On November 4, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) formally closed its entrepreneur immigration stream following a pause in application intake since December of 2023.
In addition, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BCPNP) held candidate selections for entrepreneurs and skilled workers looking to immigrate to the province, on November 5 and 6 respectively.
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Provincial immigration updates November 1 – 8
Ontario
The OINP has announced the closure of its Entrepreneur stream.
The provincial government announced that they are currently in the processing of implementing amendments to “wind-down and close” the stream.
Applications already submitted to the Entrepreneur stream will continue in accordance with updated regulations. Under these updates, current candidates with applications in the stream may still be eligible for a provincial nomination for permanent residence (PR), based on commitments they have made to establish their businesses in Ontario.
The OINP will contact all current applicants within the Entrepreneur stream (and their authorized representatives) in the coming days with more information about the next steps that they can pursue regarding the processing of their applications.
To learn more about the OINP visit our dedicated webpage here.
More information about Entrepreneur pathways to settle in Canada can also be found here.
British Columbia
The BCPNP held two draws on November 5 and 6.
On November 5 the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) held two selections under its Base and Regional Entrepreneur streams. These selections issued at least 11 invitations to apply (ITAs) cumulatively, with different cut-off scores for each stream:
| Stream | Cut-off score | ITAs issued |
|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneur Base Stream | 115 | 10 |
| Entrepreneur Regional Stream | 130 | <5 |
On November 6 the BCPNP held another draw through the Skilled Worker, International Graduate stream. This draw also considered candidates in the stream who also had valid profiles in Canada’s federal Express Entry pool (identified in this draw as the Express Entry British Columbia (EEBC) option). Candidates in the Express Entry pool can be nominated by a province through a process called enhanced provincial nomination.
Candidates were invited based on their professional experience in priority occupations in British Columbia—with different cut-off scores and invitations issued depending on the industries and professions targeted:
| Stream | Professions targeted | Cut-off score | ITAs issued |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled Worker, International Graduate | Childcare | 96 | 7 |
| Construction | 97 | 5 | |
| Healthcare | 111 | 8 | |
| Tech | 128 | 31 |
To learn more about the BCPNP, visit our dedicated webpage here.
More information on priority occupations in British Columbia can be found here.
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