On June 26, 2026, the Ontario Ministry of Labour revised the pathways and requirements under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (“OINP”).

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development in Ontario recently amended Ontario Regulation 422/17 (the “regulations”) pursuant to the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015 (OIA), which changed the permanent residence streams available under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (“OINP”). These amendments came into force on June 26, 2026.

The changes include removing the existing eight (8) streams and introduce the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream. The intent behind the re-design is to streamline pathways to permanent residence for individuals with arranged employment in Ontario, help employers retain proven talent in hard-to-fill roles, and improve access for employers in rural and northern communities through more flexible business revenue thresholds.

There are three (3) categories under the Ontario Workforce Priority stream:

1) Ontario workforce priority: TEER 0-3 category;

2) Ontario workforce priority: TEER 4-5 category; and

3) Ontario workforce priority: self-employed physician category.

Ontario Workforce Priority Stream TEER 0-5 Overview

1. TEER 0-3 pathway

This pathway targets skilled workers in all TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupations with a full-time and permanent job offer in Ontario. Minimum eligibility requirements include:

• Full-time and indeterminate job offer in a position that is urgently needed for the Employer’s business;
• Demonstrated work experience in one of the following criteria:
  • 6 months consecutive in the last 12 months in the job offer position with the job offer employer;
  • for recent Ontario graduates, 3 months consecutive in the last 12 months in the job offer position with the job offer employer;
• 2 years cumulative in the last 5 years in the same NOC occupation as the employment position to which the application relates;
• Minimum education of a post-secondary degree or diploma of at least one year of full-time study;
• Language requirement of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 6; and
• Applicant does not hold or have equity in the employer’s business, either directly or indirectly.

Alternate Criteria or Specific Exemptions

Certain occupations may have alternate criteria, such as CLB 5 language requirements and lower minimum education requirements. In other instances, applicants may count specified high-skilled related work experience towards the OINP work-experience requirement, outside of the same NOC.

Further information related to the requirements will be made clear once the program is in place.

2. TEER 4-5 pathway

This pathway is open to workers in all TEER 4-5 occupations with a full-time and permanent job offer in Ontario. This is a welcome change from the very limited list of previously eligible low-skilled positions. Minimum eligibility requirements include:

• Full-time and indeterminate job offer in a position that is urgently needed for the Employer’s business;
• Demonstrated work experience of at least 9 months cumulative experience in the last 2 years in the job offer position with the job offer employer;
• Language requirement of CLB 4 or higher;
• Minimum education of Canadian secondary school diploma or equivalent; and
• Applicant does not hold or have equity in the employer’s business, either directly or indirectly

For all Ontario Workforce Priority Stream pathways, a lower gross annual revenue requirement will apply to employers located in rural communities. For the purposes of the program, a rural community is a community located in a census division with a population of less than 150,000 people.

What Does This Mean For Employers?

Employers planning to submit an OINP Application for the Approval of an Employment Position (“Offer of Support”) will not be able to make submissions in the OINP Employer Portal until the new system comes online.

Candidates who have already registered Expressions of Interest (“EOI”) under OINP’s previous streams and not yet been invited will have their EOI’s automatically withdrawn over the coming weeks. Affected registrants, employers and representatives will receive a notice directly from OINP. Once the OINP Portal reopens under the new system, Employers will need to submit a new Offer of Support in order to initiate a new EOI for their Employee-applicant under the new program stream, if the Employee is eligible.

Applications already submitted following an invitation under a former stream will continue to be assessed against the eligibility requirements in effect at the time the application was submitted.

Employers and their Employee-candidates should familiarize themselves with the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream in anticipation of submitting new Offers of Support and EOIs once the system opens later this summer.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please reach out to a Mathews Dinsdale & Clark lawyer.