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OINP - Ontario PNP - In-Demand Skills (IDS) Stream
One of the 3 PNP streams of Ontario under the Employer Job Offer category
Home > Permanent Residence > Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) > Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) > OINP - In-Demand Skills (IDS) Stream
The guide below takes a deep look into one of the streams of Ontario's Provincial Nominee Program (OINP), the Foreign Worker (FW) stream. The guide will go through an overview of the stream, its eligibility requirements, how it works, the documentation needed, its cost and processing times.
Overview of the In-Demand Skills (IDS) stream
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The In-Demand Skills (IDS) stream is one of Ontario's PNP streams that requires the candidate to hold a job offer from an employer in Ontario to be eligible.
When receiving a nomination under the IDS stream, candidates can then apply for Permanent Residence to the federal government of Canada. |
This stream is not aligned with Express Entry, which means that candidates cannot take advantage of the 6-month average processing times of Express Entry. Processing times of Provincial Nominee Programs (not aligned with Express Entry) are usually longer and take at least 1 year.
The IDS stream does require a valid job offer as its main eligibility requirement. There are other requirements that must be fulfilled regarding the candidate, the employer, and the job offer.
The IDS stream is quite similar to the Foreign Worker (FW) stream, except that candidates under the IDS stream:
The IDS stream does require a valid job offer as its main eligibility requirement. There are other requirements that must be fulfilled regarding the candidate, the employer, and the job offer.
The IDS stream is quite similar to the Foreign Worker (FW) stream, except that candidates under the IDS stream:
- need to have a high school secondary degree, which is not required under the FW stream,
- need to provide proof of settlement funds, which is not required under the FW stream,
- need to provide proof of language proficiency, which is not required under the FW stream, and
- need to have a job offer in eligible occupations (listed below), whereas all NOC TEER Category 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupations are eligible under the FW stream.
Eligibility Requirements
There are 4 main categories of eligibility requirements that we will summarize below. You can apply to the In-Demand Skills (IDS) stream if you, your employer, and your job offer satisfy to all the requirements below.
1. Job offer requirements
To be eligible to the IDS stream, the job offer must:
You, and members of your family (combined), cannot hold more than 10% of the equity of the employer, and cannot hold any equity of the employer except if obtained as part of the remuneration package as an employee.
2. Applicant requirements
To be eligible to the IDS stream, you, the applicant, must have at least 9 months of full-time (or equivalent in part-time) work experience in the same NOC code as in the one in the job offer, in Ontario and in the last 3 years.
If you need a licence or authorization to practice the position in the job offer, you have to hold a valid one when applying.
You need to score at least CLB4 in either French or English to qualify to the IDS stream. You can learn more about the Canadian Language Benchmarks and the authorized language tests in this section.
You also have to hold at least a Canadian secondary diploma or its international equivalent (assessed by an authorized service provider). You can check here on how to get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for your international degree(s).
You must own a minimum amount of liquid funds when you apply for this stream. The amount is based on the settlement funds required under Express Entry, and depend on the number of family members (accompanying you or not). You can find the amounts required here.
As you need a job offer to qualify for this stream, you need to count the annual wages of your job offer towards your settlement funds. For example, if the salary from your job offer is 27,000$, and your required settlement funds are 33,000$, then you need to only provide proof of owning 6,000$ (the difference between 33,000$ and 27,000$) of liquid funds.
You must also intend to live in Ontario. OINP will assess this through a series of factors, such as past studies, work, or tourism in the province, having family members or personal relationships residing in Ontario, etc. You can find more information on this in the Required Documents section of this guide.
When applying from inside Canada, you need to have the appropriate legal documentation to prove you are in the country legally, either a Work Permit, a Study Permit, etc. You should keep your status until you are nominated.
3. Employer requirements
To be eligible to the IDS stream, the employer must:
For the most recent fiscal year, the employer must also satisfy the following requirements:
4. Receive an invitation to apply
In order to be considered for this IDS stream, you must register an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the OINP e-Filing Portal. Based on your profile, the OINP will assign you a score under the IDS stream.
The OINP will invite the highest ranking candidates to apply either on a general basis (rank all candidates who registered an expression of interest) or on a targeted basis (rank only those candidates who have one or more targeted labour market or human capital attributes).
