Provincial nominee changes a win for Ontario businesses
Changes to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program are good news for the province’s businesses, Toronto immigration lawyer Robin Seligman tells AdvocateDaily.com.
The province recently announced the creation of a brand new Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream, as well as updates to its existing programs for entrepreneurs and nominees with job offers.
“These changes will assist businesses across Ontario,” says Seligman, principal of immigration law boutique Seligman Professional Corporation. “It’s an excellent, well thought out approach that I completely support.”
The new skilled trades stream is open to members of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Express Entry Pool with at least a year of full-time work experience in Ontario. The program will initially target workers in the agricultural and construction sectors, but the province has indicated a willingness to broaden its scope in the future.
“I would like to see it expand at some point,” says Seligman, who notes that Ontario’s provincial nominee program is handicapped by its relatively low overall cap.
For 2017, Ontario has been allocated just 6,000 out of the 51,000 spaces IRCC plans to award to immigrants via provincial nominee programs.
That represents an increase compared with 2016, when the province got 5,500, and as recently as 2014, Ontario was only allowed to make 2,500 nominations. Still, Seligman says there is room for growth, considering the province’s size and importance to the national economy.
“Ontario is definitely under-represented in terms of nominations for sponsorship, and I think the federal government should be thinking about giving it more spots,” she says.
Changes to the employer-driven job offer stream mean international students and foreign workers with Canadian work lined up will now take the lead on their applications, which means less information and documentation is needed upfront from their prospective employers.
“It’s a one-stop process, which I think is excellent,” Seligman says.
Finally, the updated entrepreneur stream now has lower language level requirements, and potential applicants get more Express Entry points if they commit to establishing or buying a business in a community outside the Greater Toronto Area.