Interested in immigrating to Ontario? The allocation of immigrants accepted through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) is being increased from 6,000 to 6,600.

OINP is a part of Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), which allows the provinces and territories to nominate immigrants based on their abilities and the in-demand positions of the respective location.

“The increase in our 2018 provincial nominee allocation means that Ontario will be able to welcome more immigrants with the skills and education to meet our labour market needs and deliver sustained growth to the provincial economy,” says Laura Albanese, Ontario’s minister of citizenship and immigration.

Streams for immigrating to Ontario

Currently, eight streams of OINP are accepting applications.

The Employer Job Offer route, which helps candidates by connecting them with Canadian employers, has three streams open:

• Foreign Worker Stream
• International Student Stream
• In-Demand Skills Stream

The Ontario Express Entry route, which typically grants newcomers with permanent residency in less than six months, has three streams open:

• Human Capital Priorities Stream
• French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream
• Entry Skilled Trades Stream

There are two other open routes:

• Corporate Stream, which connects growing corporations in Canada with potential foreign workers
• Entrepreneur Stream, which helps newcomers who wish to bring their business to Canada.

The Masters Graduate and PhD Graduate Streams are not yet open for 2018. The province recommends that those interested in those options monitor the Ontario Immigration website for updates on when applications will be available.

For more information on applying for OINP, visit http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/pnp/index.htm.