Ontario is seeking 100 immigrant entrepreneurs through its entrepreneurship project in a bid to generate $20 million into the province’s economy.
The Canadian province will be accepting applications from immigrant entrepreneurs over the next two years through the Entrepreneur Stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).
Entrepreneur applicants may be eligible for a provincial nomination from Ontario for Canadian immigration after operating their business for 18 to 20 months in the province.
The 100 immigrant entrepreneurs who will be selected for business migration to Ontario will have to invest $200 million to start or grow a business in regions outside the Greater Toronto Area, given that the project has been designed to create more jobs for locals and support Canadian regions that have been hit especially hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking on the new entrepreneurship project, Ontario’s labour minister Monte McNaughton said it will cost the provincial government around $6 million.
However, the cost of the entrepreneurship project will be repaid by the immigrant entrepreneurs coming to the province to start or grow businesses, he explained.
He also said that the investment made by immigrant entrepreneurs will spread jobs and opportunities to every corner of Ontario and allow people across the province to find rewarding and well-paying careers.
Ever since the Entrepreneur Stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) was launched in 2015, only two nominations have been granted to immigrant entrepreneurs.
However, according to Ontario, the new immigrant entrepreneur recruitment project will help connect foreign entrepreneurs with business opportunities that best suit them in the province, which would create new jobs in Ontario and drive up the economy.
The immigrant entrepreneur recruitment project comes as part of the Ontario government’s efforts to attract more immigrants to the province.
Another initiative taken by Ontario this year to attract more immigrants is the introduction of a more streamlined provincial nomination application system, while the province has also made it easier for international workers to practice their trade in certain regulated professions.
Ontario nominated 8,600 immigrants for Canadian immigration in 2021, and the provincial government has been pushing for increased immigration by urging the Canadian federal government to double Ontario’s immigration intake in 2022.
