Four New Ontario Expression of Interest Draws See Province Issue 1,685 Invitations

Four new Ontario Expression of Interest draws saw the province issue 1,685 invitations through its Employer Job Offer streams for Foreign Workers and International Students.

Two draws under each stream were conducted on July 13, 2021.

Under the Foreign Worker stream, a general draw saw 1,211 candidates invited, with a minimum score of 33 points on the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program points grid. A further targeted draw for Regional Immigration Pilot candidates saw 24 invitations issued.

For the International Student stream, a general draw saw 431 invitations issued, while a Regional Immigration Pilot draw featured 19 invitations.

To qualify for each draw, candidates needed to have created profiles between April 28 and July 13, 2021.

Full requirements for all the mentioned streams are included further down this article.


Ontario Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream Expression of Interest Draw

Date issued Number of invitations issued Date profiles created Score range Notes
July 13, 2021 24 April 28 – July 13, 2021 N/A Targeted draw for Regional Immigration Pilot candidates.
1,211 33 and above General draw

Ontario Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream Expression of Interest Draw

Date issued Number of invitations issued Date profiles created Score range Notes
July 13, 2021 19 April 28 – July 13, 2021 N/A Targeted draw for Regional Immigration Pilot candidates.
431 62 and above General draw

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The Ontario EOI system manages application intake for the following streams:

Ontario Expression of Interest Ranking System

Points are awarded based on the following attributes:

  1. Level and field of education and where they completed their studies.
  2. Proficiency in English or French.
  3. Intention to settle outside of the Greater Toronto Area.
  4. Skill and work experience level, earnings history, other factors relevant to prospects in Ontario job market.
  5. Labour market needs in the province or region of the province.

Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream

To qualify under this stream, applicants must have:

  • A permanent and full-time job offer under NOC 0, A or B that meets the median wage levels for Ontario, and in a position that is necessary to the business;
    • For those already working in the position, the proposed wage must be equal to or greater than the current wage being paid
  • Two cumulative years of relevant work experience in the previous five years before the date of application;
  • Relevant mandatory licensing in Ontario, if the position so requires;
  • Live abroad, or be working, studying or visiting Canada on a valid permit;
  • Intention to settle in Ontario.

Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream

To qualify under this stream, applicants must have:

  • A permanent and full-time job offer under NOC 0, A or B that meets low wage levels for Ontario, and in a position that is necessary to the business;
    • For those already working in the position, the proposed wage must be equal or greater than the current wage being paid
  • Either
    • Graduated or met requirements of a full-time minimum two-year degree from a publicly-funded Canadian college or university; OR
    • Graduated or met requirements of a full-time minimum one-year post-graduate diploma program from a publicly-funded Canadian college or university.
  • Completed at least half the studies in Canada;
  • Apply within two years from the date you completed the above course
  • Legal status in Ontario
  • Intention to settle in Ontario.

Regional Immigration Pilot

The Regional Immigration Pilot is designed to use the OINP to bring skilled labour not available locally to smaller Ontario communities.

To qualify candidates must have a permanent job offer from one of the three participating communities:

  • Chatham-Kent.
  • Cornwall.
  • Quinte West/Belleville.

Candidates must also meet the criteria for one of the Ontario Employer Job Offer streams, namely:

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

Candidate Requirements

  • Full-time and permanent job offer from an employer in one of the participating communities.
  • Meet the criteria for one of the Employer Job Offer category streams (see below).

Number of Nominations

Approximately 150 Employer Job Offer nominations have been set aside for the pilot.

Canada Immigration Numbers Fall Further Behind Ambitious Target In May

Canada recorded 17,115 new permanent resident arrivals in May, as immigration numbers dropped further behind the levels required to hit ambitious targets.

The number of arrivals, although greater than the same period of 2020, is the lowest monthly total of 2021. Since welcoming 24,675 newcomers in January, numbers have fallen every month.

Canada has welcomed 108,730 new permanent residents in the first five months of the year, up from 84,155 in the same period of 2020.

However, the current 2021 average of 21,746 newcomers per month would only give Canada a total of just over 260,000 immigrants for the year, against a target of 401,000.


New Permanent resident arrivals to Canada, 2020 and 2021


Of crucial importance is Canada’s move to begin relaxing international travel restrictions in early July. 

The initial step was the removal of the 14-day quarantine for fully vaccinated citizens, permanent residents, plus others allowed to travel, including work permit holders.

Canada is also now allowing in holders of Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) documents issued after March 20, 2020, opening up another source of thousands of new immigrants.

Ottawa is clearly expecting a major increase in the rest of 2021, boosted by the new pathway the permanent residence launched in May, through which it expects to receive 90,000 applications from international graduates, healthcare workers and other essential workers.

Meanwhile, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has also significantly increased the numbers of Invitations to Apply being issued through Express Entry, with two consecutive record quarters in which more than 40,000 ITAs were given out.

These candidates, 90 percent of them already in Canada, are likely to make the transition to permanent residency in the second half of the year.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino remains confident Canada will hit the 401,000 targets, set in the fall 2020 immigration levels plan.


