The Provincial Nominee Program is designed to assist employers who are having difficulty recruiting qualified, skilled workers in Ontario. Through the program, skilled foreign workers and international students may be nominated for permanent resident status in Canada

The Ontario government recognizes that employers play a critical role in its economic success and facilitates the recruitment of the managerial, professional and skilled foreign employee’s and international students.

The Ontario PNP is an employer-driven program in that candidates cannot apply unless they have a permanent full-time job offer from an Ontario employer, who has been pre-screened. Applications from employers who are seeking positions for foreign workers residing abroad, or foreign workers who are visiting Canada, will receive priority processing.

The employers need to prove that they tried to recruit Canadian citizens or permanent residents located in Ontario for those positions before applying to the program.

There are two categories in Ontario provincial scheme

• General category
• International student category

 

General Category

Through the general category program, employers and investors can recruit foreign workers in any managerial, professional or skilled trades occupation (NOC 0, A or B).

To be eligible to apply for Ontario nomination as a foreign worker, candidates must have:

• A full-time job offer from an approved Ontario employer, for which they are qualified, in a skilled occupation (listed as NOC A, B, or 0);
• At least 2 years of work experience or have appropriate registration in Ontario (if the occupation is regulated in Ontario);
• Received an Employer Pre-Screen Approved Position Form, along with the nominee application package from the Ontario employer;
• An offered wage that meets the prevailing wage level in Ontario for the occupation;
• Legal status, if the prospective nominee is in Canada.

International Student Category

Employers can recruit international students in any managerial, professional or skilled trades occupation (NOC 0, A or B), through this category. International students are eligible to apply in their last semester or within two years of completing their studies in Canada

To be eligible to apply for Ontario nomination as an international student, candidates must have:

• Graduated (or will soon be graduating) from an approved publicly funded Canadian college or university in the past two years; 

 

• A full-time job offer, from an approved Ontario employer, for which they are qualified in a skilled occupation (listed as NOC A, B, or 0).

• Received an Employer Pre-Screen Approved Position Form, along with the nominee application package from the Ontario employer;

 

• An offered wage that meets the prevailing entry-level wage in Ontario for the occupation;

• Legal status, if the prospective nominee is in Canada.

 

Application Process

Each person who desire to immigrate to Ontario must possess a permanent, full-time employment offer in a professional or a skilled trade occupation (NOC O, A or B) and a managerial position.

It is a two step application process.
1st step: Pre-screen Application
Employers initiate the processing by submitting a Pre-screen Application to Opportunities Ontario, requesting positions for which the employer would like to recruit a foreign national. Pre-approved employers can only nominate individuals under any of the programs.

2nd step: Nominee Application Pack
The province informs employers of their accepted position(s), and then employers can employ foreign citizens to fill these positions. Accepted employers will obtain a nominee application form from the province to send to their nominee(s).

A provincial nomination certificate will be issued to all the successful candidates, who then need to apply to CIC for permanent residency. Ontario province will hold requests for temporary work permits for its candidates to get them working in the province. Applicants also need to meet with all the requirements stated by CIC when requesting a work permit.

Candidates approved for the Ontario province and their accompanying dependents must satisfy medical and background checks.

Processing time
Ontario province has 2 processing targets:

• Employer application forms will be processed within 90 days, on a first-come-first served basis.
• Employee application processing is done within 90 days, on a first come-first served basis.

The processing time for the Canadian permanent residency status may take 12 months. Nonetheless, the delays may occur depending on the visa post overseas, and the time needed for the health check ups.

Family migration
Family immigration is possible under this scheme; the following dependents can be included in the application:

• a spouse/partner, or a common-law partner
• any dependent children who are under 22 and do not have a spouse or common-law partner
• a dependent child age 22 or above who is studying full time and is financially dependent on parents 
• Children above 22 who are mentally or physically disabled and totally dependent in all the matters on their parent.

Basic Feature of the Visa
The Ontario provincial program allows employers to recruit the skilled workers and international students and is a quicker route to permanent residency, compared to the other federal government visas.

Candidates employed by pre-approved employers benefit from:

• An employer-driven provincial nomination programme based on permanent, full time employment offer in the province. The candidate is given a job based on his existing skills, rather than on a point system.
• A scheme that does not need international students to have 1 year of work experience, contrast to the Federal skilled worker class and other Canadian visas.
• Priority processing of application at CIC.
• Applicants of Provincial Nominee Program visa become permanent residents of Canada
• Permanent resident status can be converted to Canadian citizenship after meeting the minimum residency requirements.
• Permanent resident are entitled to live, work and study in Canada on a permanent basis
• Permanent residents also have access to government-subsidized education and healthcare (Medicare), and other insurance and pension benefits.
• Residents have the opportunity to sponsor family members to join them in Canada.

 

Settlement Funds for Canada

The Canadian government does not provide financial support to any new immigrants. Candidate need to demonstrate that they have sufficient money unencumbered by debts to support themselves and their family members on arrival in Canada. Candidates must carry sufficient funds along with them to meet their basic living expenses.

Disclosure of funds

If the candidate takes more than $10,000 Canadian of cash  to Canada, then this must be informed to the Canadian official and should be transformed into money (coins or bank notes), securities in bearer form (stocks, bonds, debentures, treasury bills etc), negotiable instruments in bearer form (bankers drafts, cheques, travellers cheques, money orders etc).

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