EOI System now open for In-Demand Skills Stream applicants
Ontario’s newly introduced Expression of Interest (EOI) system is now open for In-demand Skills Stream applicants under the Employer Job Offer Category. The said stream joins with the Foreign Worker and International Stream in the new EOI System.
Last March 2021, these programs were introduced to the new application intake system; however, Ontario has yet to launch the EOI system for Masters Graduate and Ph.D. Graduate streams. As mentioned in the OINP Webpage, Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) will soon be part of the EOI system. And that’s what we all have to look forward to.
Candidates can now register the Ontario immigration at any time by being part of the EOI system. The scoring matrix is the basis of the Ontario government to rank applicant’s profiles; some factors of the said score would be education, work experience, and intended destination in Ontario, along with other factors as well. The main purpose is to support the candidate who has the right skills and experience to succeed in the said province.
Being registered for the Expression of Interest (EOI) system does not necessarily mean you are guaranteed to receive an invitation to apply for nomination. The candidate’s profile is valid in Ontario’s EOI pool for only twelve (12) months and OINP may contact the applicant to apply for nomination. Recently, 940 international students and foreign workers were invited by Ontario to apply for nomination.
Ontario’s In-Demand Skills Program focuses further on provincial demand rather than occupation skill level. While many immigration programs target occupations that the government considers being high-skilled, Ontario focuses on their provincial demand due to labor shortages in low-skilled occupations.
For an applicant to be considered to enter the In-Demand Skills Stream, one must have an eligible job offer in Ontario. They can apply for Provincial Nominee Program but must have at least nine months of cumulative work experience in Ontario for the past three (3) years. Note that seasonal work experience does not count to meet the requirement. Part-time work, however, may be eligible only if the candidate completed the required total number of works hours. A candidate must either have 1,200 hours of paid employment in only one job for 18 months or work with more than one job for at least 30 hours per week of paid work for nine months with a total of 1,200 hours.
List of in-demand occupations:
| NOC Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 3413 | Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates |
| 4412 | Home support workers and related occupations, excluding housekeepers |
| 7441 | Residential and commercial installers and servicers |
| 7511 | Transport truck drivers |
| 7521 | Heavy equipment operators (except crane) |
| 8431 | General farm workers |
| 8432 | Nursery and greenhouse workers |
| 8611 | Harvesting labourers |
| 7611 | Construction trades helpers and labourers |
| 9462 | Industrial butchers, meat cutters, poultry preparers, related workers |
In-demand occupations available only to candidates outside the Greater Toronto Area:
| NOC Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 9411 | Machine operators, mineral and metal processing |
| 9416 | Metalworking and forging machine operators |
| 9417 | Machining tool operators |
| 9418 | Other metal products machine operators |
| 9421 | Chemical plant machine operators |
| 9422 | Plastics processing machine operators |
| 9437 | Woodworking machine operators |
| 9446 | Industrial sewing machine operators |
| 9461 | Process control and machine operators, food, beverage and associated products processing |
| 9523 | Electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors and testers |
| 9526 | Mechanical assemblers and inspectors |
| 9536 | Industrial painters, coaters and metal finishing process operators |
| 9537 | Other products assemblers, finishers and inspectors |