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Strict COVID-19 restrictions on non-essential international travel imposed by Ottawa since March 2020 dramatically cut the number of newcomers by almost half last year, to 184,370 from 341,175 in 2019.

Despite the restrictions still being in place, Canada has once again displayed its ability to pivot its immigration policies to attract newcomers to help foster economic recovery as the coronavirus crisis abates.

Canada has enhanced screening measures and pre-arrival testing for anyone entering the country’s land or air borders and a 14-day quarantine for non-essential travellers.

All travellers coming to Canada by air for non-essential reasons need to stay in government-designated hotels for three days at their own costs after getting a COVID-19 test.

Ottawa recently extended its restrictions on international travel to Canada and the Canada-U.S. border until July 21. It remains to be seen whether the restrictions will be extended by a further month.

Canada currently has exemptions in place for the following people, provided they are travelling for a non-discretionary reason.

  • Seasonal agricultural workers, fish/seafood workers, caregivers and all other temporary foreign workers.
  • International students who held a valid study permit, or had been approved for a study permit, when the travel restrictions took effect on March 18, 2020. More international students will be allowed to travel from October 20 under a new exemption.
  • Permanent resident applicants who had been approved for permanent residence before the travel restrictions were announced on March 18, 2020, but who had not yet travelled to Canada.
  • Immediate family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents are also exempt if entering to be with an immediate family member for at least 15 days.
  • Extended family members of citizens and permanent residents, plus foreign nationals travelling on compassionate grounds.

Canada’s vaccine campaign has been successful in driving down COVID-19 case numbers, with officials emphasizing the importance of the second dose.

However, with other countries with high vaccination numbers still struggling with increasing case numbers due to COVID-19 variants, it remains to be seen whether the same problem will affect Canada.

New Nova Scotia Immigration Stream Targets International Graduates in Demand

A new Provincial Nominee Program stream targeting international graduates has been launched by Nova Scotia immigration.

The International Graduates in Demand stream of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP) is currently open to workers with a permanent job offer in one of two National Occupational Classification codes:

  1. NOC 3413: Nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates.
  2. NOC 4214: Early childhood educators and assistants.

As well as a job offer from a Nova Scotia employer that corresponds will the field of study, international graduates must also have complete at least half of their course in the Atlantic province.


International Graduates in Demand Stream: Requirements

  • Full-time permanent job offer from a Nova Scotia employer in NOC 3413 or 4214 that corresponds with your recent field of study.
  • Be aged 21 to 55.
  • High school diploma.
  • Complete a course of study within three years of your application of at least 30 weeks in length with at least 50 percent in Nova Scotia. 
  • Candidates under NOC 3413: Program must grant a certificate, diploma, or degree.
  • Candidates under NOC 4214: Program must grant a diploma or degree.
  • Certifications issued by NS regulatory bodies are required for the job.
  • Language ability equal to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) Level 5 in English or French.
  • Financial resources to successfully settle in Nova Scotia.

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Nova Scotia Targets Immigration-Fuelled Population Growth

Population growth fuelled primarily by immigration is expected to help Nova Scotia’s economy recover in 2021 after being hit hard by last year’s double whammy of Northern Pulp’s closure and the downturn in retail and tourism due to COVID-19.

“Nova Scotia’s recovery should be helped by improved population growth, which in turn will benefit from higher federal immigration targets and the decision to make the Atlantic Immigration Pilot program permanent,” noted TD Economics in their annual economic forecast.

“Population growth has been central to the province’s improved economic performance in recent years and has even held up relatively well thus far

Among the largely-spared Atlantic Canadian provinces, Nova Scotia was the most affected during the first wave of the global pandemic. Then, the Atlantic Canadian Bubble, an agreement between the provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to allow the free movement of travellers within the region, burst.

As a result, Nova Scotia’s tourism sector saw an end to the small benefit it had provided to hoteliers and restaurants in the province.

Nova Scotia Economy To Grow 4.2% This Year, 2.4% In 2022

In their somewhat ominously titled provincial economic forecast, It’s Always Darkest Before Dawn, the bank’s chief economist Beata Caranci, deputy chief economist Derek Burleton, and economists Rishi Sondhi and Omar Abdelrahman predict the Nova Scotia economy will grow by 4.2 per cent this year and 2.4 per cent in 2022.

That is lower than the forecasted average economic growth of 4.9 per cent for this year and 3.8 per cent in 2022 for Canada.

The slower rate of growth for Nova Scotia this year is at least partly due to the relatively small drop in its GDP during the pandemic last year. While Alberta’s economy took a hit of 7.3 per cent of its GDP, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador of 6.2 per cent, and Saskatchewan of 5.6 per cent, Nova Scotia’s losses during 2020 amounted to only 4.3 per cent of its GDP.

As the Maritime province on Canada’s east coast approaches the end of the second wave of the pandemic, its exports are expected to get a shot in the arm from the 8.4-per cent growth being forecast for China, a return to a more robust hospitality sector, and significant investment in major projects, including the decommissioning of offshore oil projects.

A return to more normal levels of immigration, which would drive population growth, is considered to be essential for Nova Scotia’s economic recovery.

As the global pandemic and the border restrictions imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19 crippled economies throughout the world, they also slowed immigration to Nova Scotia.