Services

Foreign Workers

The Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker Stream is an OINP stream for foreign workers with legal status in Canada or who are living abroad and who have a full-time job offer from an Ontario-based employer. To qualify you must:

• Your job offer must be for a job in NOC skill type 0 or skill level A or B.
• Your job offer must be for full-time paid work, that is a minimum of 30 hours per week for a total of 1,560 hours worked per year.
• Your job offer must be for an indeterminate job – that is, one with no end date.
• You can list self-employment for your work experience as long as:
  • Your self-employment is in the same NOC category as your job offer, AND
  • You can provide documentation to verify your self-employment such as:
    • Confirmation of business ownership
    • Evidence of income (contracts, receipts … )
    • Reference Letters from third-party individuals or businesses that you provided service to with details of the contract and the payments provided

• You must have 2 years cumulative work experience in the last 5 years in a job or in jobs that have the same NOC skill type or level as the job you are being offered in Ontario.
• If your job involves any licensing, you must meet any and all licensing requirements for your job.
• If you are living in Canada, you must have legal status which is either:
  • A work permit,
  • A study permit,
  • Or a visitor visa or record.

Your employer offering you the job must meet the following requirements:

• Have been in active business for at least the past 3 years
• Have a workplace in Ontario where you will be working
• Be in compliance with the following Ontario labour legislation:
  • The Employment Standards Act, and
  • The Occupational Health and Safety Act
• If your employer is located within the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) it must:
  • Have a minimum CAD$ 1 million annual gross revenue for the last fiscal year
  • Have at least 5 Canadian citizens or permanent residents working full-time at the location where you will be working.
• If your employer is located outside the GTA it must:
  • Have a minimum CAD$500,000 in gross annual revenue for the last fiscal year
  • Have at least 3 Canadian citizens or permanent residents working as full-time employees at the location where you will be working.
  •  

Any seasonal work or work obtained through an agency or as a subcontractor or independent contractor does NOT qualify for this stream.

You or any family members cannot hold equity in the company or business offering you a job in Canada, unless such equity was offered as a form of remuneration and as part of your job contract. In such a case, your or your family’s equity position in the firm must be LESS than 10% of the total equity outstanding and issued under Canadian and Ontario Security Laws or we will come and get you in black helicopters and force you to watch Leafs training camps every July for the rest of your life.

Refugee claimants with an application pending are NOT eligible.

How to Apply

The application is not done through Express Entry and starts at OINP’s online portal.The steps are as follows:

Step 1: Registering at ONIP

Go to OINP’s website and go here in order to start your application process under this stream. You will first have to register for a ONe-key Account.

• Provide name and date of birth
• Click on the Sign up now! Link to create your ONe-key Account
• Once you have created your ONe-key account, you will have to register a profile by accurately and truthfully providing the required personal information. When you are done click Finish and you will be directed to OINP’s e-Filing Portal where you can continue with your application.
•  

Step 2: Applying to OINP

You now have 14 calendar days to complete your application to OINP once you have registered. You should complete all the parts of the application and submit copies of all required documents.

You must also pay your application fee which must be paid by Visa or Mastercard Credit Cards online. There is NO OTHER VALID payment method that will be accepted. The fees are:

• CAD$2,000 if your job offer is located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
• CAD$1,500 if your job offer is located outside of the GTA.

Fees are NOT refundable unless either:

• Your application is deemed to be incomplete and is returned to you, OR
• You withdraw your application before OINP begins to process it.

Go here and scroll down to 3.0 Document Checklist to ensure you have submitted clear and legible copies of all your documents.

Remember to provide certified (if applying from Ontario) or notarized copies of any documents not in English or French.

Step 3: Using a Representative

If you wish to use a representative, you must notify the OINP whether your representative is paid or not. In order to authorize your representative to represent you before the OINP you must take the following steps:

If you have not registered a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal:

• Your authorized representative accesses the OINP e-Filing Portal directly from the OINP website.
• They should then follow the instructions provided to register as an authorized representative and to register a profile for you.
• After your authorized representative has registered a profile for you, you will receive two emails from the OINP, the first one will include your enrollment number and the second will include your PIN number.
• You may then sign up for a ONe-key account using these two numbers.
• Then you can log into the OINP e-Filing Portal and appoint your authorized representative.
• Once you have appointed them, your authorized representative may then proceed to complete your online application.

If you have already registered at the OINP e-Filing Portal:

• Give your authorized representative with the application number found under File Number on the main page of your OINP e-Filing Portal.
• Your representative should then log in to their ONe-key account and select Add an Existing Application on their main page.
• Your representative will need to enter your File Number and your email address in the boxes provided.
• Once your file number appears, your representative should click on Add this Application.
• Once your representative has added your application, you will receive an email notification from the OINP asking you to log in to your ONe-key account to appoint this representative. Do this by clicking on “Appoint” found on the section entitled My Representative.
• Once appointed, your representative will be able to log in to their ONe-key account and view and/or continue your application. Please not that if you have already filled out any fields in your application, they will appear as read-only for your representative.

