Opportunities Ontario: Who can apply

To be eligible for Opportunities Ontario, a company must meet all of the following employer criteria and position criteria, and also meet guidelines that determine how many positions an employer may request.

Opportunities Ontario: Provincial Nominee Program is designed in part to assist employers who are having difficulty recruiting qualified, skilled workers in Ontario. Applications from employers who are seeking positions for foreign workers residing abroad, or foreign workers who are visiting Canada, will receive priority processing if those employers have tried to recruit Canadian citizens or permanent residents located in Ontario for those positions before applying to the program.

Employer criteria

Companies applying to Opportunities Ontario must:

• Have been in active business for at least 3 years (corporations, limited partnerships and sole proprietorships).
• Have a minimum of $1,000,000 in gross revenue for the most recent fiscal year (for companies inside the Greater Toronto Area), or have a minimum of $500,000 in gross revenue (companies outside the GTA).
• Have a minimum of 5 permanent full-time employees (for companies inside the Greater Toronto Area), or have a minimum of 3 permanent full-time employees (companies outside the GTA).
• Have business premises in Ontario where the prospective nominee will work.

Position criteria

Positions being considered for approval by Opportunities Ontario must:

• Be permanent, full-time positions.
• Be in a skilled occupation (NOC 0, A or B).
• Meet prevailing wage levels (for foreign workers) or entry-level wage levels (for international students). Information about wages for a variety of professions can be found on the Service Canada Labour Market Information website.
• Not affect the settlement of any labour dispute or affect the employment of a person involved in such a dispute, or adversely affect employment or training opportunities for Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Ontario.
• Be necessary for the company’s operations.

Requesting more than one position

Employers can request multiple positions. They can request one position for every 5 full time employees employed, if inside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), or one position for every 3 full time employees, if outside the GTA.

Inside or outside the GTA, the maximum number of positions which can be requested is 20 positions. Requests for more than 20 positions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. There are two exceptions: Employers in the Health and Education sectors can request as many positions as they require, due to the special needs of these sectors.

The following chart shows the number of positions a company may apply for depending on its location and size.

Important: Recruiting International Students in the International Student With Job Offer Stream within the International Student Category

Employers who want to recruit an international student for a position must indicate this on the pre-screen application form.

There are four key differences between foreign workers and international students that employers can recruit. Specifically:

• The job offer for international students must meet the entry level wage for the occupation, rather than the prevailing wage required for foreign workers.
• The work experience prerequisite is not required for international students, unlike foreign workers who must have two years of relevant work experience.
• Students need to graduate with an eligible degree or diploma from a publicly funded Canadian college of university.
• The fee for international students and non-GTA foreign worker applications is $1,500. The fee for GTA foreign worker applicants is $2,000. For employees of investors, the fee is $3,500.

Learn more: How to apply.