OINP to move to Expression of Interest (EOI) system for provincial nomination

Ontario has released details of planned changes to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

The proposed change would introduce an Expression of Interest (EOI) system for the following existing streams of the OINP:

• Employer’s job offer category: Foreign worker
• Employer’s job offer category: International student
• Employer’s job offer category: In-demand Skills
• Master’s degree
• Doctorate Graduate

Ontario’s press release on Tuesday includes preliminary information on how applicants from its new public interest pool will be ranked and selected.

As a first step, OINP applicants will be invited to submit a profile to the program’s new EOI system, which will place them in a pool. Then, individuals will be asked to provide personal and other labour market and human capital information, upon which a possible ITA will be based.

Under Ontario’s proposal, applicants will be ranked based on the information provided in their expression of interest. Ontario will review scores and issue ITAs to select registrants. Those who receive an ITA will then be able to apply for nomination under the OINP.

Ontario’s proposed Expression of Interest process is similar to that used under the federal Express Entry system as well as the Expression of Interest systems found under the P3 in other provinces.

The Express Entry pool is made up of candidate profiles under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Category, and the Canadian Experience Category.

The Express Entry held regular rounds of invitation, usually once every two weeks, and has invited a total of 69,950 immigrant applicants to apply for Canada PR visa so far this year.

Just like in Ontario, eligible applicants in the three immigration programs managed by Express Entry receive a score according to their CRS score which awards points for factors such as age, education, work experience, and language proficiency in English or French.

At this time, Ontario has not provided specific details on point factors or point totals, other than to say that point awards will be based on various factors such as education level and language.

Ontario has also said it will conduct general and targeted draws and post the EOI point allocation on its website.

Ontario said the proposed changes are intended to “manage registrations more strategically, increase the responsiveness of the OINP labour market, and better meet regional labour market needs.”

In the past, some of the five streams of the OINP have been affected by problems in receiving applications. Most recently, the employer’s job posting: the international student stream only opened a few minutes before reaching capacity, then closed again. In July, the employer’s job offer: the foreign worker component also reached its registration limit just hours after it opened.

This “first come, first served” approach has attracted much criticism on the grounds that it disadvantages those who do not have easy high-speed internet access during screening sessions. All of the proposed changes would only come into effect after a 45-day public comment period ending October 23, 2020.

Reference is taken from CIC News