On December 7, Ontario responded with a bang, inviting 1,186 immigrant candidates to apply for a provincial nomination.

Candidates who had profiles in the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program’s (OINP) Expression of Interest (EOI) system received invitations.

Under the Employer Job Offer category, these candidates may be eligible for one of three streams: Foreign Worker, International Student, or In-Demand Skills. Candidates who had applied for the Regional Immigration Pilot received some of the invitations.

Candidates who have been invited as part of the Employer Job Offer are: The following National Occupational Codes (NOC) were represented in the In-Demand Skills stream:

Health and agricultural occupations:

• NOC 8611 – harvesting laborers
• NOC 9462 – industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers, and related workers
• NOC 3413 – nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates
• NOC 4412 – home support workers and related occupations, excluding housekeepers
• NOC 8431 – general farmworkers
• NOC 8432 – nursery and greenhouse workers

Manufacturing (outside the GTA only):

• NOC 9421 – chemical plant machine operators
• NOC 9422 – plastics processing machine operators
• NOC 9437 – woodworking machine operators
• NOC 9446 – industrial sewing machine operators
• NOC 9526 – mechanical assemblers and inspectors
• NOC 9536 – industrial painters, coaters, and metal finishing process operators
• NOC 9537 – other products assemblers, finishers, and inspectors
• NOC 9461 – process control and machine operators, food, beverage, and associated products processing
• NOC 9523 – electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors, and testers
• NOC 9411 – machine operators, mineral and metal processing
• NOC 9416 – metalworking and forging machine operators
• NOC 9417 – machining tool operators
• NOC 9418 – other metal products machine operators

Each year, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) distribute a set number of nominations to provinces and territories that operate Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs).

In 2021, Ontario will receive 8,350 nominations for temporary foreign workers in intermediate skilled occupations, NOC Skill Level C, plus an additional 250 nominations.

Ontario had issued 8,600 nominations as of November 10, 2021. In an October interview with CIC News, Ontario’s immigration minister, Monte McNaughton, said the province is requesting the federal government to treble its allocation next year.

The Working for Employees Act, which was recently approved in Ontario, will, among other things, assist immigrant workers in integrating into regulated industries outside of the healthcare sector. It will make it illegal for regulatory organizations to need Canadian work experience, abolish the necessity for a language exam for licensing purposes, and speed up the licensing procedure, especially in emergency situations.