Launching an expression of interest system for Ontario’s provincial selection streams

Ontario has opened up the Expression of Interest (EOI) system for two provincial selection programs in the employer job offer group.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) EOI system is currently open for the following streams in the employer job offer group:

Foreign labor force

International students

According to an announcement on the OINP website, the province expects to open EOI systems for the three required skills streams, master’s graduates and doctoral graduates, in the near future.

What this plan means for Ontario’s future immigrants

If you intend to immigrate through one of the Provincial Preference Programs (PNP), you can open an EOI file at any time now. Previously, you could only apply for this when OINP opened its online portal.

After registering and filing a case, your case will be entered into the selection pool and you will receive points based on your answers. After that, Ontario invites applicants to apply for provincial selection.

EOI registration is not a guarantee of receiving an invitation to demand. OINP will notify you or your representative if you are selected to receive an invitation. EOI registration is valid for 12 months or until receipt of invitation (whichever occurs earlier). You also have the right to choose to cancel your registration. After 12 months, your EOI will be deleted automatically. EOI registration is free, but if you are invited to apply, you must submit the relevant amounts with your application.

Receiving an invitation does not mean being selected in the provincial program, and you must have all the necessary criteria in the desired stream.

How to register for EOI

The first step is to file in the OINP e-filing portal. After that, read the applicant requirements for the desired stream to ensure your eligibility. In the next step, you can register for EOI of one or more streams. You can register for only one EOI file at a time.

The information you provide at the time of registration must be correct and accurate; It is possible to update the file at any time.

Factors to receive points

Ontario ranks EOI files based on your responses. Points are determined based on the skill level of your job offer and Canadian work experience. The province uses the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system to determine points.

OINP’s scoring system varies depending on the flow of demand. Apart from the level of skills and work experience, salary, education, proficiency in the official language and areas where you have worked or studied are also taken into account. This province, at its discretion, also considers 10 points to respond to the needs of the labor market.

In the following, we refer to the scoring factors, according to the list available on the Ontario government website:

Job offer: NOC skill level

(This factor is not applicable for the streams of master’s and doctorate graduates)

NOC skill level A- 10 points

NOC skill level B- 8 points

NOC skill level C- 0 points

NOC skill level D- 0 points

Job offer: NOC type

NOC type 0, 1, 2, 3, 9 – 10 points

NOC type 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 – 5 points

Job offer: Salary

(This factor is not applicable for the streams of master’s and doctorate graduates)

$40/hour and above – 10 points

$39.99-20 per hour – 5 points

Below $20/hour – 0 points

Canadian work experience: duration of work

(total working time)

12 months or more – 4 points

Less than 12 months – 0 points

Canadian Work Experience: Skill Level NOC

NOC skill level A- 3 points

NOC skill level B- 0 points

NOC skill level C- 0 points

NOC skill level D- 0 points

Canadian Work Experience: Earnings

$40,000 or more in annual income – 3 points

Below 40 thousand dollars per year – 0 points

Highest Level of Education

PhD – 10 points

Master’s degree – 8 points

Bachelor or its equivalent – 6 points

College degree or technical degree – 5 points

Degree lower than college or technical – 0 points

Major

(This factor does not apply to foreign labor or required skills)

Engineering – 10 points

Health and treatment – 10 points

Mathematics and computer science – 9 points

Business and management – 7 points

Technical fields – 7 points

Social sciences, law and education – 6 points

Arts and humanities- 5 points

Study experience in Canada

(This factor does not apply to foreign labor or required skills)

More than one Canadian degree – 10 points

A Canadian degree – 5 points

Official language skills

(This factor does not apply to foreign labor or required skills)

CLB 9 or higher – 10 points

CLB 8-6 points

CLB7- 4 points

CLB 6 or lower – 0 points

Knowledge of official languages

(This factor does not apply to foreign labor or required skills)

Two official languages ​​- 10 points

1 official language – 5 points

Regional migration: place of job offer

(This invoice is not applicable for master’s and doctoral programs)

Outside GTA- 10 points

Inside GTA- 6 points

Regional migration: place of study

(This invoice is not applicable for master’s and doctoral programs)

Outside GTA- 10 points

Inside GTA- 6 points

Strategic priorities

(to quickly solve the problem of labor market needs in this province or regions of this province)

According to the application invitation website in the OINP expression of interest system – 10 points (if applicable for the applicant)

The reason for the introduction of the EOI system in Ontario

Ontario needed a new immigrant selection system for its provincial programs outside of the Express E Do not act. Previously, Ontario used a priority time filing model for processing. In order to apply for one of the PNP programs, applicants would wait for an enrollment path to open and then rush for it once it did. They were competing with other non-Express Entry applicants who wanted to immigrate to Ontario.

Since Ontario is the most popular destination for new immigrants to Canada, the number of competing applicants was huge. Applicants had very little time to register and used several browsers to register their files at the same time. In this way, many technical problems occurred. Some believed that this system is unfair for applicants with weak internet.

In the fall of 2020, Ontario put out a public consultation on how to set up and develop the new EOI system. Until then, most other provinces had implemented this selection process.

At the time, a spokesperson for the Ontario government announced that the province would implement the EOI system to manage immigrant admissions and high demand for the program, avoiding the uncertainty associated with the opening of immigration flows and the current time-prioritization model.

Ontario adopted the EOI selection system in the spring of 2021, and now, applicants can apply for Ontario provincial selection programs through the new selection process.