The OINP Masters Graduate stream in Ontario gives international students who have graduated with a master’s degree from an eligible Ontario university the opportunity to immigrate permanently to Ontario without needing a job offer.
Candidates who meet the programme’s education, language and other requirements may receive a provincial nomination from the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Programme (OINP) and can then apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for Canadian permanent residence.
Eligible graduates do not need a job offer in order to apply.
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OINP Masters Graduate stream requirements
To be eligible for the OINP Masters Graduate stream, an individual must:
- Have completed the requirements for a master’s degree:
- Have graduated from an existing master’s programme at an eligible Ontario university;
- The programme must be at least one year in length and must have been completed on a full-time basis.
- Apply within two years of completing the requirements for the master’s degree;
- Be residing in Ontario with legal status (for example a study permit, work permit or visitor record), or residing outside Canada;
- The OINP accepts applications from prospective candidates who are onmaintained statusat the time of application.
- Demonstrate a high level of proficiency in English or French, atCanadian Language Benchmark (CLB)7 or above in all four skills (speaking, reading, writing and listening);
- Candidates must sit an approved English or French language test with one of the following approved bodies:
- IELTS General TrainingorCELPIP General
- TEForTCF
- Candidates must achieve the following minimum score for each language skill:
- Candidates must sit an approved English or French language test with one of the following approved bodies:
| Skill | IELTS | CELPIP | TEF | TCF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nghe | 6 | 7 | 249-279 | 458-502 |
| Reading | 6 | 7 | 207-232 | 453-498 |
| Writing | 6 | 7 | 310-348 | 10-11 |
| Speaking | 6 | 7 | 310-348 | 10-11 |
- Have sufficient funds and/or income to cover settlement costs for themselves and their dependent family members (whether or not those family members are accompanying them). Prospective candidates can determine thesettlement funds requiredaccording to family size. These amounts are updated annually by the federal government.
- Dependent family members include: a spouse or common-law partner, children under the age of 22 and their children.
- Demonstrate residence in Ontario for at least 12 of the 24 months before the date of application;
- Intend to live and work in Ontario on a permanent basis; and
- Not intend to continue studying in Ontario.
Settlement funds
Prospective candidates for the OINP Masters Graduate stream must demonstrate that they have sufficient funds to establish themselves economically in Canada.
Candidates can meet this requirement through one or a combination of the following:
- Funds shown by bank statements, or account statements showing other investments, such as fixed deposits and mutual funds, that can readily be converted into cash;
- Annual income from ongoing employment in Ontario; and/or
- A job offer in Ontario.
If a candidate uses employment or a job offer in Ontario to meet the settlement funds requirement, they must include an employment contract or job offer letter setting out the position, hours of work and salary. If already working in Ontario, the candidate must provide their two most recent pay slips as financial evidence.
Ties to Ontario
Prospective candidates can demonstrate their ties to Ontario through:
- Current and/or previous employment in Ontario
- Job offers, or jobs applied or interviewed for, in Ontario
- Studies in Ontario
- Volunteer work in Ontario
- A tenancy agreement in Ontario or property ownership
- Professional networks and relationships
- Family relationships
- Social or personal relationships
- Previous visits to Ontario
Application deadline
The candidate’s degree must have been issued within the two years before the date of application to the OINP. For example, if the degree was issued on 1 June 2017, an eligible graduate must apply before 1 June 2019. If the degree has not yet been issued, the OINP will accept the date given in an official letter from the university stating when the degree will be issued.
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The application process
Before applying
Before applying, the OINP recommends that prospective candidates review the eligibility criteria and the document list, and make sure the application is complete. All documents uploaded to Ontario’s electronic application portal must be clear and legible.
The OINP may request further supporting documents while processing a Masters Graduate stream application.
Applying
Applying to the Masters Graduate stream online through the OINP’s electronic application portal can take around two hours to complete. Prospective candidates do not, however, have to complete the application in one sitting, but they must submit it within 14 calendar days, failing which the registration expires and is cancelled.
The OINP recommends that candidates complete the application before submitting payment. Once the application has been submitted to the OINP, the candidate will not be able to change any of its contents.
