December 13, 2017 – The recently-signed Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement serves to formalize how the two governments will work together to facilitate the arrival of newcomers.
The agreement provides an important framework for how federal and provincial officials will work to manage immigration objectives.
From the setting of levels, to the different classes of immigrants accepted, the agreement will give structure to the federal government’s relationship with Canada’s most populous province.
Summary: Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement
- Ontario will provide an annual provincial immigration plan to the federal government, to be considered when Canada-wide annual levels are finalized.
- Develop ways to increase numbers of French-speaking immigrants, an improve integration services for when those immigrants arrive.
- Recognize the important role played by local government in attracting and retaining newcomers.
- Promotion and recruitment of immigrants and temporary residents to meet Ontario’s labour market needs.
- Ontario’s authority to nominate immigrants under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.
- Continued investment in the integration of immigrants particularly with regard to reception, health, education and social services.
- Promotion of a multicultural Canadian society.
“Ontario is the top destination for new permanent residents settling in Canada each year, typically exceeding 100,000 newcomers,” said federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen.
“With the ambitious three-year levels plan we’ve established on immigration, the time is right to put a new agreement in place that defines how Canada and Ontario will work together to achieve our mutual goals.”
The agreement also features some spending commitments in key integration policies. The two governments will jointly fund a $91 million in bridge training programs to allow immigrants trained in other countries to get jobs aligned with their skills and qualifications.
Ottawa is already committed to spending $334 million on settlement services in Ontario in 2017 and 2018, while Ontario will spend $110 million over the same period. This is part of a Canada-wide integration focus, driven by the need to get an increasing number of immigrants contributing to Canadian society on a timely basis.
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Ontario Immigration Minister Laura Albanese said: “Immigration is good for Ontario and good for Canada. The Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement strengthens Ontario’s ability to partner with the federal government to attract skilled newcomers who will benefit our shared economies and contribute to Canada’s future prosperity.”
With nearly a million new immigrants set to be welcomed to Canada over the next three years, ensuring those people find jobs and begin paying taxes as soon as possible is a key motivation for federal and provincial officials.
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program recently met its nomination allocation for 2017, meaning no more nominations will be made to the federal government this year.
It means Canada’s most populous province has nominated 6,000 candidates under its eight streams for Ontario immigration, as of November 22, 2017.
Status of OINP Streams
Immigration Stream | Status |
1) Human Capital Priorities (Express Entry) | Nomination allocation reached for 2017 |
2) French-Speaking Skilled Worker (Express Entry) | |
3) Skilled Trades (Express Entry) | |
4) Employer Job Offer | |
5) International Student (Masters Graduate) | |
6) International Student (PhD Graduate) | |
7) Investor Immigration (Corporate) | |
8) Investor Immigration (Entrepreneur) |
Ontario opens and closes several of its streams periodically to manage intake limits and processing times. The Human Capital Priorities, Skilled Trades and two International Student streams have been open and closed several times in 2017.
The French-Speaking Skilled Worker, Employer Job Offer and two Investor Immigration streams have all remained open indefinitely.
Latest OINP Processing Times
OINP Stream | OINP is processing applications submitted and paid for between the following dates: | Estimated processing time |
1) Human Capital Priorities (Express Entry) | May 11, 2017 and November 6, 2017 inclusive | 30 to 60 days* |
2) French-Speaking Skilled Worker (Express Entry) | April 1, 2017 and November 8, 2017 inclusive | 30 to 60 days* |
3) Skilled Trades (Express Entry) | July 6, 2017 and November 6, 2017 inclusive | Less than 30 days* |
4) Employer Job Offer | May 10, 2017 and Nov. 3, 2017 inclusive | 30 to 60 days* |
5) International Student (Masters Graduate) | October 12, 2017 and November 8,2017 inclusive | 30 to 60 days* |
6) International Student (PhD Graduate) | March 31, 2017 and November 7, 2017 inclusive | 30 to 60 days* |
7) Investor Immigration (Corporate) | Applications are assessed on a case by case basis | Dependent upon the complexity of the application |
8) Investor Immigration (Entrepreneur) | Applications are assessed on a case by case basis | Dependent upon the complexity of the application |
*Individual applications could take longer to process on a case-by-case basis
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