OINP Updates 2026: EOI Portal Open, No Invitations Yet
As of October 28, 2026. Ontario opened the Ontario Workforce Priority expression of interest (EOI) portal on August 4, 2026. The province has not published any Workforce Priority invitations to apply since that date. For who qualifies, fees and every pathway in one place, see our OINP guide.
TL;DR
August 4, 2026: Workforce Priority EOI portal opened | No Workforce Priority draw posted as of October 28, 2026 | Last 2026 OINP invitations on the public log: April 30, 2026, under closed former streams | Eight old streams closed; three more new streams promised later in 2026 and not live | Applicant fee $1,500 outside the GTA, $2,000 inside
Where does your CRS score stand?
Work out your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score in a few minutes and compare it with recent draw cut-offs. Free.
What is the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream and who is eligible for it?
Short answer: The Ontario Workforce Priority stream is the live Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) pathway that replaced eight closed streams. It is for a foreign worker with a qualifying full-time, permanent Ontario job offer in any National Occupational Classification (NOC) Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category, and for a self-employed physician who can bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) and holds an eligible College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario certificate. Job-offer applicants also need an employer who has registered in the Employer Portal and later obtains approval of the employment position. You must receive an invitation to apply and file within the deadline. Language, education, and work-experience floors differ by TEER. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) still decides permanent residence after Ontario nominates you.
The official stream name is Ontario Workforce Priority. Ontario published the criteria on July 20, 2026 and last updated that page on August 11, 2026.
Job-offer pathways
TEER is the second digit of the five-digit NOC. Both job-offer pathways need a full-time, permanent Ontario job that is urgently necessary to the business, does not affect a labour dispute, and pays at or above the regional median wage (or the low wage if you are a recent Ontario graduate in a TEER 0 to 3 occupation). Full-time means at least 1,560 hours a year and at least 30 paid hours a week. Seasonal and contract jobs do not qualify.
Pathway
Work experience
Language
Education
TEER 0 to 3 job offer
One of: 6 months consecutive in the last 12 months in the job-offer position; 3 months if a recent Ontario graduate; 2 years in the last 5 years in the same NOC; or a mandatory licence (truck and bus drivers still need the 6 months)
Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 6, or CLB 5 for listed trades, or an eligible Ontario graduate credential in the last 3 years
One-year post-secondary (high school for listed trades). Foreign credentials need an Educational Credential Assessment less than 5 years old
TEER 4 to 5 job offer
9 months cumulative in the job-offer position with that employer in the last 2 years
CLB 4
Canadian high school or equivalent
Self-employed physician
No job offer. OHIP billing number plus a CPSO independent, academic, or provisional certificate. A postgraduate education licence is not enough
Other job-offer tests do not apply
Not the job-offer education grid
If you apply from inside Canada you need legal status (visitor record, study permit, or work permit), including maintained status while IRCC processes an extension filed on time. You must intend to live and work in Ontario after permanent residence.
Employer tests (job-offer files only)
The employer guide (updated August 10, 2026) requires an active business for at least 3 years, an Ontario premises where you will work, and no outstanding employment-standards or occupational-health orders. Gross annual revenue for the most recently completed fiscal year is $1,000,000 if the job is in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA: Toronto, Durham, Halton, Peel, York), $500,000 in listed mid-size census divisions, and $250,000 in each of the last two completed fiscal years everywhere else. The employer needs at least 5 Canadian citizen or permanent resident full-time staff at a GTA location, or 3 outside the GTA. The Ontario Public Service is not participating as an employer. Domestic recruitment proof is required unless you are already authorized to work in Ontario or the employer holds a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for the same NOC and position.
Advertisement
What are the new OINP streams in Ontario?
Short answer: Phase 1 of the redesign, in force June 25, 2026 and posted on the 2026 OINP updates page on June 26, 2026, removed the eight former streams and put one new stream in Ontario Regulation 422/17: Ontario Workforce Priority, with TEER 0-3, TEER 4-5, and self-employed physician categories. Ontario's June 26, 2026 newsroom release said the rebuild would go from eight streams to four, with Workforce Priority first and the remaining three later in 2026. As of October 28, 2026, Ontario has not named or opened those other three streams. The OINP hub states that Workforce Priority has launched and all other streams are closed. Files already invited under a former stream continue under the old rules.
The eight closed streams are Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, In-Demand Skills, and International Student; Master's Graduate; PhD Graduate; and Express Entry Human Capital Priorities, French-speaking Skilled Worker, and Skilled Trades. Old EOIs that had not produced an invitation were to be withdrawn. Employers already in the Employer Portal do not re-register the business. They do need a new job offer so the worker can file a new Workforce Priority EOI.
October 2026 updates. Ontario's 2026 OINP updates page lists two changes since early September:
October 5, 2026: the Canadian work experience earnings history factor in the Workforce Priority EOI system changed. Registrants who earned $80,000 or more in a single year within the past 5 years, as verified by a Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment, now receive 10 points under this factor. The change was applied automatically to existing EOIs, so registrants do not need to log in to update their scores.
October 14, 2026: a new round of the Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) initiative launched and runs to the end of 2027. The participating communities are Greater Sudbury, Kenora District, Nipissing District, Rainy River District, Renfrew County and Thunder Bay. There is no separate application process; applicants must meet OINP eligibility requirements.
How many streams are under OINP?
