Ontario says more Express Entry-linked draws with CRS under 400 ‘possible’

The Ontario provincial government has said that there is a possibility the province will consider applicants with CRS scores of less than 400 under the Human Capital Priorities Stream. The stream has always had a minimum threshold of at least 400 points. This stream allows the Ontario Immigrant Nominee programme to search for eligible candidates from the federal express entry pool.

Recently, OINP revised the stream’s application guide to allow the director to stipulate the minimum scores rather than sticking to 400. This led to three invitation rounds where the province selected candidates with a minimum as low as 350 points ever since the August 9 draw.

That draw targeted Express Entry candidates with a job offer in Ontario for which the CRS minimum was dropped to 351. A second Human Capital Priorities draw on March 28 also saw the CRS minimum reduced to 351 for Express Entry candidates with French language abilities of CLB 7 or higher.

But neither of these two (a job offeror French language proficiency) are mandatory under the Human Capital Priorities Stream’s criteria.

Ontario has used the Human Capital Priorities Stream to target Express Entry candidates with specified work experience, in the information and communication technology sector.

OINP says the possibility of minimum score continuing to drop below 400 will depend on a number of factors, including the number of eligible candidates in the Express Entry pool and Ontario’s labour market needs and priorities.

The Ontario Immigration Act grants the OINP’s director the discretion to set the minimum CRS score based on the following factors:

1. Ontario’s annual OINP nomination allocation, as determined by the federal government;

 

2. The federal government’s minimum CRS score, which establishes federal government Express Entry selection parameters;

 

3. Ontario’s current labour market needs; and

 

4. Other Ontario economic immigration related priorities.

In order to be visible to the OINP when it is searching the Express Entry pool, candidates must indicate their interest in immigrating to either Ontario or ‘All provinces and territories’ when creating their Express Entry profile.

Doing so will allow OINP staff to identify candidates in the federal Express Entry system who have an interest in immigrating to Ontario.