Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program restructured into three new workforce-priority streams

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

Ontario has overhauled its Immigrant Nominee Program by replacing the previous eight applicant categories (foreign worker, international student with job offer, in-demand skills, master's graduate, Ph.D. graduate, human capital priorities, French-speaking skilled worker, skilled trades, and entrepreneur) with three new streams: Ontario Workforce Priority TEER 0-3 (higher-skill occupations), Ontario Workforce Priority TEER 4-5 (lower-skill occupations), and Ontario Workforce Priority Self-Employed Physician. Each stream has its own work-experience, education, and language requirements tied to the applicant's Ontario work history, occupation level, and graduate status. Employer eligibility rules for job-offer approvals have also changed: a new tiered revenue threshold applies depending on whether the job is in the Greater Toronto Area, one of several named census divisions, or elsewhere in Ontario, and the acceptable CVOR safety rating for truck and transit employers has been narrowed. Applications submitted before the changeover date will be assessed under the rules that applied at that time. Employers and prospective nominees should review the new stream criteria and employer revenue thresholds carefully before applying or submitting job-offer approval requests.

Who this affects: foreign nationals seeking Ontario immigration nomination · employers sponsoring job-offer approvals under OINP · recent Ontario post-secondary graduates · self-employed physicians applying for nomination · immigration representatives and consultants