Ontario-OINP Draw Changes For 2 Express Entry Streams

Last Updated On 25 July 2024, 9:48 AM EDT (Toronto Time)

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), Ontario’s official provincial nominee program (PNP), made changes to align their streams similar to federal Express Entry targeted draws.

The OINP made changes to the requirements to qualify for targeted draws under the Skilled Trades stream and the Human Capital Priorities (HCP) stream, similar to targeted Express Entry draws.

Now candidates in the express entry pool will be targeted under the skilled trades stream and HCP stream if they have at least 6 months of experience (previously 1 year) in the primary occupation.

However, overall, 1 year of cumulative experience will still be required in different occupations to be eligible.

In this article, we explain the full details of the new changes introduced by OINP for Express Entry streams and how they work.

working of OINP Express Entry stream draws

First and foremost, potential candidates in the express entry pool must understand how OINP express entry streams work.

There is no need to create a separate profile with OINP to qualify for one of these express entry streams, but candidates in the pool need to mention their intended province for immigration as Ontario.

OINP searches IRCC’s Express Entry pool to find profiles that meet the eligibility criteria of one of OINP’s Express Entry streams.

After searching the candidates in the pool and taking reference to the previous express entry draw, OINP announces the CRS cutoff score that they want in the province and sends the invitation notification in the express entry system.

Eligible candidates who accept this invitation and are able to meet the OINP eligibility criteria get a provincial nomination.

Provincial nominations boost the selected profile by adding an additional 600 points.

As a result, such candidates are able to apply for permanent residency whenever IRCC announces the next general/all program, PNP-only draw, or CEC draw.

New OINP Express Entry Skilled Trades stream work experience eligibility

Eligible candidates must have at least 1 year of cumulative full-time paid work experience or equivalent paid part-time work in:

Ontario Major Groups 72 (excluding occupations under transportation officers), 73, 82, 83, 93 (excluding aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors) or Minor Group 6320 (excluding cooks) of the National Occupational Classification (NOC)

If you are invited to claim provincial nomination in a targeted OINP draw, then you will need to demonstrate that at least 6 months of your 1 year of eligible work experience is in the primary NOC code targeted.

New OINP Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream work experience eligibility

For Canadian Experience Class (CEC) candidates, they need to have at least 1 year of cumulative full-time paid work experience or the equivalent in part-time work in Canada in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupations.

Invited candidates by OINP in the express entry pool will now only need to demonstrate at least 6 months of work experience in the primary NOC code to be invited in a targeted OINP draw.

Still not in alignment with Express Entry draws

This is a good step by OINP to align their streams with the federal express entry system, but still, there is a very big gap.

For example, for the skilled trades stream, federal express entry only targets 10 occupations, and OINP invites profiles with experience in around 46 skilled trade occupations but keeps the CRS cutoff score below the federal express entry draw.

In this way, candidates in the pool with experience in the rest of the 36 occupations miss the opportunity of getting permanent residency under both federal and OINP express entry draws.

Explaining it further, the last federal trades Express Entry draw invited profiles with at least six months of experience in one of the 10 targeted skilled trades with a CRS score of 436 and above.

Following this, OINP also announced a draw for the skilled trades stream and invited candidates with a CRS score between 408 and 435, taking reference from the federal express entry draw cutoff.

However, OINP targeted 46 trade occupations as compared to the federal express entry draw, leaving out profiles in 36 trade occupations that were neither invited by IRCC nor OINP.

Aligning the experience requirement with the federal Express Entry draws is a good step, but not keeping the reference to previous federal skilled trade express entry draws can also help OINP invite the deserving tradespeople to fill in the labour market shortages.

What are all the OINP Express Entry streams?

There are 3 OINP express entry streams that directly review valid candidates in the federal express entry pool who have the intention to reside in Ontario.

Below are the 3 OINP express entry streams:

1. Human Capital Priorities stream
2. French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream
3. Skilled Trades stream

Summary of OINP Express Entry draws 2024

10 OINP Express Entry draws so far have invited a total of 17,437 profiles to claim provincial. nominations, compared to 17,502 last year.

OINP Express Entry Stream	Invitations	CRS Score Range
Human Capital Priorities stream	9,829	352-480
French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream	1,196	305-469
Skilled Trades stream	6,412	350-435

OINP Express Entry Draws Summary

When was the last OINP Express Entry draw?

The latest OINP express entry draw on July 18, 2024, sent out a total of 1,240 permanent residency invitations under the Human Capital Priorities stream.

Express entry profiles with a CRS score between 425 and 444 and experience in one of the 43 healthcare occupations received the invitation.

Click here for full details.

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC (Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant) licensed by CICC (formerly known as ICCRC) with member number R708618. He brings extensive knowledge of immigration law and new changes to rapidly evolving IRCC.