How many points is the OINP EOI scored out of?
Short answer: Job-offer candidates are scored out of 130 points and self-employed physicians out of 115, because the wage factor does not apply to them. Points come from employment factors, education, language, and where in Ontario the job sits. Ontario has not published a cut-off for the new stream, because it has not run a draw yet.
The single largest swing for most candidates is geography. A work location in Northern Ontario earns the full 15 regionalization points. Toronto earns zero. Eastern Ontario, Southwestern Ontario, and Central Ontario outside the Greater Toronto Area each earn 10, and the GTA outside Toronto earns 5. Two identical candidates can sit 15 points apart on the location of the job alone.
Language is the next largest lever at 15 points for Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 9 or higher, with a further 10 available for a second official language at CLB 6 across all four abilities. Ontario work experience in the offered position tops out at 18 points.
Does registering an EOI cost anything?
Short answer: No. Ontario charges nothing to register an Expression of Interest. The application fee only arrives if you are invited to apply, and it is paid at that point. Any service charging you to register an EOI is charging for form-filling, not for access.
That is worth stating plainly because the free registration step is where paid intermediaries cluster. What you are buying, if you buy anything, is judgement about whether your profile is competitive and whether your employer can actually meet the employer-side requirements. The registration itself is a form.
What happens after Ontario invites you?
Short answer: An invitation is not a nomination. You submit an application with documents proving every scoring factor you claimed, your employer submits their application for approval of the employment position, and Ontario assesses both. If Ontario nominates you, you then apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence, and IRCC makes the final decision.
Everything you attested to in the EOI has to be evidenced. Ontario is explicit that receiving an invitation does not mean you will be nominated, and that not all applicants who meet the criteria will be invited.
Self-employed physicians have an extra option at the nomination stage: they can choose to be nominated through the federal Express Entry system, which adds 600 points to an Express Entry profile. If you take that route and let the Express Entry profile lapse after nomination, you start the whole OINP process again from a new EOI.
