New Ontario Guidelines for Provincial Choice Program Applications

New instructions for Express Entry applicants as well as other applicants who have submitted their files for the Ontario Expression of Interest system have been published.

Ontario has released more specific guidelines for prospective immigrants and their representatives who have applied for the province’s immigration program.

Applicants to immigrate to Ontario must submit their completed applications to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). Missing sections may cause their application to be returned. According to the announcement, the province is reducing the review time only to accept complete applications for its Provincial Selection Program (PNP).

New instructions for sending complete applications to Express Entry applicants and expressions of interest.

Express Entry Ontario Streams

If you are applying for one of the Express Entry streams and have an education outside of Canada, you will need an Education Evidence Assessment (ECA) in order to receive education-related credits.

Ontario specifically has the World Education Services (WES) name on its government website page. However, this is not the only organization dedicated to the evaluation of educational qualifications. The federal government has posted a list of approved services on its website.

According to the province, in order to share a copy of the ECA with the Ontario Provincial Selection Program, you must have an officially approved WES.

To do this, you need to order an “other copy of your ECA report card” online. Then select the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program as the recipient.

WES approval alone is not sufficient to share assessment results with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for a provincial selection request from Ontario.

If you do not approve WES to share information with OINP, your application will be returned as an incomplete application and you will be refunded the application fee. As such, you will miss the opportunity to apply for this program unless you hear from Ontario.

Expression of interest immigration streams: confirmation form

For employers’ job offer stream applicants, you must submit a PDF version of the confirmation form. This form must be printed, signed by the applicant, and uploaded on another page under Supporting Documents.

Ontario will return the application without the signed PDF version of the approval form and refund the applicant, and the opportunity to apply for this program will be lost unless you file another EOI and receive another invitation to apply for provincial selection.