Ontario's PNP allocation quota for 2024 has reached its limit
As of December 23, 2024, the Ontario Immigrant Nomination Program (OINP) has reached the full quota for provincial nomination allocation in 2024. In 2024, there will be a total of 21500 nominations of various types. OINP will continue to accept and consider new applications based on its allocation for 2025.
Number of Invitations
The province also released a detailed breakdown of the number of Invitation to Apply (ITA) issued to candidates throughout the year. Overall, OINP issued over 22000 ITAs to candidates throughout 2024.
Employer job opportunities: Foreign workers -6695 ITA.
Employer job opportunities: International student category -8363 ITA.
Employer job opportunities: skills in short supply -914 ITA.
Master's degree program -5519 ITA.
Doctoral graduates -533 ITAs.
Entrepreneur category -0 ITA.
Some details of provincial nomination
There are differences between the Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) (such as OINP) and Provincial Nomination. Foreigners first submit candidate information to OINP for consideration (which can be passive or active), either through EOI pool or through effective "fast entry" information (if their application process is consistent with "fast entry", or "enhanced").
If selected according to the basic process, the candidate will receive an ITA and be invited to submit an application to OINP. If the application is successful, they will receive a provincial nomination and can then directly apply for permanent residency (PR) with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
If selected through the enhanced process, candidates from the federal rapid entry candidate pool who receive provincial nominations will receive up to 600 additional Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points, which makes them highly likely to receive an ITA in the next eligible rapid entry draw. For the enhanced PNP program, foreign citizens must have valid expedited entry records. Enhanced nominations can be made in any direction (either candidates first have personal information in the EOI system and then create a valid 'Fast Entry' personal information, or they have valid 'Fast Entry' personal information and are invited to apply for provincial nominations through OINP).
Expectations for OINP in 2025
Although OINP has not yet announced the official provincial allocation for 2025, it can be reasonably expected that the number of nominations that the province can publish will be significantly less than in 2024. This is because according to IRCC's immigration level plan, the overall immigration quotas of each province have been significantly reduced.
In the 2023 Immigration Level Plan (which sets targets for the next year), all provinces will receive a total of 110000 admission quotas, which will be allocated to all PNP programs in 2024. According to the 2024-2026 level plan, provincial economic immigrants will also surpass federal channels in terms of admission.
As of the 2024 immigration level plan (which sets clear targets for 2025), the provincial immigration targets for each province have been halved to a total of 55000 people. Although OINP is one of the most popular PNP programs in Canada, due to these macro level changes, the provincial nomination quota for Ontario's immigration program is likely to decrease. OINP recently announced that it will close its entrepreneur immigration program in 2024 and has not yet announced plans for a replacement immigration program.
Source: Shunda Immigration