The Ontario Workforce Priority stream: the new OINP, explained

What the Ontario Workforce Priority stream changed on 25 June 2026

Phase one of the OINP redesign amended Ontario Regulation 422/17 to remove the existing streams and create the Ontario Workforce Priority stream. Ontario's stated aims were to streamline the route for people with arranged employment, help employers keep proven staff in hard-to-fill roles, and raise language and education benchmarks. The practical effects for applicants are three. First, the job offer is now the gate for every worker route: there is no Ontario nomination for a skilled worker in the Express Entry pool without an Ontario employer, which is what Human Capital Priorities used to provide. Second, the province, not an occupation list, decides who is invited, through a scoring grid published for the first time. Third, TEER 4 and 5 jobs are eligible everywhere in Ontario, not only in the in-demand occupations the old In-Demand Skills stream allowed, so if you were building toward In-Demand Skills eligibility under the old occupation list, this stream is now the route that covers your TEER 4 or 5 job. Applications filed under the old streams before 25 June 2026 are assessed under the old rules.

Each removed stream still has its own guide here, because an application filed before 25 June 2026 is assessed under the rules that were in force on the day it was submitted: the OINP Foreign Worker stream, the Human Capital Priorities stream, the French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream, the Ontario Skilled Trades stream and the OINP Masters Graduate stream. If you are starting from scratch today, none of them is open to you and the Ontario Workforce Priority stream is the only worker route into the OINP.

Who qualifies: requirements by NOC TEER

Listed skilled trades, which get the lower language and education bars, are NOC major groups 72 (technical trades and transportation officers, excluding sub-major group 726), 73 (general trades), 82 and 83 (natural resources and agriculture supervisors and workers), 93 (central control and process operators, excluding aircraft assembly), minor group 6320 (cooks, butchers, bakers) and unit group 62200 (chefs). Use the NOC code finder to check your code and TEER. The NOC on the job offer has to match the duties you actually perform: a title alone will not carry a registration, and a mismatch between the NOC, the duties and your reference letters is the most common reason an otherwise strong file falls over at the assessment stage.

Employer and job offer requirements

The employer must have been in active business for at least three years, have premises in Ontario where you will work, have no outstanding orders under the Employment Standards Act or the Occupational Health and Safety Act, meet revenue and minimum-staff thresholds that depend on the job's location (higher inside the GTA), and, if you are outside Canada or working outside Ontario, show it tried to recruit a Canadian or permanent resident first. The job must be full time and permanent, urgently needed by the business, not affect a labour dispute, and pay at least the required wage level for its location. The Ontario Public Service does not participate as an employer. Self-employed contractors are not eligible, with the single exception of physicians.

One thing employers ask about constantly: the Ontario Workforce Priority stream does not involve an LMIA. Ontario assesses and approves the employment position itself, so there is no ESDC labour market impact assessment inside the OINP process. An LMIA may still be how a candidate holds the work permit they are on today, and a nominee may be issued a work permit support letter so they can keep working while IRCC decides the permanent residence application, but those are separate federal steps.

The Ontario Workforce Priority stream points grid

Region moves more points than most applicants expect. Fifteen points go to a job in Northern Ontario, ten to Eastern Ontario, Southwestern Ontario and Central Ontario outside the GTA, five to the GTA outside Toronto, and nothing at all to a job inside the City of Toronto. Broadly, that puts Sudbury, Thunder Bay, North Bay and Timmins in the top band; Ottawa, Kingston, London, Windsor, Kitchener, Waterloo, Barrie and Peterborough in the ten-point band; and Mississauga, Brampton and Markham at five. Ontario publishes the definitive municipal list, so check the region of the exact work address before you count the points. The same job at the same wage can be worth fifteen points more two hours up the highway.

How to apply to the Ontario Workforce Priority stream, step by step

1. 01

   The employer submits the job offer

   In the OINP Employer Portal, the employer registers the business and the position. This generates the job offer ID you need.

2. 02

   Register an expression of interest within 30 days

   Enter the job offer ID and attest to each scoring factor. You must meet every stream requirement at registration, not only at application.

3. 03

   Wait for an invitation

   Ontario invites by score, with the Director able to target occupations, regions and sectors. Through early 2026 the old employer streams were drawn for physicians, health and early childhood education, skilled trades, mining, agriculture, Francophones, REDI pilot regions and by Ontario region; expect the new stream to continue targeting those priorities.

4. 04

   Employer applies within 14 days; you apply within 17

   The employer applies for approval of the employment position; you then submit your application with the document checklist and pay the fee. You cannot submit before the employer does.

5. 05

   Nomination, then IRCC

   A nominee receives the approval letter, certificate and, where applicable, a work permit support letter, and has six months to apply to IRCC. TEER 0 to 3 nominees who opted for Express Entry accept the nomination within 30 days (600 points) and submit the e-APR within 60; see after your ITA. Keep the job and your status throughout; a lost position cancels the nomination.

Fees, processing and what happens after a nomination

There are two sets of costs and two queues. Ontario charges an OINP application fee, published on ontario.ca, which depends on where the job is located, and you pay it when you submit inside the 17-day window. IRCC then charges its own permanent residence processing fee and the right of permanent residence fee at the federal stage. Ontario also publishes a processing standard for the Ontario Workforce Priority stream that moves with volume, so check both the fee and the standard on the day you apply rather than relying on a figure you read months earlier.

A provincial nomination is only half the journey. TEER 0 to 3 nominees who took the Express Entry option accept the nomination within 30 days, receive an invitation to apply in the next round on the strength of the 600 CRS points, and file the electronic application for permanent residence (e-APR) within 60 days. TEER 4 and 5 nominees, and anyone without an Express Entry profile, apply through the base provincial nominee route, which IRCC processes on a longer published timeline. Either way the federal stage asks for the same evidence: biometrics, an immigration medical examination from a panel physician, police certificates from every country you have lived in for six months or more since the age of 18, proof of the job offer and of your status in Canada, and identity documents for every family member whether or not they are coming with you. Keep the job and keep your status the whole way through, and apply to extend an expiring work permit before it expires so maintained status protects you while the extension is decided.

Self-employed physicians

A physician with an OHIP billing number and a College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario certificate (independent, academic or provisional practice) can register without a job offer and is scored on cumulative Ontario medical practice (18 points at two years or more) and practice location instead of wage. Physicians on a postgraduate education licence are not eligible as self-employed but can apply with a job offer.

Is Ontario still the right province for you?

For a worker with an Ontario job, yes: the stream is open to every TEER, the deadlines are short, and a TEER 0 to 3 nomination lands in Express Entry with 600 points. For a graduate or a French speaker without an employer, the Ontario door that used to exist is closed, and other provinces now compare better. Alberta's AAIP nominates most occupations with an Alberta job through the Opportunity Stream and runs Express Entry draws for in-demand occupations and French speakers without a job offer; British Columbia still nominates international graduates. Score yourself on the CRS calculator and the AAIP calculator before you commit to one province.

Compliance note. Wild Mountain Immigration is a licensed RCIC practice (CICC R706497) and we work online with clients across Canada and abroad. Ontario Workforce Priority stream criteria, the points grid, the fees and the thresholds quoted here are as published on ontario.ca in September 2026 and they change; the regulation governs, and the Ontario Workforce Priority stream is administered by the province, not by us. Registering an expression of interest, or meeting every requirement on this page, does not guarantee an invitation, a nomination or permanent residence.