Ontario Holds Express Entry Draw to Invite French-Speaking Candidates

Ontario is one of the most immigrant-friendly provinces in Canada. The province has been issuing invitations to skilled candidates regularly in 2021 after the immigration numbers dipped in 2020. On May 4, Ontario issued 102 invitations to candidates in the Express Entry pool.

They are now free to submit their application for a provincial nomination. Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) let Canadian provinces choose immigration candidates with the ideal skill-set for their regional labor markets.

Details of the draw

Ontario focused on choosing bilingual candidates exclusively. This is because the selected candidates could fulfill the eligibility requirements of the French-Speaking Skilled Worker (FSSW) stream and immigrate through the Express Entry system successfully.

All the chosen candidates in Ontario draw already had an existing profile and were a part of the Express Entry pool. In order to receive an invitation, candidates were required to have a Comprehensive Ranking System score in the range of 458 and 467. They must have also registered their Express Entry profile between May 4, 2020 and May 4, 2021, to be eligible for a Notification of Interest. The selected candidates will have 45 days to submit their application for a provincial nomination.

The French-Speaking Skilled Worker (FSSW) works alongside the Express Entry system as a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) stream. The May 4 draw was the third FSSW draw of 2021. Ontario has issued 374 Notifications of Interest (NOIs) via this stream so far this year.