The guide below takes a deep look into one of the streams of Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Program (OINP), the Skilled Trades (ST) 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.
Ontario | Skilled Trades – Overview
The Skilled Trades (ST) stream is one of Ontario’s PNP streams that is aligned with Express Entry, which means that a candidate needs a valid Express Entry profile to be eligible to the stream.
Ontario, through this stream, chooses its future newcomers to the province under a set of specific requirements.
The OINP goes through all the candidates already in the Express Entry pool, and sends Notifications of Interest (equivalent to invitations to apply) to the ones whose profile corresponds best to their needs.
The ST stream has minimum eligibility requirements, however, Ontario does not send Notifications of Interest to every candidate that meets these minimum criteria. In fact, Ontario conducts periodic ST draws, and each draw has its own criteria (in addition to the minimum criteria), such as a minimum CRS score, etc. More information is available in the draw history section of this guide.
If nominated, a candidate will receive an additional 600 CRS points in their Express Entry profile, thus guaranteeing an Invitation to Apply.
Ontario | Skilled Trades – Eligibility
As said earlier, meeting these minimum eligibility requirements does not necessarily mean that you will receive a Notification of Interest from the OINP. These are other sets of criteria that are specific to each draw (criteria are not disclosed until after the draw happens).
There are 8 categories of eligibility requirements under the Skilled Trades (ST) stream, summarized below:
Work experience
To qualify, candidates need to have, in the last 2 years from the date of submitting the application to the OINP, minimum 1 year of cumulative, paid, full-time (or part-time equivalent) work experience in one of the following NOC codes. The work experience must have been obtained in Ontario.
There is no need to hold a valid job offer per the minimum criteria of this stream.
Minor Group 6320 - Cooks, butchers and bakers | Excluding Cooks (2 occupations)
| NOC Code | Occupation Name |
|---|---|
| 63201 | Butchers – retail and wholesale |
| 63202 | Bakers |
Major Group 72 - Technical trades and transportation officers and controllers | Excluding Sub-Major Group 726 (48 occupations)
| NOC Code | Occupation Name |
|---|---|
| 72010 | Contractors and supervisors, machining, metal forming, shaping and erecting trades and related occupations |
| 72011 | Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations |
| 72012 | Contractors and supervisors, pipefitting trades |
| 72013 | Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades |
| 72014 | Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers |
| 72020 | Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades |
| 72021 | Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews |
| 72022 | Supervisors, printing and related occupations |
| 72023 | Supervisors, railway transport operations |
| 72024 | Supervisors, motor transport and other ground transit operators |
| 72025 | Supervisors, mail and message distribution occupations |
| 72100 | Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors |
| 72101 | Tool and die makers |
| 72102 | Sheet metal workers |
| 72103 | Boilermakers |
| 72104 | Structural metal and platework fabricators and fitters |
| 72105 | Ironworkers |
| 72106 | Welders and related machine operators |
| 72200 | Electricians (except industrial and power system) |
| 72201 | Industrial electricians |
| 72202 | Power system electricians |
| 72203 | Electrical power line and cable workers |
| 72204 | Telecommunications line and cable installers and repairers |
| 72205 | Telecommunications equipment installation and cable television service technicians |
| 72300 | Plumbers |
| 72301 | Steamfitters, pipefitters and sprinkler system installers |
| 72302 | Gas fitters |
| 72310 | Carpenters |
| 72311 | Cabinetmakers |
| 72320 | Bricklayers |
| 72321 | Insulators |
| 72400 | Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics |
| 72401 | Heavy-duty equipment mechanics |
| 72402 | Heating, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics |
| 72403 | Railway carmen/women |
| 72404 | Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors |
| 72405 | Machine fitters |
| 72406 | Elevator constructors and mechanics |
| 72410 | Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers |
| 72411 | Auto body collision, refinishing and glass technicians and damage repair estimators |
| 72420 | Oil and solid fuel heating mechanics |
| 72421 | Appliance servicers and repairers |
| 72422 | Electrical mechanics |
| 72423 | Motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle and other related mechanics |
| 72429 | Other small engine and small equipment repairers |
| 72500 | Crane operators |
| 72501 | Water well drillers |
| 72999 | Other technical trades and related occupations |
Major Group 73 - General trades (18 occupations)
| NOC Code | Occupation Name |
|---|---|
| 73100 | Concrete finishers |
| 73101 | Tilesetters |
| 73102 | Plasterers, drywall installers and finishers and lathers |
| 73110 | Roofers and shinglers |
| 73111 | Glaziers |
| 73112 | Painters and decorators (except interior decorators) |
| 73113 | Floor covering installers |
| 73200 | Residential and commercial installers and servicers |
| 73201 | General building maintenance workers and building superintendents |
| 73202 | Pest controllers and fumigators |
| 73209 | Other repairers and servicers |
| 73300 | Transport truck drivers |
| 73301 | Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators |
| 73310 | Railway and yard locomotive engineers |
