Ontario Opens Expression of Interest System For 2 of 5 Streams

The new Expression of Interest System of Ontario has now opened for 2 of the five linked streams, and the remaining three are expected to go live in future. 

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program made an announcement on April 28 that the system is now open for intake Foreign Worker as well as the International Student streams that come under the Employer Job Offer Category. 

The EOI system covers the streams that are left out include Masters Graduate, PhD Graduate, and In-Demand Skills. 

Ontario's system has made a plan so that they can keep the system of EOI permanently open so that candidates can register any time they want. Once you register, the EOI profile has validity for a year. 

The province's Ministry of the Labour, Training and Skills Development has published two regulatory amendments on March 15 in 2021. These amendments include complete information about how it will rank the candidates under the EOI system that was first announced in the month of September 2020. 

The important factors are language ability, the candidate's education, and the candidate's work experience. Other factors that are included are the labour market needs of the provincial regions and the place that a candidate plans to live. 

The system of EOI is involved in managing application intake for the below-mentioned streams:

- Employer Job Offer category 

International Student stream (open)

Foreign Worker stream (open)

In-Demand Skills stream (it is coming soon) 

- Masters Graduate (it is coming soon)

- PhD Graduate (it is coming soon)

Ontario's Expression of the Interest Ranking System

The points to the candidate are awarded based on the below-mentioned attributes:

1. Level of education
2. Field of education
3. Proficiency in French or English
4. Skill as well as work experience level
5. Intention of the candidate to settle outside of Toronto.
6. History of earning
7. Needs in the labour market in the province or even region of the province. 

Various other regulatory amendments were also published that include the right:

- Right to conduct both targeted and general draws

- Right to determine as well as publish EOI point allocations

- Right to score prospective applicants in the pool of EOI

- Right to issue ITAs to the candidates that are top-scorers

- Right for allocating points to many factors like language skills and education 

According to Ontario, this EOI system effectively manages the surge in OINP demand, responds to labour market needs, and prioritises the best candidates. 

Many provinces in Canada have already started operating their EOI systems, such as Quebec, which launched the Arima platform in the year 2018 and made its first invitations in 2019.