Ontario planning to welcome 100 eligible entrepreneurs

The province expects to inject $20 million into the Ontario economy through its entrepreneurship program. Over the next two years, Ontario is looking for 100 immigrant entrepreneurs to establish or expand businesses in areas outside of the Greater Toronto Area.

Interested company owners and developers can apply under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program's (OINP) current Entrepreneur Stream. Each selected entrepreneur will be asked to invest a minimum of $200,000 in their firm.

Applicants may be eligible for a provincial nomination after their firm has been operating in Ontario for 18 to 20 months. Then, they can utilize the nomination to apply for Canadian immigration to the federal government.

According to a government press release, the recruiting endeavour is meant to create more local employment and assist regions, impacted heavily by the job losses during the pandemic. According to Ontario's labour minister Monte McNaughton, it would cost the provincial government an estimated $6 million, which will be returned by immigrants who come to the province to create or acquire a business. These newcomer entrepreneurs will bring in an estimated $20 million in company investment and generate employment in the province.

Get a Free Express Entry Assessment

"As we continue to rebuild better, we want individuals across Ontario, regardless of where they live, to find satisfying, well-paying professions in their communities," McNaughton said in a statement. "Our government is fighting for workers and distributing the employment and possibilities that entrepreneurs bring to all corners of our province, not just our major cities."

Since its inception in 2015, the province has only issued two nominations under the Entrepreneur Stream. To solve this, the province claims that this new project would assist in connecting entrepreneurs with business possibilities that are a good fit for them.

This initiative complements the government's attempts to recruit more immigrants to Ontario. So far this year, the province has implemented efforts such as streamlining the provincial nomination application process and making it simpler for globally qualified individuals to work in certain regulated professions.

The Ontario government has been advocating for increased immigration. Minister McNaughton has asked the federal government to increase Ontario's allotment in 2022 from the 8,600 immigrants that the state was permitted to nominate in 2021 to 10,000 in 2022.

The most recent available data shows that Canada has accepted 313,838 immigrants between January and October 2021.