The following are the scoring factors used in this IDS stream:
Job offer - NOC broad occupational category (first digit of the NOC code)
1. Job offer requirements
To be eligible to the IDS stream, the job offer must:
- be full-time (min. 30h/week and 1,560h/year) and permanent (no end date in the contract),
- have a salary level at or above the median wage level for that occupation in the region where you will be working (if you have a collective agreement, i.e. a written contract between the employer and a union, in your workplace that determines your wages, the wage level requirements do not apply),
- align with your employer’s existing business activities and the position must be needed to maintain or grow ongoing business activity, i.e. the position must be necessary to the employer's business, and
- be for a position primarily based in Ontario.
- be in one of the following occupations (more info about NOC codes here):
- Inside or outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA):
- NOC 44101 - Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations
- NOC 75110 - Construction trades helpers and labourers
- NOC 84120 - Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
- NOC 85100 - Livestock labourers
- NOC 85101 - Harvesting labourers
- NOC 85103 - Nursery and greenhouse labourers
- NOC 94141 - Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
- NOC 65202 - Meat cutters and fishmongers – retail and wholesale
- Only outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA):
- NOC 94100 - Machine operators, mineral and metal processing
- NOC 94105 - Metalworking and forging machine operators
- NOC 94106 - Machining tool operators
- NOC 94107 - Machine operators of other metal products
- NOC 94110 - Chemical plant machine operators
- NOC 95102 - Labourers in chemical products processing and utilities
- NOC 94111 - Plastics processing machine operators
- NOC 94124 - Woodworking machine operators
- NOC 94132 - Industrial sewing machine operators
- NOC 94140 - Process control and machine operators, food and beverage processing
- NOC 94201 - Electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors and testers
- NOC 94204 - Mechanical assemblers and inspectors
- NOC 94213 - Industrial painters, coaters and metal finishing process operators
- NOC 94219 - Other products assemblers, finishers and inspectors
- Inside or outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA):
You, and members of your family (combined), cannot hold more than 10% of the equity of the employer, and cannot hold any equity of the employer except if obtained as part of the remuneration package as an employee.
2. Applicant requirements
To be eligible to the IDS stream, you, the applicant, must have at least 9 months of full-time (or equivalent in part-time) work experience in the same NOC code as in the one in the job offer, in Ontario and in the last 3 years.
If you need a licence or authorization to practice the position in the job offer, you have to hold a valid one when applying.
You need to score at least CLB4 in either French or English to qualify to the IDS stream. You can learn more about the Canadian Language Benchmarks and the authorized language tests in this section.
You also have to hold at least a Canadian secondary diploma or its international equivalent (assessed by an authorized service provider). You can check here on how to get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for your international degree(s).
You must own a minimum amount of liquid funds when you apply for this stream. The amount is based on the settlement funds required under Express Entry, and depend on the number of family members (accompanying you or not). You can find the amounts required here.
As you need a job offer to qualify for this stream, you need to count the annual wages of your job offer towards your settlement funds. For example, if the salary from your job offer is 27,000$, and your required settlement funds are 33,000$, then you need to only provide proof of owning 6,000$ (the difference between 33,000$ and 27,000$) of liquid funds.
You must also intend to live in Ontario. OINP will assess this through a series of factors, such as past studies, work, or tourism in the province, having family members or personal relationships residing in Ontario, etc. You can find more information on this in the Required Documents section of this guide.
When applying from inside Canada, you need to have the appropriate legal documentation to prove you are in the country legally, either a Work Permit, a Study Permit, etc. You should keep your status until you are nominated.
3. Employer requirements
To be eligible to the IDS stream, the employer must:
- have been in active business in the least 3 years,
- have a location in Ontario where you are expected to perform your duties,
- have no outstanding orders made against them under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 or the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and
- demonstrate that enough effort was made to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident for the position being offered to you.
For the most recent fiscal year, the employer must also satisfy the following requirements:
- If you will work or report to work inside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the employer must have at least (i) 1,000,000 CAD in annual gross revenues, and (ii) 5 full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
- If you will work or report to work outside the GTA, the employer must have at least (i) 500,000 CAD in annual gross revenues, and (ii) 3 full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
4. Receive an invitation to apply
In order to be considered for this IDS stream, you must register an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the OINP e-Filing Portal. Based on your profile, the OINP will assign you a score under the IDS stream.
The OINP will invite the highest ranking candidates to apply either on a general basis (rank all candidates who registered an expression of interest) or on a targeted basis (rank only those candidates who have one or more targeted labour market or human capital attributes).
