OINP Ontario Workforce Priority Stream Points Calculator and Guide

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, or OINP, is how the Province of Ontario selects skilled workers, graduates and entrepreneurs and nominates them for Canadian permanent residence. A provincial nomination is powerful: on the federal side it can be the difference that turns a profile into an invitation to apply.

This page explains how the OINP is structured, takes a closer look at the new Ontario Workforce Priority Stream, and gives you a free points calculator so you can estimate your score in a couple of minutes. It is prepared and maintained in house by Dikshit Soni, RCIC R536007, principal of SAAB Immigration Services Inc.

The OINP is not a single application. It is a set of streams grouped around who you are and what you bring to Ontario. Most candidates fit into one of these families:

Employer job offer streams. For workers who have a job offer from an Ontario employer, including the Foreign Worker, International Student and In-Demand Skills categories.

Human capital and Express Entry aligned streams. For candidates in the federal Express Entry pool, including the Human Capital Priorities, French-Speaking Skilled Worker, Skilled Trades and the new job offer based selection.

Graduate streams. The Masters Graduate and PhD Graduate streams, for people who completed an eligible advanced degree in Ontario.

Business stream. The Entrepreneur stream, for those who plan to start or buy a business in the province.

Most streams now run through an Expression of Interest system. You create a profile, you are scored, and Ontario invites the strongest profiles to submit a full application. The Ontario Workforce Priority Stream, covered next, is one of the newest additions to this family.

The Ontario Workforce Priority Stream is a job offer based pathway to permanent residence, and it is a brand new, revamped stream. Ontario published its scoring criteria on 20 July 2026 and has indicated that the Expression of Interest intake will open later in 2026. Timing and criteria are set by the province and can change, so the dates matter and we keep this page current.

The idea is straightforward. If you are already working in Ontario in the role your employer wants to keep you in, and you have a genuine, full-time, non-seasonal job offer to continue in that role, you can enter the pool. Ontario scores every candidate out of 130 points across eleven factors and invites the highest ranked in each round.

There are three ways in:

1. Skilled worker with a job offer. The main pathway. You need a qualifying job offer and a minimum period of work in that position in Ontario before you enter the pool.

2. Self-employed physician. A dedicated route for physicians practising in Ontario under the right arrangements.

3. Express Entry option. For candidates already in the federal Express Entry pool in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation, aligning a provincial nomination with the federal system.

The core eligibility rule to remember: for the main pathway you generally need at least six months of consecutive, paid, full-time work (at least 30 hours a week, or 780 hours) in the position tied to your job offer. Recent graduates of an eligible Ontario institution have a lighter requirement of three months, or 390 hours. What actually counts toward that period is where most applicants slip up, so we explain it in plain terms further down.

Your total is the sum of eleven factors. Some reward where the job is, some reward what you earn, and several reward your history in Canada. In brief:

Where the job is (up to 15). Ontario rewards work outside the biggest urban centre. Northern Ontario scores highest, the City of Toronto scores lowest, with the regions in between.

The job itself. Skill level by NOC TEER (up to 9), hourly wage (up to 15) and the broad occupational category (up to 10), with health occupations and skilled trades scoring near the top. The wage that counts is the offered base wage. Ontario does not count piece work, bonuses, commissions, vacation pay or non-financial benefits toward it, so score the regular hourly rate, not the enhanced take-home.

Your Canadian track record. Ontario work experience (up to 18), Canadian earnings history on your tax records (up to 8), and your current temporary resident status (up to 10).

Your background. Highest level of education (up to 10), Canadian educational credentials (up to 10), official language proficiency (up to 15) and English plus French bilingualism (up to 10).

Ontario does not publish a fixed pass mark. It invites the highest scoring candidates in each round, so the score you need depends on the strength of the pool at the time. The calculator below adds these factors up for you.

Answer each question, then enter your details to reveal your estimated score out of 130 and get it by email. Pick your city and the tool finds your work region and points for you. Because the stream is brand new, there is no benchmark or safe score yet; this shows where you stand on the 130-point scale, and we will add real cut-offs here as Ontario runs its rounds. This is an unofficial estimate for guidance, not a decision or a guarantee.

For the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream, the six month eligibility period is not just any time you have spent in Canada. It is paid, full-time, authorized work performed in Ontario, in the occupation tied to your job offer. Reading that sentence carefully saves a lot of disappointment.

Paid and full-time. The work has to be paid at the going rate and full-time, which Ontario treats as at least 30 hours a week. Part-time hours can be counted where the total reaches the required number of hours, but casual, occasional or unpaid work does not qualify.

Authorized. You must have had the legal right to do that work at the time. This is where study permit holders need to be careful. The part-time hours you are allowed to work while studying, and most co-op or internship work tied to a study permit, are generally not the kind of full-time, open work that builds qualifying experience for this stream. In practice, the clock on qualifying Ontario work experience usually starts once you move onto a post-graduation work permit and begin full-time work in your occupation.

In the right occupation. The experience should be in the same occupation as your job offer, so that Ontario can see a genuine, continuing role rather than an unrelated stint.

If you are a recent graduate of an eligible Ontario institution, the requirement is lighter: three months, or 390 hours, rather than six months. If you are not sure whether your history counts, this is exactly the kind of thing to confirm with an RCIC before you rely on it. A wrong assumption here can cost you a nomination.

The stream has two gates. Your employer has to qualify, and so do you.

The employer. Ontario expects a real, established business: active for at least three years, with premises in Ontario where you will actually work, no outstanding orders under the Employment Standards Act or the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and it must meet a minimum revenue and a minimum number of full-time Canadian or permanent resident employees. Both of those are tiered by where the job sits: a job in the Greater Toronto Area has to clear a higher revenue and headcount bar, and the thresholds drop for jobs outside the GTA. One rule catches people off guard: the employer only has to prove they tried to recruit a Canadian or permanent resident first if you are living outside Canada or working outside Ontario. If you are already working in Ontario, usually on a valid work permit, that recruitment step does not apply.

The candidate. You need an employer who has registered and submitted your position for approval, an invitation to apply within the deadline, the work experience your TEER level requires, the language level your occupation requires, the education the stream asks for, valid legal status if you are in Canada (maintained status counts), and a genuine intention to live and work in Ontario after you are granted permanent residence.

Because the Workforce Priority Stream is new, there is no draw history yet and no established safe score. Ontario published the criteria on 20 July 2026 and is expected to open the Expression of Interest intake later in 2026. As soon as Ontario begins holding rounds and publishing results, this section will fill in with each round’s date, the number of invitations and the score range, so you can see how the cut-offs are actually landing. Check back, or ask us and we will tell you where the numbers sit.

• Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP)
• Express Entry
• Express Entry Draws and CRS Trends
• Post-Graduation Work Permit