Ontario aims to attract and retain highly-skilled international students who will ultimately help Ontario, and Canada, compete in the global economy. Since April 2010, international graduates from Ontario PhD programs have been eligible to apply for a Canadian Immigration (permanent residence) visa without a job offer through the Opportunities Ontario Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). This week it has been announced that the program has been expanded to also allow international students graduating from Ontario master’s degree programs to apply for Canadian permanent residence without a job offer.

An international master’s student may apply in his or her last semester or within two years of the date on which the degree is awarded, and must intend to work and live in Ontario and be ready to work full-time (although a job offer is not required in order to apply). The applicant must include results of a general English language proficiency test (IELTS General) that are less than one year old at application submission date. There is also a residence requirement—master’s students must have lived in Ontario for at least one year during the last two years—to demonstrate a strong connection to the province.

Currently, there are 4,600 international students studying in master's degree programs in the province of Ontario. The majority of these international students are studying at the University of Toronto; University of Waterloo; University of Ottawa; University of Western Ontario; Queen's University; and York University. The Open Ontario Plan is designed to create new opportunities for jobs and growth by increasing the number of spaces available to international students by 50 per cent while maintaining spaces for Ontario students.

The Opportunities Ontario Provincial Nomination Program will target 1,000 nominations in 2010. The Ontario provincial government states that complete nominee application packages will be processed within 90 days, and applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

This expansion to the Ontario PNP will help make Ontario the destination of choice for the very best and brightest students from all over the world.