Step 4: After you apply to the OINP

In order to keep the OINP updated on any changes in your personal information, please remember to do so by one of the following two ways:

For changes to your main phone number; email address; or country of residence go to your e-Filing Portal’s main page and click on MyProfile. Update any changes to your phone, email or country of residence and click Save.

For all other changes in your personal information that occur after you have applied you must fill out the Change of Personal Information form found here. Then email it to: ontarionominee@ontario.ca with the following subject line: Application Change Notice (your file number).

To withdraw your application, you have 2 options:

• Click on withdraw on the main page of your OINP e-Filing Portal, OR
• Send an email to ontarionominee@ontario.ca informing them that you wish to withdraw your application.

Step 5: Applying to IRCC

If your application is successful, you will have 6 months to apply and receive permanent residence from the IRCC and you will receive from the OINP the following:

• A Letter of Nomination
• A Work Permit Support Letter: this is valid for 6 months and you can use it to get a work permit so that you are able to work while the IRCC is processing your request for permanent residence. If your work permit is set to expire (within 3 months) and you feel you will need an extension, you may apply for one by emailing:
• ontarionominee@ontario.ca and also including in your email:
  • Copies of your 2 most recent pay slips, AND
  • A scanned copy of your work permit
• An OINP Confirmation of Nomination Document: this is valid for 6 months but you may apply for an extension if there are delays in the IRCC processing of your application for permanent residence due to incomplete documentation. Do so by emailing ontarionominee@ontario.ca and include:
  • A letter explaining why you need the extension, AND
  • A copy of the incompleteness letter from the IRCC stating that you must provide additional documents

International Students

This category is for international students in Canada who have a permanent job offer in Ontario. While the requirements and the application process are very similar to the Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker Stream though there area few key differences.

The eligibility criteria are similar but for this stream, applicants need a degree,diploma, or certificate from a qualified Canadian post-secondary institution. This must have been obtained within 2 years of applying to OINP.

The employer’s requirements as to gross revenue for the previous fiscal year are the same as listed above, as are the number of full-time employees who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada.

The application process is the same except the application fee is CAD$1,500 regardless of where the employer is located, unlike the Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker Stream.

Go here and scroll down to Section 3 to see the document checklist. Make sure you scan and upload all the required documents or your application will be returned to you as incomplete.

If your nomination is successful, you will receive the same documents as listed above in Step 5: a Letter of Nomination, a Work Permit Support letter, and a Confirmation of Nomination Document. The process is the same as in the Job Offer Foreign Worker Stream, meaning you will have 6 months to apply for and receive your permanent residence from IRCC.

In-Demand Skills Stream

This stream is for foreign workers who have job offers in specific jobs in the agriculture and construction sectors of Ontario’s economy. To be eligible you must:

• Have a job offer from an Ontario employer in one of the following sectors as described by their NOC code:
  • NOC 7441: Residential commercial installers and servicers
  • NOC 7521: Heavy equipment operators (except crane operators)
  • NOC 8431: General farm workers
  • NOC 8432: Nursery and greenhouse workers
  • NOC 8611: Harvesting labourers
  • NOC 7611: Construction trades helpers and labourers
  • NOC 9642: Industrial butchers, meat cutters, poultry preparers, and related occupations

• Have existing work experience in Ontario in the job position you are being offered with a cumulative total of 1 year full-time work experience within the last 3 years.
• Have a Canadian high school degree or its equivalent which is verified by an Educational Credentials Assessment (ECA) by a designated organization. Go here for more information.
• Have language skills in English or French at the CLB 4 level.
• Have settlement funds to help you establish yourself in Ontario. Go here for more information.
• Your employer must meet the same criteria as those listed above in the previous two streams.

The application process is fairly similar to that of the two streams detailed above:

• Your employer has to meet the same criteria as listed above in the Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker Stream.
• Your application fee is the same as the Foreign Worker Stream listed above.
• Go here and scroll down to 3.0 Document Checklist to see what documents you need to scan and provide with your application.
• The process of authorizing your representative – if you have one – is identical to the other two streams and is listed in the first stream above.
• Once you have applied the process is the same as the streams listed above. You will have 6 months to apply to IRCC and receive your permanent residence. You will also receive the same 3 documents when you are nominated as is the case in the other 2 streams: a Letter of Nomination, a Work Permit Support Letter, and a Confirmation of Nomination Document.

Maxcan Immigration is located in Markham, Ontario, serving the Greater Toronto Area.