Overview of the OINP Regional Pilot
The Ontario Immigration Nominee Program Regional Pilot is now open. This pilot program will help communities in Ontario retain international talent or target skilled labour that is not available locally.
This program opens options for foreign workers, international students, and others with the right skills and experience and education.
It will help fill local labour shortages and support economic growth by spreading awareness of the program and increase uptake in rural and small communities.
To participate in the program, you must be a qualified applicant and have a full-time job offer from an employer located within one of the pilot communities.
What are the communities participating in the OINP Regional Pilot Program?
- Chatham-Kent
- Cornwall
- Quinte West/ Belleville
What are the job-offer requirements?
- The job offer must be for a full-time and permanent position. Full time means a minimum of 1,560 hours a year and a minimum of 30 hours of paid work per week. Permanent means that the job must have no end date. Job offers that are seasonal and/or contract based are ineligible.
- The pay of the occupation must meet or be higher than the low or median wage level, for that occupation, in the specific region of Ontario where you will be working.
- Position is necessary to employer's business.
- Work is based in one of the participating communities.
What are the eligible occupations?
- The job offer must be in a skilled occupation at Skill Type 0 (management jobs) or Skills Levels A (professional jobs that usually call for a degree from a university) or B (technical jobs and skilled trades that call for a college diploma such as an apprentice). Or,
- The job offer must be an an in-demand occupation, including:
- machine operators, mineral and metal processing
- metalworking and forging machine operators
- machining tool operators
- other metal products machine operators
- chemical plant machine operators
- plastics processing machine operators
- woodworking machine operators
- industrial sewing machine operators
- process control and machine operators, food, beverage and associated products processing
- electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors and testers
- mechanical assemblers and inspectors
- industrial painters, coaters and metal finishing process operators
- other products assemblers, finishers and inspectors
Are there other eligibility criteria for the OINP Regional program?
You must meet the eligibility criteria of one of the following programs:
- OINP Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream
- OINP Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream, or
- OINP Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream
These programs' eligibility requirements include:
- 9 months to 2 years of work experience or license or other authorization may be necessary, depending under which stream of the program you qualify under.
- Intention to live in Ontario.
- Legal status in Canada.
- English or French language skills.
- Canadian education or its equivalent in another country.
- There may also be some revenue requirements for the employer (ie. a minimum of $500,000 in total gross annual revenue).
How do I get started?
The first step for qualifying for this program is obtaining a qualifying job offer. You can do this by looking for job ads in the qualifying communities.
Please see here for information on how to find a job in Chatham-Kent.
Need help or have questions?
You may book an appointment here, we are happy to help!