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Ontario will create a new immigration stream for tech workers and a new immigration pilot initiative with the goal of attracting highly skilled immigrants to smaller communities around the province, the province鈥檚 government announced April 11 in its 2019 budget.听

The initiatives are among four immigration-focused priorities outlined in the province鈥檚 new $163.4 billion budget, which was unveiled Thursday afternoon in Toronto.

鈥淭he Province is responding to the needs of Ontario鈥檚 employers by attracting the skilled workers they need through enhancements to the (OINP),鈥� the budget says.

鈥淭hrough modernization of the OINP, and in tandem with its other initiatives, the government will continue to ensure that Ontario鈥檚 workforce remains among the most highly skilled for the modern economy.鈥�

Dedicated stream for tech workers

To this end, the budget says the government will create a 鈥渄edicated stream to help Ontario鈥檚 technology sector attract highly skilled employees,鈥� though no details were provided beyond this.

色狐入口 has asked the OINP for more information on this and the other immigration plans outlined in the budget and will provide updates when they become available.

The new dedicated tech immigration stream would feed Ontario鈥檚 booming tech sector in cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo, which have all seen significant high-tech job growth in recent years.

The OINP has targeted foreign tech workers in the past through its . The stream is linked to the federal , which manages the pool of candidates for three of Canada鈥檚 main economic immigration categories 鈥� the聽,听听补苍诲听.

Immigration pilot for smaller communities

The budget says the government will also begin a pilot initiative 鈥渢o explore innovative approaches to bring highly skilled immigrants鈥� to smaller communities around the province.

The government said the pilot鈥檚 purpose will be to 鈥渟pread the benefits of immigration to smaller communities.鈥�

The proposed pilot follows calls from community leaders in Northern Ontario for a program similar to the (AIP), a joint federal-provincial initiative that allows designated employers in Canada鈥檚 four Atlantic provinces to recruit skilled foreign workers for jobs they haven鈥檛 been able to fill locally.

Canada recently unveiled a Northern and Rural Immigration Pilot similar to the AIP that will help small or isolated communities in provinces and territories outside Atlantic Canada to recruit foreign workers.

Expanding eligible in-demand occupations

Ontario鈥檚 new budget also says the government will seek to include truck drivers and personal support workers under the occupations that are eligible for the OINP鈥檚 .

Among other criteria, the stream allows the OINP to nominate foreign workers with a permanent and full-time job offer from an Ontario employer in one of its to apply to live and work permanently in Ontario.

Eligible occupations under the stream are classified by Canada鈥檚 National Occupation Classification (NOC) as Skill Level C or D.

Entrepreneur immigration

The fourth immigration-related innovation in Ontario鈥檚 2019 budget is the government鈥檚 promise to 鈥渞ecalibrate鈥� investment and net worth thresholds for the OINP鈥檚

The government said doing so will 鈥渕ake Ontario more competitive with other provinces鈥� and expand the province鈥檚 base of prospective candidates.

The current minimum net worth under the stream鈥檚 eligibility requirements varies depending on where the business will be located:

• $1,500,000 minimum net worth for entrepreneurs hoping to locate within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
• $800,000 minimum net worth for entrepreneurs hoping to locate their business outside the GTA.
• $800,000 minimum net worth for entrepreneurs in the ICT/Digital Communications sector regardless of where they want their business to be located.

The current minimum personal investment thresholds are:

• $1,000,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be located within the GTA.
• $500,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be located outside the GTA.
• $500,000 minimum personal investment if the proposed business will be in the ICT/Digital Communications sector regardless of location.

鈥淔air鈥� OINP allocation

The budget calls on Canada鈥檚 federal government to work with Ontario to ensure the OINP鈥檚 annual allocation through Canada鈥檚 is 鈥渇air.鈥�

The OINP receives an allocation each year from Canada鈥檚 federal government that allows it to nominate a set number of economic immigration candidates for permanent residence in the province.

The OINP鈥檚 2019 allocation is 6,900, which fell short of Ontario鈥檚 request for an allocation of 7,600 nominations.

The allocation represents a small part of annual immigration to Ontario, which totalled 137,410 newcomers in 2018.

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