The Ontario French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream (FSSWS) is for French-Speaking skilled workers who have strong English language abilities and who want to live and work permanently in Ontario. This stream enables the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) to nominate individuals who have qualified for Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC’s) Express Entry pool and who have the required education, skilled work experience, language ability, and other characteristics to help them successfully establish and integrate into Ontario’s labour market and communities.
Ontario is committed to increasing francophone immigration to 5% of overall immigration to the province. This stream is intended to support immigration by French-speaking candidates who also have sufficient English-language ability to succeed in Ontario’s labour market.
Steps in the Application Process:
Those interested in the OHCPS must first register in the CIC’s express entry stream where they will receive an Express Entry Profile Number and a Job Seeker Validation Code (both of which will be needed to complete your OHCPS nomination form).
Ontario Immigration Nomination Program (OINP) searches the Express Entry pool and identifies potential candidates who meet the FSSWS criteria (see Criteria to Apply section below). If OINP identifies you in the Express Entry pool, you will receive a PT Notification of Interest from Ontario through your MyCIC account. This notification will invite you to apply to OINP for nomination under the French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream.
If you receive a PT Notification of Interest from Ontario through your MyCIC account, you have 45 days to apply to OINP under the French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream. OINP will assess your nomination according to the French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream eligibility criteria.
If your application is approved by Ontario, you will receive a letter from OINP through your MyCIC account notifying you of your nomination. You have 30 days to accept the nomination from Ontario in the Express Entry system. Nomination from Ontario will give you an additional 600 CRS points and you will receive an invitation to apply for permanent residency from CIC. Once you receive an invitation to apply from CIC, you have 60 days to apply to CIC for permanent residency.
Criteria to Apply:
Work Experience:
- If you are being assessed against the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) you must have a minimum of one year continuous full-time employment (Or the continuous part time equivalent of one year full time employment ) in the last five years from the date of notification of interest from OINP. The job must have been one with a National Occupation Classification (NOC) of 0, A, or B. The FSWP allows the employment to be inside or outside Canada.
- If you are being assessed under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) a candidate must have a minimum of one year of cumulative and full-time employment (1,560 hours or more) or an equal amount in part-time paid work experience in a NOC 0, A, or B occupation in Canada in the past three years from the date of the PT Notification of Interest from Ontario.
Education:
Applicants to either stream must have a Canadian Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph. D degree or an Education Credential Assessment (ECA), done no further than five years prior to the application date, indicating your foreign education is equivalent to a Canadian Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Ph. D degree. The CIC will only accept an ECA from Comparative Education Services at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies, International Credential Assessment Services of Canada, World Education Services, Medical Council of Canada or Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada.
Language:
You must demonstrate official language proficiency equivalent to the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 or above for each language competency (i.e., listening, reading, writing, and speaking) in French and CLB 6 in English. Please provide copies of language test results from either IELTS (General Training Test only), CELPIP (General Test only), or TEF.
You will be required to have the following minimum scores in each of the language competencies:
Listening: IELTS 5.5 or CELPIP 6 AND TEF 249-279
Reading: IELTS 5.0 or CELPIP 6 AND TEF 207-232
Writing: IELTS 5.5 or CELPIP 6 AND TEF 310-348
Speaking: IELTS 5.5 or CELPIP 6 AND TEF 310-348
Settlement Funds:
Applicants must possess sufficient, unencumbered, funds to cover settlement costs in Ontario. The minimum amount of funds required is based on the number of family members in an applicant’s household and are in accordance with the Low Income Cut-Off (LICO). To ensure transparency, an applicant should make sure they provide documentation on any bank accounts in, or outside of, Canada.
Intention to Reside in Ontario:
Applicants to either stream must intend to reside in Ontario, as demonstrated by a statement of intent and indication of ties to Ontario. An applicant can demonstrate their ties through, for example, employment, an employment offer, volunteer experience, a lease, or family ties.