Short answer: One stream is open to new expressions of interest: Ontario Workforce Priority. That stream has three categories, not three separate streams. Ontario still describes a two-phase rebuild that should leave four streams in total, so three more are promised and not live. Count live intake, not closed pages that still sit on ontario.ca. The only new registration path on the OINP hub is Workforce Priority.
This is a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nomination, not a federal visa on its own. After Ontario issues a certificate of nomination, you apply to IRCC as a provincial nominee. IRCC can still refuse you. Ontario's rebuild does not open other provinces or federal Express Entry by itself.
Has Ontario issued an Ontario Workforce Priority stream draw?
Short answer: No. Ontario's invitations to apply page still lists 2026 invitation rounds only under the former Employer Job Offer and graduate streams. The latest date on that table is April 30, 2026. The 2026 program updates page has no invitation item after the August 4, 2026 notice that the Workforce Priority EOI portal is open. On June 26, 2026 Ontario said no further invitations would be issued under the former streams. Opening the portal is not a draw. Registering an EOI does not guarantee an invitation.
Ontario says it does not give advance notice before it issues invitations. It ranks one or more selection pools, generally or against targeted labour-market attributes, and invites the highest-ranking candidates. Scoring is not eligibility. You can meet every stream test and sit uninvited. EOI points reward TEER, occupational category, hourly wage, Ontario work experience, Canadian earnings, status, education, language, and work location (Northern Ontario is 15 points, Toronto is 0).
If you are eligible, register. An EOI stays in the pool for 12 months unless you are invited, you withdraw, the employer withdraws the job offer, or Ontario removes it. After 12 months you start again. Watch the invitations page and the 2026 updates page. Our Ontario PNP draw guide explains how rounds work and where results are posted. Do not treat a rumour as a substitute for those two government pages.
Get your immigration roadmap
Answer a few questions about your background and goals. See which Canadian immigration programs fit you best.
Short answer: None of the three former OINP Express Entry streams is open. Under Workforce Priority, Express Entry is an optional nomination method, not a separate stream. If you apply with a TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 job offer, or as a self-employed physician, you may ask Ontario to nominate you through IRCC's Express Entry process for provincial nominees. You must meet a federal Express Entry program, keep a valid Express Entry profile from application through nomination, and select Ontario or all provinces when you create the profile. TEER 4 to 5 job-offer files use the non-Express Entry provincial nominee route.
Ontario's stream page says that if you accept an Express Entry nomination you receive an extra 600 Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points and should get an IRCC invitation in the next provincial-nominee round. You have 30 calendar days to accept or refuse the nomination in Express Entry, then 60 calendar days to file permanent residence with IRCC. If the profile expires after nomination, Ontario says you start the OINP process again, including a new EOI. Use the CRS calculator to see where 600 points would put you.
If you do not opt into Express Entry, the nomination still supports a federal PNP application. IRCC, not Ontario, issues the visa. Read Express Entry and provincial nominee before you pick a lane.
How do I apply to the Ontario Workforce Priority stream?
Short answer: For a job offer, the employer starts. They register the business, submit a job offer in the Employer Portal, and you get a job offer ID. You then have 30 calendar days to register an EOI. There is no fee to register. The EOI stays in the pool for 12 months unless you are invited, it expires, or it is withdrawn. If Ontario invites you, the employer has 14 calendar days to apply for approval of the employment position, and you have 17 calendar days to pay and submit, but only after the employer files. Self-employed physicians start through Ontario's webform and have the 17-day clock with no employer step. Nomination is not permanent residence. You then apply to IRCC within 6 months.
If the employer misses the 14-day clock, Ontario withdraws the job offer and removes your EOI. A new job offer and a new EOI are required. If you are invited and you do not apply, the EOI is gone. You cannot submit your nomination application until the employer has submitted the position-approval file.
Item
Rule
EOI fee
$0
Applicant fee
$1,500 outside GTA; $2,000 inside GTA (Toronto, Durham, Halton, Peel, York). Same split for physicians, based on the OHIP practice address
After invitation
Employer: 14 calendar days to file position approval. Applicant: 17 calendar days to pay and submit, after the employer files
EOI window
Register within 30 calendar days of the job offer. Pool validity 12 months
After nomination
Apply to IRCC within 6 months. Express Entry: 30 days to accept, then 60 days to file PR
Approved English tests are IELTS General Training (not Academic, not One Skill Retake), CELPIP General, and PTE Core. French tests are TEF Canada and TCF Canada. The test date must be within 2 years of application. Upload the documents on the applicant checklist. If you are nominated with a job offer, Ontario issues a work permit support letter so you can ask IRCC for a work permit while the permanent residence file is in process. That letter is not a work permit. Self-employed physicians do not get one.
We are Go Far Global, a licensed Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) firm. If your employer is ready to file a job offer, or you are a physician checking the no-job-offer path, book a consultation before you attest to scoring factors you cannot prove. If you are still working out whether any Ontario pathway fits you, start with our free assessment. More explainers sit under news. Check processing times for the federal side after nomination.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute immigration or legal advice. Immigration laws and policies change frequently. Each case is unique and outcomes depend on individual circumstances. Consult a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) before making immigration decisions.
Rami Mamar is an RCIC-IRB licensed immigration consultant and Commissioner of Oaths with over a decade of experience helping clients from Iran, UAE, Syria, Armenia, and worldwide immigrate to Canada. He has overseen 10,000+ immigration cases including Express Entry, work permits, study permits, and family sponsorship applications.
