Some applicants to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) may now see their applications for provincial nomination returned.

Effective 1 July, 2025, new regulations implemented by Ontarios Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development will grant the provinces immigration authority far more control over the OINP by introducing new processes to how the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) works.

This article will cover the major changes coming to the OINP through this new legislation, introduced by the Working for Workers Seven Act.

Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams

Changes to the OINP

As of 1 July, the OINP:

  • Now has the authority to return applications before a provincial nomination is issued*;
  • Will now require in-person interviews for employers and foreign national applicants, with accommodations available where needed;
  • Has reduced education requirements for early childhood educators to apply through the Human Capital Priorities (HCP) and French-Speaking Skilled Worker (FSSW) streams**;
  • Has launched its new electronic Employer Portal, the final step in transitioning its Employer: Job Offer streams to an employer-led application process; and
  • Will now have the ability to establish or remove immigrant nomination streams in response to the provinces job market needs.

With the launch of the new Employer Portal, all existing EOIs have been withdrawn. To be considered, a foreign national must work with their employer to submit a new EOI.

*Applicants to the OINP and/or their representatives will now receive notification from the program if their application is returned. In these cases, the entire application fee will be refunded.

In todays announcement, the OINP stated that applicants would be returned based on various considerations, including:

  • Nomination allocation;
  • Alignment with Ontarios most urgent labour market needs; and
  • Program integrity risk factors.

This province aims to concentrate on high-quality applications that address current labour market priorities.

** Individuals applying to the HCP or FSSW streams who list National Occupation Classification (NOC) 42202 Early childhood educators and assistants, as their primary NOC, will not be required to meet the minimum education requirement if they are members of the College of Early Childhood Educators (and are therefore considered job-ready).

These streams typically require foreign nationals to have a Canadian bachelors, masters, or PhD (or the foreign equivalent of one of these degrees).

Why has the OINP pursued these changes?

Like many PNPs, the OINP has seen its provincial nomination allocation halved by the federal government, as the country looks to deal with housing supply and affordability issues.

Ontario was the last of Canadas provinces to announce its new provincial allocation, with the OINP having paused immigrant selection activity until 3 June.

A key impact of this halved allocation (not just in Ontario, but throughout Canada) has been a greater selectivity among Canadas PNPs to choose immigration candidates that most closely fit their labour market and demographic needs.

British Columbias PNP, for example, has instituted an indefinite pause in almost all its provincial immigration pathways, choosing to focus its reduced allocation on entrepreneurs and roughly 100 skilled worker candidates who provide high-economic impact to the province.

Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams