Might’ve made the wrong decision here…
I’ve been working full-time as a mechanical engineer at a Toronto startup for the past 2 years after graduating from a Canadian university. This was my first full-time job after graduation.
The company has over $1M+ in revenue, more than 30 Canadian full-time employees, and I believe my role falls under TEER 1, so it meets most of the OINP Employer Job Offer requirements.
The issue is that the incorporated startup itself has only existed for about 2 years, so from what I understand, I can’t qualify under the Employer Job Offer stream because of the “active business for 3 years” requirement.
What makes this frustrating is that the startup actually originated from a UHN (University Health Network) R&D project that had existed for around 7–8 years before being commercialized into a separate company. Not sure if relevant, but UHN still owns shares/stakes in the company as well.
I was honestly counting on OINP, but now it seems like that pathway may not work for me. I also don’t think the May 30 changes will help unless they modify the 3-year employer requirement.
Right now I’m on a PGWP with about 1 year left, and my CRS score is around 480.
At this point, is Express Entry basically my only realistic option? Or is there any chance the UHN/spinout relationship could matter for OINP eligibility?