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OINP: Expression of Interest - Masters Graduate Stream

OINP: Expression of Interest – Masters Graduate Stream

Learn how to apply for a nomination for permanent residence in Ontario if you have a masters degree from an Ontario university.

On this page

    1. Overview
    2. Stream requirements
    3. Scoring factors
    4. If you are ready to apply
    5. Eligible Ontario universities offering masters programs

Overview

The Masters Graduate stream gives international graduates with an Ontario masters degree the opportunity to apply to permanently live and work in Ontario.

You must first register in the OINP’s Expression of Interest System and receive an invitation to apply before you can apply online to be nominated by the Ontario government for permanent residence.

If you are nominated, your next step is to apply to the federal government through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). They make the final decision on who becomes a permanent resident.

Stream requirements

After you receive an invitation to apply, you may apply to the Masters Graduate stream. You must meet all the requirements in the categories below in order for your application to be approved. You don’t need a job offer to apply.

Please refer to section 8 of Ontario Regulation 422/17 for more details on each requirement.

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

To qualify, you must have completed the requirements necessary to get a masters degree.

This means:

  • at least one academic year of full-time study (that is at least 15 hours of instruction per week over the academic year including any period of training in the workplace as part of your studies. Part-time studies may qualify, if the program is equivalent to at least one full-time academic year)
  • the degree is from an eligible university in Ontario (see the the list of eligible Ontario universities below)

You don’t qualify if you are enrolled as a student when you are applying, unless:

  • it is for the purpose of meeting the requirements to be licensed in a regulated occupation in Ontario
  • you are also working full-time 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. Language

You must be able to understand, read, write and speak in English or French at a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 or higher.

To prove that you have the mandatory language skills, you must take an approved English or French language test before you submit your application to this stream.

The test must not have been taken more than two years from the time you submit your application, not from the time you received the invitation to apply.

For English tests, we accept:

  • International English Language Testing (IELTS) (General Training test only)
  • Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) (General test only)

For French tests, we accept:

  • Test d’évaluation de français pour le Canada (TEF)
  • Test de connaissance du français pour le Canada (TCF)

Learn more about the English and French language tests.

4. 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.

5. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. annual earnings from ongoing employment in Ontario
  3. a job offer in Ontario

Learn more about the amount of money you must have available in order to apply (see How much money you’ll need).

Example: you have checked how much money you must have available and, based on your family size, you must have $29,000 (CAD). You have a job offer in Ontario with an annual wage of $25,000 and you have a balance of $5,000 in your savings account for a total of $30,000. By using a combination of your job offer and bank statement, you would meet the settlements fund requirement.

If you provide bank statements that include a one-time large deposit, we may ask you to provide additional documentation to support that your funds are free of debt or liability.

6. 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

7. Residency at time of application

At the time you apply, you must be either:

  • living in Ontario with legal status (study permit, work permit, visitor record)
  • living outside Canada

You don’t qualify if you’re living in a province or territory in Canada other than Ontario at the time you apply.

8. 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.

9. Application period

You must submit your application within two years of completing the requirements necessary to obtain your masters 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, 2021, you must have registered an EOI, received an Invitation to Apply, and submitted your application on or before June 1, 2023.

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.

Important: you must have completed your masters degree before you submit your application.

Scoring factors

Once you register an expression of interest under this stream you will be assigned points based on the following factors.

If you are invited to apply, you will be required to submit specific documents to support each scoring factor for which you received points. Scoring factors are not the same as stream criteria. You must meet all criteria for this stream and provide the mandatory documents with your application. Refer to the document checklist for the Masters Graduate stream.

If you are ready to apply

Before you can apply to this stream you must register an expression of interest and receive an invitation to apply.

Eligible Ontario universities offering masters programs

To qualify for the Masters Graduate stream, your masters degree must be from one of the universities listed below:

  • Algoma University
  • Brock University
  • Carleton University
  • Lakehead University
  • Laurentian University
  • McMaster University
  • Nipissing University
  • Ontario College of Art & Design University
  • Queen’s University
  • Royal Military College of Canada
  • Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University)
  • Trent University
  • University of Guelph
  • University of Ontario Institute of Technology
  • University of Ottawa
  • University of Toronto
  • University of Waterloo
  • University of Windsor
  • Western University
  • Wilfrid Laurier University
  • York University