Ontario opens its nominee program for international students across Canada with easy transition to permanent residency

Ontario ministry of Citizenship and Immigration has announced an expansion in its Pilot Provincial Nominee Program (Pilot PNP) and opened it for international students across the country backed by easy transition to their permanent residency.

To be eligible, students may have graduated within the past two years or be enrolled in their last semester in a publicly funded Canadian college or university (must have completed at least half of their studies in Canada) and have a job offer in Ontario relating to their area of study.

International students who are offered jobs relevant to their area of study will have their application for permanent residency “fast-tracked” by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). However, international students will no longer be restricted to the Pilot PNP Occupation List, although their job offer has to be in a managerial, professional or skilled trades occupations, as defined in Canada’s National Occupation Classification’s Type 0 or Skill Level A and B.

Previously, only graduates of Ontario colleges and universities were eligible and only those with job offers in one of 20 occupations listed on the Pilot PNP Occupation List such as specialist and family physicians, pharmacists, audiologists and speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, registered nurses, medical laboratory technologists, medical radiation technologists, university professors, high-end researchers, machinists and machining and tooling inspectors, tool and die makers, industrial electricians, construction millwrights and industrial mechanics, heavy-duty equipment mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers, cement finishers, tile-setters and drywall installers and finishers.

Ontario’s Pilot PNP does not require previous experience by international students and new entrants are offered entry-level wage rather than the prevailing wage for that occupation. Pilot PNP application fee for international students has not been changed and that is $200 per application.

The strategy behind this initiative is two-fold: (a) it will help Ontario attract and retain qualified international students across the country by providing a quick avenue to permanent status for gainfully employed graduates; and (b) it will assist employers across the province to capitalize on the skills and experience of international students, who have Canadian credentials and are familiar with Canadian society.

With more than 35,000 international students in Ontario alone, this initiative aims to tap into the skills and experiences international students present. An estimated 65 per cent of total international students, who are admitted to Canada annually to study, are intending to remain in Canada and this change will offer them an option to permanently reside in Canada.

In addition, Ontario government has made it easier for employers outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to take part in the program. Such employers will now require minimum gross revenues of $500,000 in the previous fiscal year and a staff of at least 3 permanent full-time employees to qualify for the program. Employers outside of the GTA can now request one position for every three full-time employees. The change is designed to better reflect the needs of regional employers and the scale of many regional economies outside the GTA.

GTA employers still require $1 million in gross revenues in the previous fiscal year and five permanent full-time employees to qualify for the program. All employers still need to be in continuous corporate existence and active operation for a minimum of three years and have a business premises in Ontario, with few exceptions, where the prospective nominee will work.