Canada Shuts Down OINP Skilled Trades Stream: Thousands of Applications Returned
TL;DR
- Ontario has suspended its OINP Express Entry Skilled Trades Stream with immediate effect, citing systemic misrepresentation and employer fraud risks. All pending applications are being returned with full refunds.
- A 2024 Auditor General report found high vulnerability in verifying work experience, prompting further checks by the Ministry of Finance. With Ontario’s PNP quota cut to 10,750 for 2025, the province is prioritizing streams that are more verifiable and aligned with real labour-market needs.
- Experts expect the Skilled Trades Stream to return after a redesign—likely with stricter documentation, enhanced employer vetting, or a mandatory job-offer requirement.
- Meanwhile, YUNO LEARNING outlines alternative pathways, including Human Capital Priorities, Job Offer streams, and federal Express Entry trade draws.
On November 14, 2025, Ontario’s Immigrant Nominee Programme (OINP) suspended its Express Entry: Skilled Trades Stream. All outstanding applications in that stream are being returned, and application fees refunded.
The suspension is due to systemic misrepresentation and fraud concerns in how eligibility was being documented and verified. It is not clear yet when or if the Skilled Trades Stream will reopen.
The OINP Express Entry program (i.e., the “enhanced” PNP streams that nominate Express-Entry candidates) was first introduced in 2015. As designed, it was intended to bring in experienced workers already contributing to Ontario’s economy and give them a straightforward pathway to permanent residence. Ontario needed workers in construction, industrial and mechanical trades, electrical and HVAC work, equipment operation, machining, and manufacturing.
For a worker, the big plus point was that applicants did not need to have a permanent job offer. Instead, applicants needed recent, verifiable work experience in Ontario. A genuine worker with skill in designated trades would first come to Ontario on a valid work permit. This might be an LMIA-supported permit or an LMIA-exempt one (such as a PGWP, intra-company transfer, or certain family pathways).
Once in Ontario, the worker had to complete at least 12 months of full-time paid work in one or more eligible skilled trades (TEER 2 or 3). This experience needed to be fully documented through pay stubs, T4/T4A slips, Records of Employment, employer letters, contracts, and schedules. Crucially, the employment had to be genuine and carried out for legitimate Ontario businesses.
To qualify, applicants first had to create an Express Entry profile under either the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or, less commonly, the Federal Skilled Worker Program. This required a valid English test (IELTS or CELPIP) and complete, truthful disclosure of work history, education, and personal details. Once in the pool, the applicant waited for a Notification of Interest (NOI) from Ontario. This invited the candidate to apply to OINP but did not guarantee nomination. A proper OINP application included proof of legal status, Ontario residence, skilled trades experience, language results, trade licensing if required, identity documents, and—later in the federal stage—police clearances. OINP was expected to verify the authenticity of employers, job duties, and hours worked.
If satisfied, OINP issued a nomination, giving the applicant +600 Comprehensive Ranking System points and virtually guaranteeing an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. IRCC then conducted medical, security, biometric, and document checks. If approved, the worker became a Canadian permanent resident and could continue building their career in Ontario.
Take an excellent scheme that benefitted the province, add a number of dodgy operators and the result was a door slammed on honest would-be immigrant workers.
So far, the Ontario provincial government has not named any companies or individuals who cheated the system. Neither media nor government releases have come out with any detailed case of fraud. The government has explained that it based its decision to suspend the programme after the 2024 performance audit conducted by the Ontario Auditor General that noted a “higher risk of misrepresentation” specifically in the Express Entry Skilled Trades and Job Offer streams and audit suspicions about applicant and employer credibility were further probed by the Ministry of Finance. (The validation from the Ministry of Finance was limited: they return a yes/no flag for credibility concerns, rather than detailed verification.)
The Ontario government concluded that the structure of the stream itself made it “vulnerable” to misuse, making it difficult for the Program Director to reliably confirm if applicants truly met the eligibility criteria. As a result, Ontario is returning all outstanding Skilled Trades applications and refunding the application fees.
