A provincial nomination is the single best way to assure an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence in Canada as it is worth an additional 600 points and practically ensures your Express Entry profile will be at the top of your candidates’ pool and you will receive an ITA. We are here to have a deep dive into Ontario’s provincial nominee program.
Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)
Attention:
- Ontario’s Expression of Interest system was temporarily closed down on June 25, 2026.
- If you have submitted an application but have not received an ITA (invitation to apply) your application will be deleted and you’ll have to register all over again at the new portal, when it opens.
Ontario is the 4th largest province or territory in Canada but it is by far and away the most populous province in Canada, containing one third of the country’s population. The vast majority of these people are located in southern Ontario, which makes up about 1/6th of the total land area. It is the most densely populated part of Canada, meaning there are more immigrants here than anywhere else, but there is also more competition for jobs.
As we mentioned recently here, OINP has replaced their previous streams for permanent residence with the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream. The goal remains using an Ontario provincial nomination to gain permanent residence in Ontario. The process, however, has changed. Here are the details as of mid-August 2026. But remember, more changes are coming.
Let’s see what we know so far:
- The process begins with your employer, who has to register with OINP and submit a job offer in OINP’s employer portal.
- OINP will asses the validity of the job offer and ensure that your employer is eligible to offer a job. This includes:
- Having been in business for at least 3 years
- Having their business located in Ontario
- Complying with Ontario employment and health and safety standards
- Meet annual revenue requirements – $1 million in the GTA and $500,000 in specified cities and areas and $250,000 in more rural and isolated areas of the province to encourage immigration to these other areas of Ontario
- Have 5 Canadian citizens or permanent residents as full-time employees if in GTA
- Have 3 Canadian citiznes or permanent residents as full-time employees in rest of the province
- These employees must work a minimum of 30 hours a week
- Have made a reasonable effort to hire a Canadian or PR for the job unless the employer’s job offer is to a foreign worker authorized to work in Canada, or the employer has an LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment)
- Must NOT use an immigration representative to conduct domestic recruitment efforts (that have failed and therefore opened up the possibility of hiring a foreign worker).
- The job offer must:
- Be for a permanent and full-time job
- Be “urgently necessary” for your employer’s business
- Not affect any labour disputes
- Include a wage appropriate for your type of work
- You will next receive an automatic email with a Job Offer ID number
- Use the Job Offer ID to register an Expression of Interest (EOI) at OINP’s e-Filing Portal. You will have 30 calendar days from when your employer submits the job offer to the Employer Portal to then register an Expression of Interest (EOI) with OINP. So make sure your employer lets you know when they have submitted your job offer.
Registering an EOI is somewhat like creating an Express Entry profile. There are eligibility requirements and then there are scoring factors. Do not confuse them: eligibility requirements get you in the door; scoring factors hopefully separate you from other candidates in an EOI pool and get you an invitation to apply. Let’s look at both:
- Ontario Workforce Priority Stream: Eligibility requirements include the following:
- Have an Ontario job offer
- Have an Invitation to Apply (ITA) from OINP
- Have sufficient work experience, such as:
- 6 months consecutive full-time paid work experience in the previous 12 months, OR …
- 3 months consecutive full-time paid work experience for recent Ontario graduates, OR …
- 2 years cumulative full-time paid work experience in the previous 5 years
- Have appropriate licensing/certification if required for the job
- Have official language abilities – CLB 6 for professional jobs, CLB 5 for skilled trades
- Have qualifying post-secondary degree or diploma
- Have legal status in Canada and Ontario
- Have a demonstrated intent to reside in Ontario
- Expression of interest (EOI) Scoring Factors are outlined in the following table:
| EOI Factor | Criteria | Points |
|---|---|---|
| NOC TEER | TEER 0–1 | 9 |
| TEER 2–3 | 6 | |
| TEER 4–5 | 0 | |
| NOC Broad Occupational Category | Category 3 | 10 |
| Category 7 | 8 | |
| Category 2 | 6 | |
| Categories 0, 1, 4, 8, 9 | 4 | |
| Categories 5, 6 | 2 | |
| Hourly Wage | $40/hour or more | 15 |
| $35–$39.99 | 12 | |
| $30–$34.99 | 10 | |
| $25–$29.99 | 8 | |
| $20–$24.99 | 5 | |
| Below $20 | 0 | |
| Ontario Experience in Job-Offer Position | 24+ months | 18 |
| 13–24 months | 15 | |
| 6–12 months | 12 | |
| Under 6 months | 0 | |
| Other Ontario Work Experience* | 24+ months | 12 |
| 13–24 months | 9 | |
| 6–12 months | 6 | |
| Under 6 months | 0 | |
| Canadian Earnings History | $70,000+ in one year | 8 |
| $50,000–$69,999 | 6 | |
| $30,000–$49,999 | 4 | |
| Under $30,000 | 0 | |
| Legal Status in Canada | Valid work permit | 10 |
| Valid study permit | 5 | |
| Neither | 0 | |
| Highest Education | Doctorate / professional degree | 10 |
| Master’s degree | 8 | |
| Bachelor’s degree or equivalent | 6 | |
| Qualifying college/trade credential | 5 | |
| Below qualifying level | 0 | |
| Knowledge of Official Languages | English and French | 10 |
| English or French | 5 | |
| Location of Ontario Job | Northern Ontario | 15 |
| Eastern Ontario | 10 | |
| Central Ontario outside GTA | 10 | |
| Southwestern Ontario | 10 | |
| GTA outside Toronto | 5 | |
| Toronto | 0 |
*Ontario applies this alternative Ontario-experience scale when the applicant has less than six months in the actual job-offer position.
- Next, OINP reviews the applicant eligibility requirements to ensure that they are eligible. They then look at the scoring factors for candidates in an EOI pool and send out ITAs to the highest-scoring candidates.
- Again, this is similar to how Express Entry works. However, what has changed with the Ontario Nomination process is that you no longer use Express Entry as your entry point in the process of applying for a nomination. With the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream, you now start by registering an EOI at OINP’s ePortal, as we mentioned above.
Let’s review the application process we’ve covered so far, because for some candidates there will now be an important choice to make. As well, there are 2 overlapping deadlines that you have to coordinate with your employer, or your application will be withdrawn.
First, the overlapping deadlines that kick in the day OINP issues the ITA (step 3 below):
- Employer deadline: 14 calendar days from the date the ITA is issued. While your employer creates your job offer when they register at the Employer Portal (step 1 below), they now need to get that job offer approved, and have 14 calendar days to submit an application for approval of the employment position.
- Applicant deadline: 17 calendar days from the date the ITA is issued. You the applicant have 17 days to submit your nomination application and pay the fee. BUT, you cannot submit your application until your employer has submitted their job approval application.
- So, by all means prepare your nomination application, get all your documents ready and know where to pay the fee. Once your employer has submitted their application then go ahead and submit yours and pay the fee.
- If your employer fails to submit their application during those 14 calendar days, your application will be withdrawn.
- Remember, you DON’T automatically have 3 extra days to submit your application for nomination. You have 17 calendar days MINUS the days the employer waits to file their application. For example: your employer submits 12 days after the ITA was issued. You therefore have 17 – 12 = 5 calendar days left to submit your application.
- And if the employer files 15 or more days after the ITA was issued, your application will be withdrawn.