Candidates are responsible for translating and notarising any supporting document that is not in English or French. It is the candidate’s responsibility to find a translator certified by the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO) and/or to notarise documents translated by a translator who is not ATIO-certified.
If a candidate in Ontario is unable to find an ATIO-certified translator, the translation must be notarised. A letter explaining the reasons and the efforts made to find a certified translator must be attached to the application.
If applying from outside Ontario, translations must be notarised. If a translation is considered inadequate, the OINP may require the candidate to obtain one from an ATIO-certified translator. Translations produced by the candidate, their representative, or anyone with a personal relationship to the candidate will not be accepted, even where those individuals are themselves certified translators.
After applying
If the OINP considers an application incomplete, individuals wishing to apply to the OINP Masters Graduate stream will have to submit a new application. An application may be considered incomplete if inaccurate supporting documents are provided, or if documents requiring translation are not certified or notarised.
Candidates who believe that an OINP decision contains an error may request an internal review of the application within 30 calendar days of receiving notice of the decision (if resident in Canada), or within 60 calendar days if resident abroad. The request must not include any evidence that was not submitted to the programme before the decision was made, unless that evidence was not reasonably available at the time of application. The OINP’s internal review decision is final.
If the application is successful, the candidate will be issued a Nomination Letter (Nomination Approval Letter) and a Nomination Certificate (OINP Nomination Certificate).
Nomination
Successful nominees must apply to IRCC for permanent residence within six (6) months of being nominated by the OINP. Candidates must include copies of both documents (the Nomination Letter and the OINP Nomination Certificate) with their permanent residence application to IRCC.
The OINP states that a nomination does not guarantee approval of a Canadian permanent residence application with IRCC. The OINP requires nominees to continue to demonstrate, on reasonable grounds, their intention to reside in Ontario.
Although nominations are valid for six months, a nominee may request an extension of the Nomination Certificate if the certificate is no longer valid and:
IRCC has returned the permanent residence application as incomplete, requiring a new application to be submitted; or
The nominee has experienced delays in obtaining supporting documents for the permanent residence application (for example, police clearance certificates) and has not yet applied to IRCC.
Who is not eligible to apply to the Masters Graduate stream?
The following individuals are not eligible to apply under the Ontario Masters Graduate stream:
- Individuals who have not completed a master’s degree. The OINP will not accept applications from international students in the final term of their programme of study. Candidates must have met the degree requirements at the time of application.
- Individuals currently undertaking further study, unless it is to meet licensing requirements in a regulated occupation in Ontario, or unless the individual is working full time in Ontario.
- Individuals who completed their master’s degree more than 2 years ago.
- Individuals who have received a grant, scholarship or funding that requires them to return to their home country or another jurisdiction (another Canadian province or territory, or another country) after completing their programme of study (where those obligations have not yet been fulfilled).
- Individuals currently living in Canada but outside Ontario.
- Individuals currently living in Canada without legal status.
The OINP has a separate immigration stream for international students holding a PhD degree from an eligible Ontario university. Read about theOntario PhD Graduate stream.
Eligible Ontario universities
To be eligible for the OINP Masters Graduate stream, the master’s degree must have been completed at one of the following universities:
- Algoma University
- Brescia University College (Affiliated with Western University)
- Brock University
- Carleton University
- Dominican University College
- Huron University College (Affiliated with Western University)
- King’s University College at Western University
- Lakehead University
- Laurentian University
- McMaster University
- Nipissing University
- OCAD University (Ontario College of Art & Design University)
- Queen’s University
- Royal Military College of Canada
- Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University)
- Saint Paul University (Federated with University of Ottawa)
- St. Jerome’s University (Federated with University of Waterloo)
- Trent University
- University of Guelph
- Ontario Tech University (formerly University of Ontario Institute of Technology)
- University of Ottawa
- University of St. Michael’s College (Federated with University of Toronto)
- University of Toronto
- University of Trinity College (Federated with University of Toronto)
- University of Waterloo
- University of Windsor
- Victoria University (Federated with University of Toronto)
- Western University
- Wilfrid Laurier University
- York University
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