OINP PhD Graduate Stream

Ontario PhD Graduate is one of the Human Capital streams of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) operated by the province of Ontario. PhD Graduate targets recent graduates with doctoral degrees obtained at an Ontario institution and who have the intention of living and working in Ontario.

Eligibility

1. Expression of interest and invitation to apply

• You must have received an invitation to apply and applied within the deadline identified.
• You must demonstrate that you had the qualifications that you claimed you had in the expression of interest that you registered with the OINP and attested to.

2. Education

You must have completed the requirements necessary to obtain a PhD degree. The degree must be from an eligible university in Ontario (see the list of eligible Ontario universities offering PhD degrees below).

At least two years of your PhD studies must have been completed while legally living and studying in Ontario.

You don’t qualify if you have received a bursary, grant or scholarship that requires you return to your home country after you earn your PhD degree. You may only apply after you have fulfilled those commitments and can demonstrate an intention to live in Ontario.

You don’t qualify if you have received a bursary, grant or scholarship that requires you return to your home country after you earn your masters degree. You may only apply after you have fulfilled those commitments and can demonstrate an intention to live in Ontario.

3. Residency in Ontario

You must have legally lived in Ontario for at least one year in the past two years before you apply.

Note that your one year of residency can be cumulative. This means that there can be gaps provided that all the periods of residency in Ontario add up to 12 months within the past two years before you apply.

4. Settlement funds

You must have enough money to support yourself and your dependent family members when you settle in Canada.

Note that a family member includes your spouse, common law partner and children under the age of 22, including their children.

You can meet this requirement through one or a combination of any of the following:

• funds as demonstrated by the balance listed in bank statements, or statements of accounts showing other investments such as non-locked in, fixed term deposits, mutual funds, etc.
• annual earnings from ongoing employment in Ontario
• a job offer in Ontario

5. Intention to live in Ontario

You must intend to live in Ontario after you’ve been granted permanent residence. We determine this by examining your ties to Ontario, which can include doing things like:

• working or having worked in Ontario
• getting job offers or applying/interviewing for jobs
• studying
• volunteering
• leasing or owning property
• visiting
• having professional networks and affiliations, family ties and personal relationships

6. Legal status in Canada (if applicable)

If you are applying from within Canada, you must have legal status (a visitor record, study permit, or work permit) at the time you apply and should maintain that status until the time of nomination.

You may apply if you are in ‘implied status’ at the time of your OINP application submission. ‘Implied status’ means that you submitted an application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to renew/extend your temporary status document (a visitor record, work permit, study permit) before its expiry date. You can remain in Canada and continue to work or study under the same conditions as your existing permit until a decision is made on your pending IRCC application.

7. Application period

• You must submit your application within two years of completing the requirements necessary to obtain your PhD degree.
• This means that the date on your degree must be within two years of your OINP application submission date, not the date you received the invitation to apply. For example, if your degree is dated June 1, 2019, you must apply to this stream before June 1, 2021.
• If you don’t have your degree yet, use the date on the official letter from your university which states when your degree will be granted.

The advantages of OINP PhD Graduate Stream:

• There is no job offer requirement
• There is no language requirement

Recent graduates with doctoral degrees obtained at an Ontario institution and who have the intention of living and working in Ontario can apply for this program.

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and How it works

The Federal Government of Canada has entered into bilateral agreements with provinces and territories (except Quebec and Nunavut) to allow the provinces and territories to nominate individuals for permanent residence based on the provinces' assessment of the nominees' ability to contribute to the economic growth and development of those provinces.

Each province and territory has its own “streams” (immigration programs that target certain groups) and requirements, selecting applicants that

• have the skills, education and work experience to contribute to the economy of a specific province or territory
• want to live in that province, and
• want to become permanent residents of Canada

To obtain permanent residence via Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), you must go through two steps:

1. You must decide where you want to live in Canada and apply to that province or territory for a stream that you're eligible for. SuperVisas can help you with it in this application.
2. After a province or territory nominates you, you must apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence. The IRCC, a federal agency, will assess your application based on Canadian immigration law. If you have already obtained your nomination from a province or territory, please go to our program: Permanent Residence – Provincial Nominee Class.
   

Answer a few questions to find out if you'll be able to apply under Provincial Nominee Program.

Based on your answers, we will tell you what programs you may be eligible for, so be as accurate as you can.

Services provided by SuperVisas and its Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs):

• assess your qualifications for the Provincial Nominee Program.
• provide your with a checklist of information and documents required in support of your application.
• guide your through the process of obtaining required documents such as medical and security clearances.
  
• complete the application forms to ensure that they best show your qualifications.
• review your application package including application forms, supporting documents and Canadian Government processing fees.
• guide, provide editing comments with regard to your application.
• submit your complete application package to the Canadian government.
• communicate any government request to you and assist you in responding to any government request.
• communicate the result of your application from the government.