An Overview on Ontario PNP 2020

By Eva Olsen [Published 21 Mar, 2021 | 04:33 AM] 2030

Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) remains one of the most popular Canada PNP despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the province's nomination allocation by the federal government was 7,350 nominations. An additional 250 applications were allocated to Ontario as part of the NOC C Pilot Project, which is a federal-provincial partnership aimed at increasing pathways to permanent residence for low-skilled workers in demand with vacancies. The OINP reached its full allocation of 7,600 applications for 2020 in November.

In addition to the province's initial allocation, the federal government was able to provide Ontario with an additional 450 spaces which were also filled by year-end. By including this year-end increase, the OINP was able to nominate 8,054 people in 2020, including 300 applicants under the NOC C pilot program. In addition to the main applicants, the OINP applications also included 7,249 spouses and dependents, with a total of 15,3030 invitations issued in 2020's nominations.

Invitations breakdown for Ontario PNP nominations by the stream

Stream	Number of Invitations
Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream	1,732
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream	608
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream	1,558
Ph.D. Graduate Stream	251
Masters Graduate Stream	405
Ontario's Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream	1,106
Ontario's Express Entry Human Capital Priorities Stream	1,996
Ontario's Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker	397
Entrepreneur Stream	1
Grand Total�	8,054

What are the Tech Occupations in-demand in Ontario?

In 2020, the OINP saw a large number of applications in technology-related professions. About 20% of all applications were from people citing work experience or a job offer in a high-tech profession, including:

Software engineers and designers
Computer programmers
Interactive media developers
IT systems analysts
Technology consultants

Top Tech Occupations	Number of Invitations
Software engineers and designers	528
Computer programmers and interactive media developers	374
Computer and information systems managers	172
Database analysts and data administrators	162
Web designers and developers	96
Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)	63
All other tech occupations	209
Grand Total	1,604

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We continue our commitment to meet the needs of the labor market for the skilled trades. In 2020, more than 20% of candidates had work experience in a skilled trade with over 1,100 applications made under the Express Entry: Skilled Trades component of the program.

Ontario PNP introduced a two-year pilot project (2020 - 2021) in 2019, to help the eligible employers of three participating communities leverage immigrants to fill the gap for skilled laborers that are not available locally. With community engagement being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the regional pilot project began to be admitted in mid-year in July. In total, the OINP issued 67 applications for the pilot project in 2020. In 2021, the OINP allocated up to 233 places to regional pilot candidates, for a total of 150 per year (or 300 places during the two-year pilot period).

The program also exceeded its target of 5% for Francophone immigration, with 5.4% or 437 applications to people with a high command of the French language. Most of the Francophone applicants received applications under the Francophone Skilled Worker Stream and the Human Capital Priorities Stream.

In 2020, the program released its first nomination under its Entrepreneur Stream and 18 other applicants were in the final stage of the Stream's compliance monitoring process, with seven applicants living in the province to establish their own business based on a work permit. We anticipate that these 18 Entrepreneur Stream applicants will invest more than $ 22.4 million and hire 92 Ontarians as a result of establishing their businesses in Ontario. We are processing another 64 requests that we received in 2020.

Top 10 countries from where immigrants move to Ontario

Immigrants who have moved to the province in 2020, came from over 130 different countries, with the majority of them coming from India and China.

Country of Birth	Number of Nominations
India	4,212
China	1,350
Brazil	310
South Korea	276
Nigeria	159
Pakistan	111
Morocco	106
Philippines	88
Iran	79
Vietnam	74

In 2020, the OINP nominated individuals with job postings from over 2,500 employers across Ontario. At least 48% of applicants already had a job offer in Ontario before their appointment. Over 96% had a post-secondary diploma and at least 43% had high language skills (Canadian language proficiency level 7 or higher) in at least one of Canada's official languages.

To deal with the uncertainty surrounding immigration and border restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the OINP continues to provide an immigration route for temporary workers who already live and work in Canada.

When Ontario PNP opens for a provincial nomination

While the goal of the program is to meet the needs of employers and to be available year-round, OINP saw significant demand for its streams in 2020, far exceeding its annual nomination allocation. This has led OINP to suspend taking some of its most popular feeds, including:

Masters Graduate Stream
Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream

The following table indicates the number of days in 2020 during which each component was open for admission:

Stream	Days Open
Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream	3
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream	320
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream	3
Ph.D. Graduate Stream	365
Masters Graduate Stream	1
Entrepreneur Stream	365

The OINP is committed to meeting Ontario employers and the broader Ontario labor market needs in 2020 and beyond. In 2020, we reached out to the public for feedback on the development of an Expression of Interest (EOI) system for their employer job posting and international graduate student flows. We plan to launch the new system in spring 2021.

Tags: Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program Canada PNP immigration to canada canada immigration