Apparently, it was easy to subvert the programme because of very limited employer-level scrutiny in the Skilled Trades Stream. That means some employers may have been nominal (shell companies) or not genuinely employing the applicant in a trade role. Applicants could potentially “manufacture” trade experience: for instance, by claiming they worked for a company, but the company may not have verifiable payroll, or may even be set up purely on paper.
If the Immigrant Nominee Programme allows fraudulent nominations, spots in the provincial nomination quota are wasted on people who don’t actually contribute in the way the program intends (real tradespeople filling real labour shortages.
A crucial point is that the OINP Express Entry programme has been shut down because of apprehensions of misuse … NOT because Ontario no longer has labour shortages. This makes it reasonable to expect that a tightened up Express Entry programme will resume. How far in the future this resumption might be will depend on how quickly the Ontario government can come up with a more fraud-proof version. OINP must have confidence that it can safely process applications without excessive risk.
And, it must have nomination capacity in its PNP quota. Ontario’s PNP allocation for 2025 has been cut to 10,750 nominations, down from 21,500 in 2024. With only some 10,750 nominations for 2025, OINP has much less room to absorb risk-heavy streams like Skilled Trades (as currently structured). The cut arises from a broader federal-level reduction: PNP allocations nationally were slashed.
It is predicted that OINP will prioritize streams that are more verifiable and aligned with labour-market needs (especially job-offer-based streams), because they can more reliably allocate limited quotas to “high-quality” candidates. The inclusion of broader “provincial capacity” criteria (housing, services) in the return-suspension powers means OINP can more precisely manage how its PNP nominations support its socio-economic goals, not just immigration volume.
Immigration experts are guessing that the retooling exercise could take a minimum of six months. The new version will probably introduce stricter verification, more robust documentation, or even a job-offer requirement. They point out that the expanded regulatory powers (Reg. 421/17) enabling OINP to suspend or return applications more flexibly will help them manage risk if the stream reopens.
Meanwhile, returning thousands of Skilled Trades applications may lead to legal challenges, especially because the power to return applications were expanded after some had applied. Applicants are arguing that the new return powers should not apply retroactively, raising fairness and administrative law concerns. A “blanket return” (rather than case-by-case) could generate reputational risk for OINP, and could force it to be more cautious / transparent when considering reopening.
But what about honest would-be immigrant workers? Do they have any options left?
The answer is yes … Here are the alternative / backup OINP pathways (as of now).
Express-Entry–Aligned OINP Streams
- Human Capital Priorities Stream — good if you meet EE (Express Entry) eligibility + Ontario’s criteria.
- French-Speaking Skilled Worker Stream — if you have strong French.
More information at https://www.cicnews.com/2025/11/ontario-immigrant-nominee-program-suspends-skilled-trades-stream-suspends-express-entry-skilled-trades-stream-1162152.html
Base (Non-EE) OINP Streams
These work through OINP’s Expression of Interest (EOI) system:
- Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream
- Employer Job Offer: International Student stream
- Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream
- Master’s Graduate Stream & PhD Graduate Stream Canada Immigration Services
More information at https://immigration.ca/ontario-suspends-express-entry-skilled-trades-stream-and-returns-all-applications/ and https://www.ontario.ca/page/2025-ontario-immigrant-nominee-program-updates
Federal Express Entry (Without OINP)
If you already have an Express Entry profile (which you likely did if you were applying for the Skilled Trades Stream), you could try for federal draws, including Express Entry – Trade category, since you already had trade experience.
Note: Trade draws sometimes have lower CRS cutoffs (compared to some other categories), making this a viable alternative.
More information at: https://www.cicnews.com/2025/11/ontario-immigrant-nominee-program-suspends-skilled-trades-stream-suspends-express-entry-skilled-trades-stream-1162152.html
Here’s how YUNO LEARNING sizes up the situation
Even though the Skilled Trades Stream is “suspended,” it’s not permanently shut down. Rather than just wait, aspiring immigrants who are focused on skilled trades, should now adjust their plans and prepare for alternate OINP streams or strengthen their Express Entry profile. They should brace for more stringent requirements and that means solid documentation with indisputable pay stubs, proper trade certifications, and verifiable employer info.