This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Immigration rules and individual circumstances can change the appropriate strategy.
What is the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream?
Ontario has published the expression-of-interest scoring factors for its new Ontario Workforce Priority Stream. Eligible candidates can receive up to 130 points based on their job offer, work location, occupation, wage, Ontario experience, Canadian earnings, education, language ability and temporary resident status.
The stream contains TEER 0–3 and TEER 4–5 job-offer pathways, plus a pathway for qualifying self-employed Ontario physicians. For the job-offer pathways, the employer uses the OINP Employer Portal to seek approval of the employment position and initiate the job-offer process. The candidate completes the separate expression-of-interest and nominee-application steps.
How does the new OINP scoring system work?
Eligibility gets a candidate into the pool; the score ranks eligible expressions of interest. A score is not an invitation, and a high score cannot correct an ineligible employer, position, job offer or candidate.
Ontario may conduct general or targeted invitation rounds. A score selected in one round should not be treated as a permanent threshold or a prediction of the next draw.
| Factor | Maximum points |
|---|---|
| Work region | 15 |
| NOC TEER level | 9 |
| Hourly wage | 15 |
| Broad occupational category | 10 |
| Ontario work experience | 18 |
| Canadian income-tax history | 8 |
| Level of education | 10 |
| Canadian educational credentials | 10 |
| Highest official-language proficiency | 15 |
| Official-language bilingualism | 10 |
| Temporary resident status | 10 |
| Maximum available | 130 |
- Work region: up to 15 points
- NOC TEER level: up to 9 points
- Hourly wage: up to 15 points
- Broad occupational category: up to 10 points
- Ontario work experience: up to 18 points
- Canadian income-tax history: up to 8 points
- Level of education: up to 10 points
- Canadian educational credentials: up to 10 points
- Highest official-language proficiency: up to 15 points
- Official-language bilingualism: up to 10 points
- Temporary resident status: up to 10 points
Work region: up to 15 points
Ontario gives the highest regional score to Northern Ontario and awards no regional points for a Toronto job offer. A Mississauga or other Peel Region job offer ordinarily falls within the GTA outside Toronto and receives five points.
A Toronto job offer is not necessarily ineligible; it simply receives zero under this factor.
Occupation and wage: up to 34 points
TEER 0 or 1 receives nine points, TEER 2 or 3 receives six, and TEER 4 or 5 receives zero under the TEER factor. The separate occupational-category factor favours health occupations, followed by trades, transport and equipment occupations, then natural and applied sciences.
Hourly wages of $40 or more receive 15 points, with progressively fewer points below that level. The wage must still meet the stream’s separate eligibility rules. Ranking points do not cure a wage that fails the applicable job-offer requirement.
Ontario experience and Canadian earnings: up to 26 points
Ontario awards the highest experience points to candidates who have worked in the position covered by the qualifying job offer. More than 24 months in that position receives 18 points; 13–24 months receives 15; and 6–12 months receives 12.
Other Ontario experience receives up to 12 points. The grid also awards up to eight points for the highest annual income shown on a Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment during the previous five years.
Education: up to 20 points
Candidates may receive up to ten points for their highest eligible level of education and up to ten additional points for eligible Canadian post-secondary credentials.
A Canadian credential must meet Ontario’s published institution and program-duration conditions. A credential that helps establish eligibility does not automatically qualify for Canadian-education ranking points.
Language and bilingualism: up to 25 points
Ontario scores the lowest result across speaking, listening, reading and writing in the candidate’s higher-scoring official language. CLB or NCLC 9 and above receives 15 points; level 8 receives 12; level 7 receives eight; and level 6 receives four.
A candidate may also receive ten bilingualism points for CLB or NCLC 6 or higher in all four abilities in both English and French, or five points for meeting that standard in one official language.
Temporary resident status: up to 10 points
A valid work permit receives ten points and a valid study permit receives five. Receiving zero status points does not necessarily make a candidate ineligible, but the person must still satisfy all legal-status and stream requirements that apply.
Who appears to benefit most from the new grid?
The grid rewards a particular labour-market profile, but it does not guarantee that Ontario will invite every high-scoring candidate. Targeted draws may prioritize occupations, regions or other attributes.
- A qualifying job offer outside Toronto, especially in Northern Ontario
- Employment in health, trades, transport, equipment or applied-science occupations
- A wage of at least $40 per hour
- Sustained Ontario experience, especially in the offered position
- Documented Canadian earnings and eligible Canadian education
- Strong English or French results and qualifying bilingualism
- A valid work permit
What should employers do?
Employers should verify the business and position before creating the job offer. The legal entity, NOC, duties, work location, wage, hours and permanent nature of the position must be accurate and consistently supported.
- Confirm operating history, revenue, staffing and Ontario-place-of-business requirements
- Classify the position under the correct NOC and TEER
- Check both the OINP wage requirement and the wage claimed for scoring
- Collect corporate, payroll, tax, workplace and job-offer records
- Record the work location accurately because region affects the score
- Coordinate employer and candidate information before either side submits
What should candidates do?
Candidates should claim only points they can prove and should review material changes before submission. A changed job, wage, work location, status document or language result can affect both eligibility and ranking.
- Collect the job offer and employment records
- Retain valid language-test results and education records
- Gather Ontario work-experience evidence and CRA Notices of Assessment
- Keep work or study permits and proof of legal status available
- Recalculate the score whenever a material fact changes
Does an OINP score guarantee an invitation?
No. A score does not reserve a nomination. Ontario controls when invitation rounds occur, which profiles qualify for a particular round and how many invitations are issued.
The proper assessment has three stages: confirm the employer and position, confirm the candidate’s pathway eligibility, and only then calculate the supportable expression-of-interest score.
What happens after an Ontario nomination?
After Ontario issues a nomination under this non-Express Entry pathway, the person must still apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for permanent residence and satisfy federal documentary and admissibility requirements.
An Ontario nomination is a major step, but it is not permanent resident status and does not guarantee federal approval.
How Immergity Immigration can help
Immergity Immigration Inc. assists Ontario employers and foreign workers with OINP eligibility reviews, NOC and wage analysis, Employer Portal preparation, expression-of-interest scoring, supporting documents and nomination applications.
A coordinated review can identify inconsistencies affecting eligibility, ranking or document credibility before an employer submits a position or a candidate relies on a score.
Official sources
This article was reviewed against official Ontario and IRCC material on July 30, 2026. Immigration requirements and invitation practices can change.