must register their Expression of Interest (EOI) profile with the provincial authority.

Candidates need to demonstrate their commitment to meaningfully settle in Saskatchewan by demonstrating their work experience, education, language ability, age, and connections to the province.

Saskatchewan gives candidates a score out of 100 according to the International Skilled Worker Points Assessment Grid. The province favors candidates with bilingual capability in both English and French. The highest-scoring candidates are then invited to apply for a provincial nomination from Saskatchewan.

Regardless of the provincial category, all invited candidates need an EOI score of at least 82 to be invited. It is also to be noted that the points requirement is that all the invited candidates must have valid Educational Credential Assessments.

Additionally, candidates already in the federal Express Entry pool need to register another EOI and choose Saskatchewan.

On successfully receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for a provincial nomination, candidates are awarded an additional 600 points toward their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. It will effectively guarantee an ITA for Canada PR in the subsequent Express Entry draw conducted by IRCC.

We could see Canada inviting over 80,800 new permanent residents through various PNP streams. This would include business entrepreneurs, international students graduates in that province, foreign skilled workers, specifically skilled tech workers, critical workers, etc. Moreover, 2021 began with Express Entry Draws that invited only those candidates who had a prior provincial nomination to apply for Canada PR.

Check your eligibility by filling this free assessment online.

To secure your immigration chances to Canada, you may need help from a professional immigration lawyer. CanApprove will serve as the right agency of immigration lawyers to help you decide the right visa option and visa documentation. Take the first step towards securing Canada PR by booking a free consultation session with us!

Reopening of Canadian borders soon on cards as business leaders demand plan.

Business Groups Urges Canadian Government to Reopen Borders Soon

The Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable called on the federal government of Canada on June 14 to release a plan to reopen borders and the economy.

Business groups pushed their agenda of having a single national policy approach to the border reopening strategy. They expect the plan to clarify & integrate policy on vaccination certification, the international border, and unvaccinated children.

The Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable has representatives from airports, airlines, hotels, and chambers of commerce across the country. The group is committed to safely restart the hard-hit sector.

Beth Potter, President & CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, said,

“The Canadian travel and tourism industry — and the Canada-U.S. border — has been effectively closed since March 2020. A holistic Canada-wide plan is needed to provide certainty to businesses and Canadians. We are seeing provinces fill in the gaps that have been created by the absence of a federal reopening plan and this will create confusion for travellers.”

A comprehensive reopening plan for international travel is yet to be released by the federal government which is hurting businesses in Canada as they are predominantly dependent on foreign skilled immigration.

Canada’s Stance On Border Reopening Until Now

Business leaders passively welcomed the G7 agenda for a travel reopening plan to welcome fully vaccinated foreign nationals who want to come to Canada.

At the G7 summit held earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada agreed with other leaders of the richest world economies to devise “a set of common standards for travel including… recognition of vaccination status including exemptions and comparable criteria for when responsive measures may be required.”

However, Canada remained the only country in the grouping without yet announcing a comprehensive reopening plan. Earlier in June, the COVID-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel advised the federal government to start easing quarantine restrictions.

Earlier this month, the public health department announced its intention to remove the mandatory hotel quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Canadians and reduce quarantine upon the results of an arrivals test. A parliamentary committee on the impact of immigration in Canada made its report public last month which included innovative and practical suggestions like making Canadian immigration all-inclusive, digitizing the intake system, newer PR pathways for essential workers, and more, to implement in the coming term.

Some experts comment over Canada’s silence as a hallmark of empathizing with immigration from low-middle income or poor countries where vaccination rates are still poor. Having a mechanism of vaccine passport-like document will hurt their chances of qualifying for immigration.

Travel and Tourism is a $105 billion sector in Canada that employs millions including immigrant groups like international students, semi-skilled workers. The industry together contributed about 2 per cent to Canada’s gross domestic product. With a reopening plan expected to be announced soon, aspiring immigrants can prepare themselves in advance by consulting a professional immigration consultancy. You may be also pleased to know that the demand for healthcare professionals in Canada has increased in recent years.

Check out top opportunities for Engineers in Canada.

CanApprove has been providing professional immigration counselling and visa documentation support successfully for over two decades. Book your free appointment to get started!

Ontario PNP invites 940 candidates including International Students for provincial nominations

International Students & Temporary Workers Receive Nominations from Ontario PNP

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) held a new nomination draws on June 16, resulting in a total of 940 invitations to apply for provincial nominations. All the invited candidates are said to have qualified for one of two Employer Job Offer streams.

Canadian provinces enjoy discretion to nominate desirable and eligible candidates to fulfill their labor shortage demand through immigration. Such provinces cannot issue permanent residency certificates as it lies in the exclusive domain of the central government. However, they can fast-track the total time taken to obtain the permanent resident certificate by issuing a provincial nomination.

In one such instance, Ontario invited immigrants under two provincial streams to apply for provincial nominations:

Foreign Worker Stream invited a total of 569 eligible temporary workers to apply for provincial nominations. These candidates needed a score of at least 38. However, there were no targeted occupations, nor location requirements for this draw.
International Student Stream issued the remaining 371 eligible international student graduates to apply for provincial nominations. These candidates needed a score of at least 66.

How to Qualify For Canada PR with OINP?

Ontario Employer Job Offer stream is open to foreign nationals who have an eligible job offer from an employer in Ontario. As an immigration candidate, you can either demonstrate work experience in Canada or must have studied in any designated learning institution in Ontario.

And the best part is you do not necessarily have to apply from within Canada, as long as you meet the eligibility requirements.

For you to qualify under Foreign Worker Stream, you need to demonstrate:

two years of work experience in a skilled occupation,
have an eligible job offer in Ontario, and
intend to immigrate to the province, among other criteria.

Additionally. for the International Student Stream, instead of demonstrating your work experience, your location of graduation is considered which can be anywhere in Ontario.

EOI Points under OINP

Following the introduction of the ‘two-step immigration’ system, all the 940 invited candidates in the latest OINP draw were selected from the new Expression of Interest (EOI) pool.

Upon successfully receiving a provincial nomination, candidates can apply for permanent residency with the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

It is equally interesting to note that the scoring system under the OINP is different for each nomination stream. Other than skill level and work experience, factors like wage, education, language proficiency, and the region in which you study or work will determine your overall provincial score. Additionally, OINP is at its discretion to allow up to 10 points to respond to labor market needs.

With annual allocations to Ontario set at 8,350 Provincial Nominations in 2021, immigration candidates have ample opportunities to get nominated for Canada PR.

Take this free assessment online to determine your best chances of immigrating to Canada.

To know more about your immigration options to Canada, contact CanApprove.

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