Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) 2026

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) is Ontario’s Provincial Nominee Program. Ontario nominates eligible people for permanent residence; IRCC makes the final PR decision.

As of the province’s July 14, 2026 OINP hub update, the Ontario Workforce Priority stream has launched and all other OINP streams are closed. Registering an expression of interest (EOI) does not guarantee an invitation.

Ontario rebuilt the program in mid-2026. On the 2026 OINP updates page (June 26, 2026 entry), the ministry states that amendments to Ontario Regulation 422/17 under the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015 came into force on June 25, 2026. Those changes removed the existing eight streams and introduced Ontario Workforce Priority as Phase 1 of a two-phase redesign.

Closed streams named on that updates page include Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills, Employer Job Offer: International Student, Master’s Graduate, PhD Graduate, Express Entry Human Capital Priorities, Express Entry French-speaking Skilled Worker, and Express Entry Skilled Trades.

EOIs and job offers under former streams that never produced an invitation were to be withdrawn. Applications already submitted after an invitation under a former stream continue under the rules that applied when the file was filed. Employers already in the Employer Portal do not re-register the business, but they need a new job offer to start a Workforce Priority EOI.

The official stream page covers foreign workers with a qualifying Ontario job offer in any NOC TEER, plus self-employed physicians who meet the physician criteria without a job offer. Treat those as pathways inside one stream, not as five separate open streams.

For a job-offer file, the employer starts: the employer submits a job offer in the OINP Employer Portal; you receive a job offer ID and must register an EOI within 30 calendar days (EOI registration has no fee). If Ontario invites you, the employer has 14 calendar days to file the employment-position application and you have 17 calendar days to submit and pay, only after the employer has filed.

Self-employed physicians follow the physician intake steps on ontario.ca (including contacting the program to begin EOI registration) and, if invited, file within 17 calendar days. An EOI can remain in the pool for up to 12 months unless invited, withdrawn, or otherwise removed.

Applicant fees for Workforce Priority: $1,500 CAD if the job offer (or physician practice address) is outside the GTA; $2,000 CAD inside the GTA (Toronto, Durham, Halton, Peel, York). Pay only if invited. Federal IRCC PR fees are separate.

If Ontario nominates you, you still apply to IRCC for PR. Under Workforce Priority, TEER 0-3 job-offer files and eligible self-employed physicians may request nomination through Express Entry when they meet federal criteria; Ontario’s stream page states that accepting an Express Entry nomination adds 600 CRS points. TEER 4-5 job-offer nominations generally proceed on the non-Express Entry provincial nominee route.

Dated 2026 items on ontario.ca: August 4, EOI portal opened; July 20, criteria pages; June 25/26, Phase 1 redesign; May 30, earlier regulatory prep. Opening the portal is not the same as issuing invitations. Check ontario.ca before you plan around a draw date. Ontario has said more changes are coming in Phase 2; this page does not invent stream names or reopen dates.

Narrative timeline: our news pieces Ontario OINP overhaul 2026 and Workforce Priority stream 2026.