The following are the scoring factors used in this IDS stream:
Job offer - NOC broad occupational category (first digit of the NOC code)
- Broad occupational Category 0, 2 or 3 – 10 points
- Broad occupational Category 7 – 7 points
- Broad occupational Category 1 or 9 – 5 points
- Broad occupational Category 4 or 8 – 4 points
- Broad occupational Category 5 or 6 – 3 points
- CAD 40 per hour or more – 10 points
- CAD 35 to CAD 39.99 per hour or more – 8 points
- CAD 30 to CAD 34.99 per hour or more – 7 points
- CAD 25 to CAD 29.99 per hour or more – 6 points
- CAD 20 to CAD 24.99 per hour – 5 points
- Less than CAD 20 per hour – 0 points
- With valid work permit – 10 points
- Without valid work permit – 0 points
- 6 months or more working in job offer position – 3 points
- Less than 6 months working in job offer position or not currently working in position – 0 points
- CAD 40,000 or more earnings in a year – 3 points
- Less than CAD 40,000 earnings in a year – 0 points
- Northern Ontario – 10 points
- Includes the following Census Divisions: Muskoka Haliburton, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Manitoulin, Sudbury, Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury, Timiskaming, Cochrane, Algoma, Thunder Bay, Rainy River and Kenora
- Other areas outside GTA (except Northern Ontario) – 8 points
- Includes all Ontario regions except those listed as part of Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area and Northern Ontario
- Inside GTA (except Toronto) – 3 points
- Includes the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel and York
- Toronto – 0 points
- Includes the City of Toronto
- As determined by OINP – 10 points
- One of the OINP Strategic priorities is the Regional Immigration Pilot. To obtain the 10 points, the job offer must be from an employer located in one of the following pilot communities :
Application Process Summary
For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the In-Demand Skills (IDS) stream. Candidates must:
- Create a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal.
- Register an expression of interest for the IDS stream
- After receiving an invitation to apply, apply within 14 days to the IDS stream by submitting their application through their OINP e-filing portal profile (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Apply for permanent residence to the federal government (IRCC) within 6 months of receiving the nomination (after OINP processes their application). Candidates need to apply on paper to IRCC, and include the Nomination Approval Letter and the Certificate of Nomination received from OINP.
Required Supporting Documents
All required documents must be uploaded online, and you will need to create a profile on the OINP e-Filing Portal to do so. Specific requirements for documents are explained in detail here.
For the intent to reside in Ontario, you need to list all ties that you have to the province, including family, friends, prior studies, prior or current work experience, prior visit, etc. Remember to add any document that could support the claims you are making.
As you must have already lived in the province to apply to this stream, this section should not be a problem. Make sure not to talk about any other province and explain why you want to stay in Ontario
For the intent to reside in Ontario, you need to list all ties that you have to the province, including family, friends, prior studies, prior or current work experience, prior visit, etc. Remember to add any document that could support the claims you are making.
As you must have already lived in the province to apply to this stream, this section should not be a problem. Make sure not to talk about any other province and explain why you want to stay in Ontario
Application Fees
The fee for this stream is quite expensive, the most expensive in all other Provincial Nominee Programs. It is set at:
It can only be paid by a credit or debit card (Visa or MasterCard).
Application fees can only be refunded if the processing of the application has not started, either (i) if the applicant withdraws his/her application before processing starts, or (ii) if the application is refused as being incomplete by the OINP.
- 1,500 CAD if the job offer is outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), or
- 2,000 CAD if the job offer is within the GTA.
It can only be paid by a credit or debit card (Visa or MasterCard).
Application fees can only be refunded if the processing of the application has not started, either (i) if the applicant withdraws his/her application before processing starts, or (ii) if the application is refused as being incomplete by the OINP.
Processing Times
As of November 29, 2023, the processing times for an In-Demand Skills stream application are estimated to be between 120 to 150 days. However, some applications may need more time to be processed if more complex or necessitate more documents and/or information.
Stream Opening History
The In-Demand Skills stream is usually always open. You can check out our awesome Live PNP Monitor to see if the stream is currently open and its latest news, as well as for all the other PNP streams.
Do I have to stay in the Province?
This is a tricky question and there are multiple situations that can happen. You can learn more about this subject on our dedicated article: Can I move to another province?
Does the Stream have In-Demand Jobs?
Some streams target specific NOC codes, meaning that if you have experience in those in-demand jobs, you either (i) have more chances to be invited or (ii) that you can be eligible to the stream. In the case of the In-Demand Skills stream, you need to have work experience and hold a job offer in one of 22 NOC codes. You can find out about them in our in-demand NOC codes article, as well as all NOC codes targeted by the other provinces.
