There are some major changes being made in the OINP programs. Here are the highlights only – for anyone interested in OINP, we highly recommend for you to review your eligibility in light of these regulatory changes and other eligibility requirements:
- For any programs for international students (job stream, Master or Ph.D.), applicants now can use EITHER degree or diploma OR a letter of confirmation to be eligible to graduate.
- For In-Demand job offer category, a list of eligible occupations is expanded with 3 more occupations: NOC3413 (Nurse Aid), NOC4412 (Home support worker) and NOC7511 (transport truck driver). In addition, the work experience in Ontario got reduced from 1 year to 9 months.
- For equity restriction under the eligibility for Ontario Employer, it is now exempt for any equity in the company if such equity was received as a part of remuneration. However, the portion is still remaining as 10%. Therefore, even if you get equity in the company as your compensation, it can’t be more than 10%, including any equity compensation received by your family member.
- For any occupation requires licence to practice in Ontario, applicants must hold such licence, in order to be eligible.
- Under the trade section, it specifically excludes any self-employment and/or any work during the full-time study.
- For the Entrepreneur category, the requirement for work experience got reduced to 24 months from 36 months, network and investment amount have been reduced significantly, along with reducing the number of Canadian worker being hired down to 1 person for those outside of GTA or information technology sector and exclusion of any sexually explicit products or services business.
- Corporate category was eliminated in full.
Again, these regulatory changes are new and need more explanation or clarification in due course. In the meantime, those who are interested in ONIP should seek proper legal advice for their eligibility, and keep their eyes open for the re-opening of OINP for 2019.”