Ontario nominee stream · OWP
OINP Ontario Workforce Priority stream
Open
Skilled workers with a permanent, full-time job offer from an approved Ontario employer, in any occupation, plus self-employed physicians with an Ontario billing number.
Jacinth Immigration Canada teamReviewed by a licensed RCICLast updated
How it works
About the ontario workforce priority stream
Ontario's only nominee stream since the June 2026 redesign. The employer starts the process through the Employer Portal, and you then have 30 days to submit an expression of interest. Candidates in TEER 0 to 3 jobs, and self-employed physicians, can choose to be nominated through Express Entry for the 600-point boost, or take a paper-based nomination instead.
Applying from outside Canada: Genuinely open from abroad. Ontario states that immigration status is required only for applicants inside Canada. The practical gate is the employer, who must additionally show local recruitment efforts because you are overseas. As of 18 September 2026 the expression of interest portal is open but Ontario had not yet published any invitation round under this stream: the province's invitations page, updated 11 August 2026, still ends with rounds held on 30 April 2026 under the old streams.
Source: the province's own page for this stream. Last checked September 18, 2026. Provinces change stream criteria without notice, so confirm the detail before you rely on it.
Requirements
What this stream asks for
- A full-time, permanent job offer in Ontario that the employer shows is urgently necessary to the business and pays the wage level set for that location
- An employer that applies through the Employer Portal, has traded for at least three years, has Ontario premises, and meets revenue and Canadian-employee thresholds
- For TEER 0 to 3 jobs: six months of full-time experience in the offered role in the last year, or two years in the same occupation in the last five, or the mandatory licence for the occupation
- For TEER 4 and 5 jobs: nine months of full-time experience in the offered role within the last two years
- Language at CLB 6 in all four abilities for TEER 0 to 3, CLB 5 for listed skilled trades, CLB 4 for TEER 4 and 5
- A post-secondary credential of at least one year, assessed if it is foreign; a Canadian secondary school diploma for listed trades and for TEER 4 and 5
- Valid immigration status only if you are applying from inside Canada
- An intention to live and work in Ontario
Programme
The Ontario programme right now
Ontario removed its eight previous streams on 25 June 2026 and replaced them with a single Ontario Workforce Priority stream. The programme's own landing page states that the new stream has launched and that all other streams are now closed. The expression of interest system for the old streams is closed, and profiles and job offers registered under them that had not produced an invitation were withdrawn. The province describes this as the first of two phases, so more change is expected.
The streams closed on 25 June 2026 were: Employer Job Offer (Foreign Worker, In-Demand Skills and International Student), Master's Graduate, PhD Graduate, the Entrepreneur stream, and the three Express Entry streams (Human Capital Priorities, French-Speaking Skilled Worker and Skilled Trades). Several of the closed stream pages, the Entrepreneur one among them, no longer exist on ontario.ca and redirect to the Ontario government archives, so an old bookmark or a link from a third-party site will not show you current rules.
Official OINP page Official draw results
Checked against the province's own pages on September 18, 2026. Streams change through the year, so confirm on the official page before you apply.
Explore
Other Ontario streams
From the blog
Related reading
- Provincial nomineesThe provincial pool you are sitting in is not an applicationRegistering an expression of interest with a province is not applying for a nomination. What the pools are, and what an invitation actually starts.September 24, 2026
- Provincial nomineesEnhanced or base nomination: what actually changes for youAn enhanced nomination runs through Express Entry, a base nomination goes to IRCC's PR Portal. How the route, paperwork and timing differ for you.September 25, 2026
- BusinessProvincial entrepreneur streams: how they really workA province does not hand you permanent residence for money. It hands you a work permit and a contract. The nomination comes later, if you deliver.September 19, 2026
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Ontario Provincial Nominee Program How the Provincial Nominee Program works
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