Ontario shuts down the applications to Masters Graduate PNP

The Canadian province of Ontario opened applications to prospective candidates with a master’s degree on September 29. The OINP began accepting applications from postgraduate degree holders who have plans to settle down in Ontario.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) gave hopeful candidates the opportunity to apply under the Master’s Graduate stream. This stream caters to international students who completed their graduation from a university in Ontario and could hence be allowed to apply for the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

Operation of the Program

The OINP did not provide a particular time when the applications would be accessible. In their media release, they specified that the interested applicants should access the OINP e-Filing Portal from the Master’s Graduate stream page. They should make sure to click on ‘Submit an application” via a desktop computer because cell phones and tablets are not compatible with the system. 

It is no surprise that these Ontario streams are greatly popular among candidates, and hence the OINP is expecting many submissions. However, this could also lead to people seeing a high-volume message page or being placed in a priority queue. 

Application Limit

The system was designed to shut down automatically after the intake limit had been reached.

The province was forced to close the applications on the same day, however, because candidates crossed the application limit within a short period of time. Ontario currently operates this stream in a rush-seating format, which is why the applications to the Master’s Graduate stream had to be closed as soon as the seats were filled.

The limit of 1215 was met fairly easily, after which OINP stopped the registration process. The stream will be closed to more applications until any further notice.