Ontario dominates PNP nominations with 16,500 allocations for 2023
The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) received its 2023 nomination allocation from the federal government. For those who are not familiar, every year the federal government, through IRCC, allocates a certain number of nominations to each province (except Quebec). Consequently, on March 22, 2023, the OINP received 16,500 allocations for this year. This represents an increase of almost 70% in the provincial nomination quota.
Let’s explore Ontario’s nomination allocation.
Table of contents
Ontario’s allocations for 2023, 2024 and 2025
For 2023, Ontario’s quota increased to 16,500 as compared to only 9,750 in 2022 and 9,000 in 2021. Also, with nearly 300,000 jobs going unfilled daily, the province is doubling the number of economic immigrants it selects in 2025 to over 18,000. According to the Ontario government, this will help to solve the province’s critical labour shortage.
“From 9,000 immigration spots in 2021 to over 18,000 in 2025, today’s announcement is a significant win for the people of Ontario and will help us control our economic destiny by selecting more of the skilled immigrants we know are well-placed to succeed and build stronger communities for all of us.”
Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
| Year | OINP Quota |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 16,500 |
| 2024 | 17,000* tentative number |
| 2025 | 18,361 |
<<Also Read: Ontario’s Nominations go mostly to Indian and Chinese applicants>>
Annual PNP allocations of other provinces have also increased
On March 10th, 2023, the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration (FMRI) met in Nova Scotia to discuss the future of immigration in Canada. The meeting, which was attended by federal authorities and immigration ministers representing Canada’s provinces and territories, covered several key topics including:
- increasing allocations in the Provincial/Territorial Nominee Programs (PNPs), and
- providing greater agency over PNPs.
Following the meeting, provinces have begun to announce their new PNP allocations. On Monday, March 13, Saskatchewan’s Minister announced their annual allocation would rise to 7,250 in 2023. Moreover, The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) made public that it will be able to issue 9,750 nominations in 2023. In addition, Yukon reported that they have been allocated 430 PNP spots for 2023, up from 300 last year.
Ontario’s 2023 allocation represents 36% of the national allocation of provincial nominees.
A look back at Ontario’s nomination allocations
In 2021, Ontario received 8,350 allocations, plus an additional 250 nominations for temporary foreign workers in intermediate-skilled occupations. Furthermore, by the end of 2021, Ontario got an additional 400 nominations. This means that the province issued a total of 9,000 nominations across all streams in 2021.
Even though the program was able to nominate 9,000 individuals in 2021, the OINP continued to experience substantial demand for its streams, “far surpassing its annual nomination allocation,” said the province. Therefore, the Minister of Labour, Monte McNaughton, requested the federal government ‘significantly increase’ the number of nominations for the province. However, the number of invitations was not increased considerably in 2022.
On June 28, 2022, the OINP received only 9,750 allocations. The nominations were extended to skilled trades workers (3,900), software and IT workers (2,200), and nearly 100 nurses and personal support workers.
According to the survey of ‘Employment, Payrolls and Hours’ published by Statistics Canada, in September 2022, job vacancies increased notably in Ontario (+7.4% to 375,700). Also, Ontario had the highest net loss to interprovincial migration in Q2 2022.
About the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program
The OINP allows the province to nominate, for permanent residence, individuals who have the skills and experience to contribute to Ontario’s economy. With an Ontario nomination, individuals then apply to the federal government, through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for permanent residence.
You can learn more about immigration under the Provincial Nominee Program in the following article: Immigration under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to Canada.
<<Ontario: New Expression of Interest Scoring Factors>>
Related Articles
- Ontario and Saskatchewan saw an increase in job vacancies
- Average weekly earnings by provinces in Canada
- Immigration: the driving force behind Canada’s labour supply
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