Ontario nominee stream
OINP Ontario Workforce Priority: Self-Employed Physicians
Open
Physicians who are licensed and billing OHIP in Ontario and want to apply without a job offer.
Jacinth Immigration Canada teamReviewed by a licensed RCICLast updated
How it works
About the ontario workforce priority: self-employed physicians
A pathway inside the Ontario Workforce Priority stream, which replaced Ontario's previous streams in June 2026. It opened for expressions of interest on 4 August 2026. Self-employed physicians do not need a job offer and the employer requirements do not apply to them. You start by contacting the OINP to register an expression of interest; if approved, you can choose to be nominated through Express Entry as long as you meet the federal criteria.
Applying from outside Canada: Ontario's page does not say. In practice you need CPSO registration and an OHIP billing number, so this pathway suits physicians already practising in Ontario.
Source: the province's own page for this stream. Last checked October 11, 2026. Provinces change stream criteria without notice, so confirm the detail before you rely on it.
Requirements
What this stream asks for
- Membership in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
- A certificate of registration in the independent practice, academic practice or provisional class (a postgraduate education licence does not qualify)
- An OHIP billing number
- If invited, an application and fee submitted within 17 calendar days
- For the Express Entry option, a valid Express Entry profile that meets the federal criteria
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the old streams is closed, and profiles and job offers registered under them that had not produced an invitation were withdrawn.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
- Provincial nomineesIntention to reside: how to show a province you will actually settle thereSince March 2026 only the province judges whether you really intend to live there. What that changes, what the rules say, and what makes the claim credible.September 25, 2026
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Ontario Provincial Nominee Program How the Provincial Nominee Program works
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