OINP applicants’ futures remain uncertain as Legislature breaks for winter

Baljeet Singh and his family moved to Brampton from Punjab, India, in 2023. Now, two years later, they fear they’ll have to move back home because Singh’s application for the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) was rejected along with about 2,600 others across the province.

“I live with my wife and my three-year-old kid. Our savings are running dry,” Singh told OMNI News in Punjabi. “I don’t see a future here anymore. Given my visa status, we ultimately might have to go back.”

Singh has been part of the protests outside Queen’s Park for the last three weeks, demanding answers to this application rejection.  And now, with the Ontario legislature pausing for almost four months, so will the protests that have been taking place outside since November 14.

The OINP was created to allow individuals with the right skills, experience and education based on labour market needs to apply for a nomination for permanent residency in Canada.  But earlier this year, the federal government reduced Ontario’s nominee slots by half.

Consequently, the province had to tighten its permanent residency pathways, including the OINP Skilled Trades Stream.

In a statement, the OINP cited  “systemic compliance and enforcement concerns,” giving misrepresentation and fraud within the stream’s eligibility criteria as reasons for the decrease.

But the skilled workers protesting outside Queen’s Park have been disputing these claims of fraud, demanding evidence of any fraudulent activity and a reassessment of every rejected application. That includes Ramandeep Singh, a supervisor and set-up technician at HPG Limited – an aerospace, defence, and energy-related manufacturing facility in Milton.  He now finds himself uncertain about his future in the country.

Singh told OMNI News that he and many like him have visibly contributed to the country’s economy and were planning to build businesses and create jobs based on the experience gained here.

Singh maintains his application was legitimate and feels he’s now in limbo because the whole system has been overhauled.

In a Punjabi language interview with OMNI News, Brampton East Conservative MPP Hardeep Grewal said that although some fraudulent applications may have “played the system,” the province does not want to lose deserving candidates. He added that the Ford government is working on a new employer portal that would allow companies to apply on behalf of workers as per the labour market needs.

“The government is taking a long time. They cut people off, pull the rug from underneath them, and they are telling them they are working on something. It’s not good enough. Christmas is a tough time of the year for people. Not being able to work, not knowing whether you should stay or go, it’s not right,” Ottawa South Liberal MPP John Fraser tells OMNI News.

On November 23rd, a group of impacted applicants met with Premier Doug Ford alongside MPP Prabhmeet Sarkaria, MPP Grewal, and MPP Amarjot Sandhu to raise concerns about the fallout affecting thousands of hardworking individuals, with the Premier reportedly reassuring them of his support.

The following day in the legislature, Ford shifted blame to the federal government, accusing Ottawa of cutting the province’s immigration capacity and jeopardizing skilled trade workers. He also mentioned a letter, written to Prime Minister Mark Carney, requesting an extension of the work permits for those affected by the long wait time and ultimately rejection.

A statement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reiterates that provinces have jurisdiction over the design and implementation of their PNP streams to fill local labour market vacancies at all skill levels.

“IRCC continues to collaborate with Ontario on program integrity, including sharing lessons learned and contributing to support efforts to identify and address vulnerabilities in immigration streams across all provinces and territories,” reads the statement. “IRCC will work collaboratively with Ontario on its PNP redesign to ensure the program remains an effective tool for meeting critical labour market needs.”

Critics say the province is deflecting responsibility and leaving applicants in limbo.

“It’s an Ontario Program, says right in the name,” argued NDP Opposition Leader Marit Stiles.

On the same weekend, more than 2,000 new invitations were issued by the OINP office, a glimmer of hope for 59 affected skilled workers — while many others are still protesting the sudden rejections. 

Contesting the decision and demanding a fair review of the rest, NDP MPP from Toronto Centre Alexa Gilmore held a press conference at Queen’s Park last Friday. While speaking with OMNI News, she said that the state needs skilled workers but preparing these workers for the workforce is a long and financially stressful process. 

Kulwinder Singh, who owns the Free Bird Gym franchise in the GTA, told OMNI News in Punjabi that training the employees only to let them go leaves the employer in jeopardy. Singh added that rejecting these applicants on the claims of fraud, also puts the legitimacy of his company at stake.

While the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development said in a statement to OMNI News that prior to the suspension and return of the applications communicated on November 14, they had approved 59 applicants from the stream for a Certificate of Nomination.

They added “On December 12, the Ministry notified the 59 applicants that their Certificate of Nomination under OINP has been approved. The Ministry has confirmed that all other applications in the stream remain closed as communicated on November 14.”

Caught between government disputes and shifting immigration policies, thousands of skilled workers and their employers remain uncertain about what comes next as the year ends.  While their future hangs in the balance, they do know one thing:  they’ll be back outside Queen’s Park once the legislature resumes in the spring.