Ontario Launches A New Pilot Pathway To Permanent Residence
Ontario launches a new pilot pathway to permanent residence. This new pilot will run from January 2 to December 31, 2025.
The REDI will seek to attract over 800 highly skilled immigrants to four rural as well as northern regions in Ontario:
- Lanark
- Leeds and Grenville
- Thunder Bay
- Sarnia-Lambton
Newcomers who are approved via the pilot program will obtain a provincial nomination from the OINP, which they might use to apply directly to IRCC for permanent residence.
How Will This New Program Function?
The REDI pilot program will process applications via the OINP’s Employer Job Offer stream. Each participating region will be allocated 200 additional nominations, which they will issue through the OINP’s three job-offer streams.
The REDI aims to address labor shortages in areas of the workforce that are in demand and drive local growth within identified regions, including healthcare, technology, and the skilled trade, which includes construction.
Eligibility
In order to be considered under this pilot program, newcomers should have a qualifying job offer from an employer in Ontario. In order to qualify for the REDI pilot program via an OINP job offer stream, newcomers should have a job offer from a business in one of the identified regions targeted by the pilot program.
For all streams, applicants must:
- Intend to reside in Ontario
- Be licensed or authorized to practice their profession
Below are the eligibility criteria for each stream.
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream
| Stream | Job Offer Requirements | Applicant Requirements |
| Employer job offer: Foreign Worker Stream | – Full-time and permanent. – A TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupation. – Pays a wage equal to or greater than the median wage for the occupation in Ontario. – Based in Ontario. – Position critical for an employer’s business. | Minimum work experience |
Specific professions in Canada are regulated at the provincial or federal level by certified regulatory boards as well as authorities. Eligible applicants in the Foreign Worker Stream should meet one of the following requirements in order to meet the minimum work experience requirement:
- If the job requires a mandatory license or other authorization from the appropriate regulatory authority in Ontario
- If the job doesn’t require a license or authorization, the applicant should have a minimum of two years of work experience in the same profession as the National Occupation Classification code of the job offer.
Eligible work experience under this stream can have been acquired through full-time or part-time work.
Under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream job offers should be for positions that are necessary for the employer’s business. This implies that the job offer aligns with the employer’s existing business activities and that the position hired for is urgently needed to grow/ maintain ongoing business activity.
The median wage for a position can be found by searching the job title, the NOC code of the relevant position, and the location of work on Canada’s National Job Bank website.
Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream
Ontario launches a new pilot pathway to permanent residence. Let us discuss about the Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream.
| Stream | Job Offer Requirements | Applicant Requirements |
| Employer job offer: International Student Stream | – Full-time and permanent. – In a TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupation. – Pays equal to or more than the low wage level for the occupation. – Based in Ontario. – Position critical for an employer’s business. | – College or university education. – Apply for nomination within two years of completing the qualifying education credentials. |
To meet the education requirement under the Employer Job Offer: International Student Stream, applicants should have completed an education program from an eligible Canadian institution in Ontario at one of the following levels within two years preceding their application:
- An undergraduate degree or diploma of at least two years in length when pursued full-time
- A college graduate certificate of a minimum of one year in length when pursued full-time
- A university graduate certificate of at least one year in length when pursued full-time
- A graduate degree/ diploma of at least one year in length when pursued full-time
- To meet the low wage level for an occupation job offer, applicants can consult Canada’s Job Bank. Once on the website, applicants can check the low wage level by entering the NOC code and occupation title, along with the location in which they will be working.
If an applicant is already working in the position, the wage of the employment offer must be equal to or greater than the wage level that the Canadian employer currently pays for the position, in addition to meeting the low wage level.
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream
| Stream | Job Offer Requirements | Applicant Requirements |
| Employer job offer: In-Demand Skills | – Full-time and permanent. – For an eligible occupation. – Based in Ontario. – Pays as much or more than the median wage for the occupation in Ontario. – Position is critical to an employer’s business. | – Nine months’ work experience. – High school diploma. – Language proficiency of CLB 4 or higher. |
If applicants have completed their education abroad, they should provide an ECA in support of their application to demonstrate that their education abroad meets eligibility requirements.
Background
Ontario launches a new pilot pathway to permanent residence. The REDI pilot program is a follow-up to the OINP Regional Pilot, which ended in 2020, reflecting the OINP’s approach to filling critical labor shortages via skilled immigration.
The Regional Pilot allocated approximately 300 additional provincial nominations through the OINP’s job offer streams to the participating regions of Chatham-Kent, Cornwall, and Belleville/ Quinte West.
The pilot met its total allocation in 2020 and was a success.
The OINP estimates that enabling skilled newcomers to work in professions that they have studied for could increase Ontario’s GDP by up to 100 billion CAD over the next five years.
About The PNP
Canada’s Provincial Nominee Programs are economic immigration pathways that allow the nation’s provincial governments to nominate foreign nationals to settle in their provinces.
The purpose of a PNP is to spread the benefits of immigration across Canada. Most immigrants who come to the nation will settle in one of Canada’s three major metropolitan areas: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. At the same time, the concentrated arrival of immigrants in these areas can benefit communities in Canada’s largest cities, which often leaves smaller communities at a loss.
For this reason, PNPs offer significant pathways for more rural communities to welcome skilled immigrants who can fill labor shortages and aid Canada’s demographic goals.
Federal Rural and Regional Immigration Pilots
The Canadian federal government has recently launched two new pilot programs to promote regional and rural immigration:
- The Rural Community Immigration Class
- The Francophone Community Immigration Class
If you seek information on how to begin your Canada immigration application process, you can talk to our NavaImmigration experts at 1800-918-8490, or you can drop us an email at [email protected].
