Canadian Immigration

Improving Foreign Worker Protections at the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program

On May 28th, 2025 the Honourable David Piccini, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development of Ontario tabled Bill C-30, the Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025 with the goals of protecting Ontario workers and the provincial economy. If passed in its proposed form, the Act has the potential to significantly alter several key aspects of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) creating implications for both applicants, and employers supporting workers under this program.

As permanent resident spots become more and more difficult to secure due to increased competition, the OINP has grown in popularity over the past few years, receiving a total of 21,500 allocated nominations in 2024. To keep up with its increased popularity, the OINP has released technological solutions to achieve quick processing times, introduced an expression of interest system to tailor program applicants to labour market gaps, and expanded their investigatory authority through the Ontario Immigration Act in order to identify fraudulent applications and improve protections for foreign workers.

While any policy changes designed to protect foreign workers are welcomed, especially in light of unscrupulous employers or immigration representatives who may require consideration for extending job offers, it is important to review the practical implications of these proposed changes on bona fide candidates hoping to apply under the various OINP streams. The key provisions of Bill C-30 which have the potential to impact OINP applicants and employers are as follows:

1. Enabling the Lieutenant Governor in Council to respond to labour market needs by giving the Minister the ability to establish or remove immigrant nomination streams.

While new nomination streams could expand immigration opportunities for certain program applicants, draws under the OINP’s current Express Entry and the employer job offer expression of interest system already allows the government to target specific occupations and candidate profiles. If existing program streams are removed, especially without advance notice, applicants may be left without any options to transition to permanent residency, thereby complicating employers’ long-term workforce planning abilities.

2. Making the OINP more responsive by allowing the government to return applications that no longer match current job market needs or raise concerns – so we can focus on processing the strongest candidates more efficiently.

Introducing an ability for the OINP to return submitted and complete applications based on labour market priorities also reduces predictability in workforce planning and is unprecedented in an expression of interest system. In OINP’s current system, candidates are invited based in part, on their occupation. If the OINP is permitted to return complete applications, neither applicants nor their supporting employers will be sure that even a complete application will be processed until a decision is rendered, which can take over 6 months based on recent processing times. Rather than addressing labour market gaps, this may place employers relying on the OINP to meet their workforce needs behind the finish line and force them toward other immigration program streams. It may also have implications on applicants who are expecting to receive a work permit support letter when their nomination certificate is issued to facilitate a work permit extension. This calls into question whether principles of fairness are being met, where the longer the OINP takes to process an application, the higher the risk that an applicant’s file could be returned under this power.

3. Allowing Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) employer applicants to submit their applications directly and electronically to the new OINP employer portal that will launch in Summer 2025.

When their current intake system was launched in 2021, the OINP’s technology platform was considered amongst the front runners. Their intake system is transparent, with the disclosure of past data allowing applicants to predict the likelihood of receiving an invitation under the system. The launch of a new employer portal indicates that the current intake system may be changing, signaling a reversion to a previous intake system whereby an employer was first approved for participation in the program, and then an employee’s eligibility was assessed. While enabling employees to interact one-on-one with the OINP reduces instances of fraud and applications where employees do not actually have employer support, re-introducing a two-step approval system creates the potential for delays in a system which is already backlogged.

4. Granting inspectors the authority to require in-person interviews with applicants through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, to improve program integrity and prevent fraudulent claims.

Proposed as an amendment to the already broad-sweeping inspection powers afforded to Officers under the Ontario Immigration Act, this amendment provides the authority to compel applicants to attend in person interviews in order to investigate fraud or program abuses. While the majority of investigations conducted under the OINP are desk-based where officers request written explanation and documentary evidence, this expanded power would allow Program Integrity Officers to require applicants present in person to answer questions and provide information about concerns regarding their applications. While tempered by the requirement that an officer make only “reasonable inquiries of any person … with respect to anything relevant to the inspection,” the checks and balances on any reasonableness standard are complex, and rife with the potential for overreach.

How should I prepare for these changes?

On May 28, the Act passed the first reading in the Ontario Legislature and was ordered for the second reading. If passed in its current form, Bill C-30 will have significant implications for both OINP applicants as well as Ontario-based employers who rely on a foreign workforce to meet their labour needs. If you are an employer seeking more consistency with workforce planning, or an OINP applicant with questions about eligibility under the OINP or any immigration program, please contact us for more information.