Given that the Canadian Federal Express Entry System is carrying-out draws nearly every two weeks, the Human Capital Priorities (HCP) Stream of Ontario has, reportedly, enticed the aspirants, interested in economic immigration, with as many as five invitation rounds conducted since the beginning of this year, even as these comprise three carried-out in the month of February.
For those not tuned in, the HCP Stream permits the province to comb the Express Entry Pool for candidates with a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) total of not less than 400 points, among other requirements, and send them the Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to submit an application for a provincial nomination for the prized Permanent Residency (PR) in the nation. An applicant for Express Entry, having a provincial nomination, gets 600 more points towards their CRS total.
Express Entry sends invites to several more aspirants throughout the year vis-à-vis the HCP Stream. For instance, last year, Express Entry offered over 80,000 ITAs for Permanent Residency (PR). When one contrasts this with Ontario’s total share of 6,500 nominations, out of which just a slice is employed for the HCP, he finds a big difference.
Further, during the initial two months of this year, the province in question proffered 1,808 ITAs for a provincial nomination, via the HCP. In that identical time-frame, Express Entry provided 11,500 ITAs for PR in the nation in 4 draws.
This is not to lessen the importance of the HCP Stream as it is now more dynamic, and the province has introduced many changes to the manner the stream runs, comprising how details involving draws from the Express Entry Pool are shared.
CRS Scores Needed
As per a new report on the subject, the Ontario Administration is presently announcing the range of the CRS scores among the chosen applicants, and also the date range that reveals when the applicants for Express Entry picked-up in every draw keyed in their profiles into the Pool for Express Entry.
Hitherto, the lowest CRS total picked-up via the HCP Stream was 433 in 2018 even as the lowest minimum Comprehensive Ranking System total required made public Federal Express Entry draws in 2018 has been 442, at two separate times.
Still, it is allegedly crucial to observe that not every candidate with a tally in the range, proclaimed by Ontario, gets a Notification of Interest (NOI). It’s dissimilar from the nation’s Federal Express Entry draws, where each & every person in the fray, with a total above the bare minimum CRS cut-off, gets an ITA for the much sought after PR in the country.
NOI Procedure for Ontario
After an applicant for Express Entry gets picked-up, via Ontario’s HCP, he receives an NOI. After obtaining this he may continue to submit an application to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), for the object of getting a provincial nomination.
Post a person obtains an NOI from Ontario he has 45 days to present their petition to the OINP. Candidates to the OINP shell-out a processing charge of $1,500.
After Ontario sanctions a petition, a person gets a letter from the OINP– via his online account with the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)–informing them of the nomination. After this procedure, the applicant has 30 days to agree to take the nomination from the province in the Express Entry system.
Still, not every candidate, who receives an ITA from Ontario, necessarily manages to submit an application inside the deadline.
Some applicants may even risk cooling their heels to apply post getting NOI from Ontario expecting to get an ITA from the IRCC and possibly saving some costs & fees time.
Dates for Profile Presentation
An additional difference between the Ontario HCP draws and the Canadian Federal Express Entry draws involves the dates of submission of the lawful profiles.
The profiles of the Federal Express Entry Pool are legally valid for a period of 12 months, even as the applicants are not removed from an Express Entry draw on the basis of the date their profile is presented. The date of submission comes into play only when the IRCC utilizes its tie-break regulation.
But through the Ontario HCP draws, the date of profile presentation has been more significant. Since the beginning of the present year, the invitation rounds of the OINP have thoroughly mentioned the date range when the applicants sent an invite for Express Entry duly keyed-in their profile in the Pool for Express Entry.
The said development comes in the wake of a 2017 OINP advisory that reportedly motivated the potential aspirants to the HCP Stream to make a fresh profile in the Express Entry system, allegedly, to make it simpler for the OINP to identify their profile through its search of the Express Entry Pool of the Canadian Federal Government.
Hitherto, this year, the province has mentioned January 1, 2018, as the early end of the submission date range for the profiles in each of the 5 invitation rounds of the HCP.
Even as there could be some benefits to submitting a new profile, some dangers could also be there. Two invitation rounds for the HCP in the month of February had profile submission cut-off dates that preceded the draw by some days.
Additional Ontario Express Entry Schemes
Apart from the HCP, the province also runs the French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream, and the Skilled Trades Stream under the Express Entry Programme.