| 73311 | Railway conductors and brakemen/women |
| 73400 | Heavy equipment operators |
| 73401 | Printing press operators |
| 73402 | Drillers and blasters – surface mining, quarrying and construction |
Major Group 82 - Supervisors in natural resources, agriculture and related production (5 occupations)
| NOC Code | Occupation Name |
|---|---|
| 82020 | Supervisors, mining and quarrying |
| 82021 | Contractors and supervisors, oil and gas drilling and services |
| 82030 | Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors |
| 82031 | Contractors and supervisors, landscaping, grounds maintenance and horticulture services |
Major Group 83 - Occupations in natural resources and related production (5 occupations)
| NOC Code | Occupation Name |
|---|---|
| 83100 | Underground production and development miners |
| 83101 | Oil and gas well drillers, servicers, testers and related workers |
| 83110 | Logging machinery operators |
| 83120 | Fishing masters and officers |
| 83121 | Fishermen/women |
Major Group 92 - Processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers (13 occupations)
| NOC Code | Occupation Name |
|---|---|
| 92010 | Supervisors, mineral and metal processing |
| 92011 | Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities |
| 92012 | Supervisors, food and beverage processing |
| 92013 | Supervisors, plastic and rubber products manufacturing |
| 92014 | Supervisors, forest products processing |
| 92015 | Supervisors, textile, fabric, fur and leather products processing and manufacturing |
| 92020 | Supervisors, motor vehicle assembling |
| 92021 | Supervisors, electronics and electrical products manufacturing |
| 92022 | Supervisors, furniture and fixtures manufacturing |
| 92023 | Supervisors, other mechanical and metal products manufacturing |
| 92024 | Supervisors, other products manufacturing and assembly |
| 92100 | Power engineers and power systems operators |
| 92101 | Water and waste treatment plant operators |
Major Group 93 - Central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors, excluding Sub-Major Group 932 (3 occupations)
| NOC Code | Occupation Name |
|---|---|
| 93100 | Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing |
| 93101 | Central control and process operators, petroleum, gas and chemical processing |
| 93102 | Pulping, papermaking and coating control operators |
Valid certificate or licence
If your work experience in Ontario is in a regulated trade, you need to hold a valid certificate or licence delivered by the appropriate authorities. Even if you are no longer working in the trade, you still need to have the certificate or licence at the time of application.
Residence in Ontario
This stream requires that you live in Ontario and hold a valid Work Permit.
Language
You need to score at least CLB5 in either French or English to qualify. You can learn more about the Canadian Language Benchmarks and the authorized language tests in this section.
Settlement funds
You need to 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.
However, the requirements are a little different from Express Entry. There are two main cases of discrepancies:
- If you qualify under the federal Canadian Experience Class (Express Entry), you do not need to provide proof of funds under Express Entry. However, you will have to under the ST stream.
- If you are allowed to work in Ontario and have a job offer, you do not need to provide proof of funds under Express Entry. However, under the ST 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 28,000$, and your required settlement funds are 32,000$, then you need to only provide proof of owning 4,000$ (the difference between 32,000$ and 28,000$) of liquid funds.
Intent to settle 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 will 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.
Legal status in Canada
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.
Federal Program Eligibility
You need to qualify to the following federal program to be eligible to the ST stream:
- Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
To understand the eligibility criteria of this federal program, click here on CEC.
This point is easily settled as you cannot enter the Express Entry pool (and receive a Notification of Interest under the ST stream) without first being eligible to the federal program.
Ontario | Skilled Trades – Application Process
For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the Skilled Trades (ST) stream. Candidates must:
- Meet the eligibility requirements of the federal CEC program.
- Generate their Express Entry profile, and specify their interest in the province by selecting “Ontario” or “All Provinces and Territories”.
- Qualify for the minimum ST stream eligibility requirements.
- Obtain a Notification of Interest directly in their Express Entry profile.
- Apply to the ST stream within 45 days of receiving the Notification of Interest, by submitting their application through the OINP e-Filing Portal (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Accept the Ontario provincial nomination (after the OINP processes their application) within 30 days of receiving it on their Express Entry profile.
- Obtain an additional 600 CRS points in the Express Entry profile, and receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
- Apply for permanent residence through your Express Entry profile.
You can check out our 10-step guide for Express Entry for more detailed information and advice.
Ontario | Skilled Trades – Application Fees
The fee for the Skilled Trades stream is quite expensive, the most expensive in all other Provincial Nominee Programs. It is set at 1,500 CAD. 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.
