OINP International Student Category

The OINP International Student Category offers foreign graduates an opportunity to permanently settle in the province of Ontario.

This category is open to graduates both with and without job offers in Ontario. The International Students Category is divided into the following three streams:

• International Student with a Job Offer Stream
• International Student - Master's Graduate Stream
• International Student - PhD Graduate Stream

International Student with a Job Offer Stream

As of May 9, 2016, Intake of applications of Employer Pre-screen application process has been Temporarily Paused. International students with job offers that have already been approved by the OINP may continue to submit their application to OINP.

For an applicant to be nominated under this category, both the employer and the international student must submit applications and be approved by OINP. Eligible employers are required to first submit a Pre-screen Application to OINP to have the position they wish to fill approved. If OINP approves the application, the prospective nominee (the international student the employer is seeking to hire), must submit an Application to OINP within 60 days of the approval date of the Pre-screen Application.

Minimum Requirements

International students with an approved job offer from an Ontario employer must:

• Have graduated from, or have met the requirements of a full-time degree or diploma program, at an eligible publicly-funded Canadian college or university;
  • The program of study must have been at least two years in length, OR a one -year post-graduate certificate program, which requires a previous degree or diploma.
  • The previous degree or diploma may have been obtained outside Canada.
• Have completed at least half of their studies in Canada;
• Have acquired an approved permanent, full-time job offer in a skilled occupation (NOC levels 0, A, or B); and
  • The job offer must meet the entry-level wage levels in Ontario for that occupation.
  • Note: the job need not be in the same field as the degree or diploma.
• Apply within two years of the date on which they received their Canadian degree or diploma.

International Student - Master's Graduate Stream

As of May 9, 2016, new applications to the Master's Graduate Stream has been Temporarily Paused.

This stream enables International Students who have recently graduated with a Master's degree from an eligible public funded university in Ontario an opportunity to immigrate permanently to Ontario, without the requirement of a job offer.

Minimum Requirements

To be eligible for this stream, applicants must:

• Intend to live and work permanently in Ontario;
• Have graduated from an existing Master's program at an eligible publicly funded university in Ontario;
  • The program of study must have been at least one year in length and must have been completed on a full-time basis.
• Submit the application within two years of the date on which the Masters degree was granted;
• Currently be residing in Ontario with legal status (i.e. study permit, work permit, visitor record);
• Demonstrate a high language proficiency level in English or French of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 or above in all four competencies (speaking, reading, writing, and listening);
  • Language proficiency must be proved by the following International English Language Testing (IELTS) General Test scores and Test d’Evaluation de Français (TEF) scores in each language competency:
    • Listening: IELTS 6 or TEF 249-279
    • Reading: IELTS 6 or TEF 207-232
    • Writing: IELTS 6 or TEF 310-348
    • Speaking: IELTS 6 or TEF 310-348,
• Be able to show a minimum level of savings and/or income in order to support themselves and their dependents;
• Show that they have resided in Ontario for at least 12 cumulative months in the past 24 months; and
• Not intend to pursue further academic studies in Ontario.

The required savings to be used as settlement funds mentioned in the above list must be equal to or greater than the sums listed below for each family size.

Requirements for settlement funds are updated annually. Note that the number of family members includes both accompanying and non-accompanying dependents.

International Student - PhD Graduate Stream

As of May 9, 2016, new applications to the PhD Graduate Stream has been Temporarily Paused.

This stream enables students who have graduated from a PhD program at an eligible public funded university in Ontario an opportunity to immigrate permanently to the Province of Ontario, without the requirement of a job offer.

Minimum Requirements

To be eligible for this stream, applicants must:

• Have successfully completed all PhD program requirements at an eligible publicly-funded university in Ontario;
  • At least two years of PhD studies must have been completed at the Ontario university.
• Submit the application within two years of the date on which the PhD was granted;
• Intend to live and work in Ontario; and
• Have legal status (i.e. study permit, work permit, visitor record) if living in Canada at the time of the application.
  • Applicants to this stream need not be in Canada at the time of application.