OINP’s spokesperson, Kwok Wong, said the likelihood of the minimum score continuing to drop below 400 will depend on a number of factors, including the number of eligible candidates in the Express Entry pool and Ontario’s labour market needs and priorities.
Wong said the Ontario Immigration Act grants the OINP’s director the discretion to set the minimum CRS score based on the following factors:
- Ontario’s annual OINP nomination allocation, as determined by the federal government;
- The federal government’s minimum CRS score, which establishes federal government Express Entry selection parameters;
- Ontario’s current labour market needs; and
- Other Ontario economic immigration related priorities.
In order to be visible to the OINP when it is searching the Express Entry pool, Kwok said candidates must indicate their interest in immigrating to either Ontario or ‘All provinces and territories’ when creating their Express Entry profile.
Doing so will allow OINP staff to identify candidates in the federal Express Entry system who have an interest in immigrating to Ontario