Ontario closed the former Employer Job Offer streams (Foreign Worker, In-Demand Skills and International Student) effective June 25, 2026. Ontario has published the Ontario Workforce Priority stream framework, but as of Ontario's latest dated July 20, 2026 update, the new Workforce Priority EOI system has not yet opened to new registrations. This page explains the current structure and what happened to the closed streams. Confirm the current intake and portal status on ontario.ca before you act. See our OINP overview.
Ontario – Employment job offer
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Ontario job-offer immigration after the 2026 OINP redesign
Ontario redesigned the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program in 2026. The former Employer Job Offer streams, Foreign Worker, In-Demand Skills and International Student, were closed effective June 25, 2026, together with the Master’s Graduate, PhD Graduate and the three Express Entry human capital streams. Ontario’s former streams are closed to new EOIs and invitations. Ontario has published the Workforce Priority framework, but the latest dated July 20, 2026 program update says the new EOI system is expected to launch later this summer.
If you have a job offer from an Ontario employer, the Ontario Workforce Priority stream is the published replacement framework for new job-offer candidates once Ontario opens the new EOI intake. It is a different stream with its own eligibility rules, not a renamed version of the streams that closed. Nothing on this page is an eligibility assessment. Confirm the current intake and portal status on ontario.ca before you or your employer take any step.
How the Ontario Workforce Priority process will work after EOI intake opens
Ontario has published the process that will apply when the new Workforce Priority EOI intake opens. The process starts with the employer, not the applicant: the employer submits a new job offer through the OINP Employer Portal, the candidate receives a job offer ID, and the candidate must register the EOI within 30 calendar days of the employer submitting that job offer. Do not treat the published process or an accessible portal as confirmation that new EOI registration is open.
After the new EOI intake opens, Ontario’s published process provides for selection from the Workforce Priority pools. Where an invitation is issued, the employer has 14 calendar days to submit the application for approval of the employment position and the applicant has 17 calendar days to submit the nomination application and pay the fee. Those deadlines describe the published process after an invitation; they do not mean new EOI registration is currently open. Registering does not guarantee an invitation and an invitation does not guarantee a nomination.
A provincial nomination is not permanent residence. IRCC makes the final decision on who becomes a permanent resident, and assesses admissibility separately.
Current Ontario Workforce Priority pathways
Job offers in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3
Ontario uses the NOC 2021 structure and TEER categories. For a job offer in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3, Ontario looks for work experience in the offered occupation: six months of consecutive full-time experience in the past year, or three months for recent graduates of an eligible Ontario institution who completed the credential within the last three years, or two years of cumulative experience in the same NOC occupation within the last five years.
Language is generally Canadian Language Benchmark 6 in all four abilities, with CLB 5 accepted for eligible skilled trades and an exemption route for recent graduates of eligible Ontario institutions. Education is generally a postsecondary credential of at least one year, a high school diploma for skilled trades, or the mandatory licence where the occupation is regulated by law. A credential obtained outside Canada needs an educational credential assessment less than five years old.
Job offers in TEER 4 or 5
For a job offer in TEER 4 or 5, Ontario looks for at least nine months of cumulative, paid, full-time work experience in the employment position the employer is seeking approval for, within the last two years.
Language is CLB 4 or higher in all four abilities. Education is a Canadian secondary school diploma or its equivalent, with an educational credential assessment where the credential was obtained outside Canada.
Self-employed physicians
The stream also has a route for self-employed physicians who do not have a job offer. It applies to physicians who hold the applicable certificate of registration from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and who have an Ontario Health Insurance Plan billing number. The applicant checklist published on ontario.ca sets out the additional documents required for this route.
Employer and job-offer requirements
The job offer must be for a full-time and permanent position in Ontario, must be urgently necessary to the employer’s business, must not be affected by a labour dispute, and must meet the wage threshold that applies to the work location.
The employer must have been in active business for at least three years, must have business premises in Ontario where the applicant will work, and must have no outstanding orders under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 or the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Ontario also applies minimum gross revenue thresholds and minimum counts of full-time Canadian citizen or permanent resident employees, which differ inside and outside the Greater Toronto Area, and requires recruitment efforts where the applicant is outside Canada or outside Ontario.
Ontario’s Employer Guide is now updated for the Workforce Priority framework. The current guide, updated July 20, 2026, sets out employer and job-offer requirements and should be read together with the Workforce Priority stream page and Ontario Regulation 422/17. Because intake status is separate from eligibility guidance, confirm the latest dated OINP program update before creating or relying on a new EOI.
Expression of interest and invitation
Ontario’s published Workforce Priority process says that, after EOI intake opens, the program may rank candidates on a general basis or target labour-market or human-capital attributes and invite the highest-ranking candidates selected in that round. Do not carry an old Employer Job Offer stream score or historical draw threshold forward as a current Workforce Priority selection rule.
Ontario also confirmed that expressions of interest and job offers registered under the former streams that had not resulted in an invitation to apply would be withdrawn automatically. If you registered before the redesign and were never invited, assume that registration is gone and check your account directly.
Portal and intake status can change without notice. Check the current status on ontario.ca on the day you act.
What happened to the former Employer Job Offer streams?
The Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream, the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream and the Employer Job Offer: International Student stream were closed effective June 25, 2026. Ontario no longer issues invitations under any of them. The Master’s Graduate, PhD Graduate, Express Entry Human Capital Priorities, Express Entry French-speaking Skilled Worker and Express Entry Skilled Trades streams were closed at the same time.
Applications that were already submitted following an invitation under a former stream continue to be assessed against the eligibility requirements that were in effect when the application was submitted. Closure of a stream does not by itself end an application that was validly submitted.
Older eligibility material for these streams, including the four-digit occupation codes from the 2016 version of the National Occupational Classification and the older skill level wording, is historical. It does not describe any current Ontario route.
Official Ontario sources
Confirm everything on this page against the Ontario government sources below. The dates shown are the last updated dates displayed by ontario.ca when current Ontario sources were rechecked on August 16, 2026.
- Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP), updated July 14, 2026
- Ontario Workforce Priority stream, updated July 10, 2026
- Ontario Workforce Priority stream applicant checklist, updated July 20, 2026
- How to use the Employer Portal, updated May 29, 2026
- OINP Employer Guide for Workforce Priority, updated July 20, 2026
- 2026 OINP program updates, updated July 20, 2026
Get advice based on the current rules
MAK Canadian Immigration Services provides immigration consulting services through Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCICs) licensed by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). If you hold an Ontario job offer, or you were in the pipeline under a stream that has now closed, book a consultation and we will assess your position against the rules that actually apply today.
