Ontario-OINP Foreign Worker Stream For Permanent Residency

Last Updated On 11 July 2024, 10:12 AM EDT (Toronto Time)

Ontario offers a provincial nominee program for permanent residency (PR) known as the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP).

For starters, Ontario, Canada’s largest province by area, is home to around 39% of the Canadian population.

The most commonly known and largest Canadian city, Toronto, is the capital of Ontario, with a population of around 3 million and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), with a population of around 6.5 million.

To put it in perspective, Canada’s total population just soared past 41 million in June 2024.

With the federal Express Entry system for permanent residency becoming competitive, OINP turns out to be the better option for foreign nationals seeking PR in Ontario.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) offers permanent residency under various streams with a total allocated quota of 21,500 for 2024 and foreign worker stream usually account for around 30% of the quota.

In this article, we list detailed eligibility criteria and how to apply for the Foreign Worker Stream, which has already issued 3,569 PR invitations in 2024 and sent out 6,456 invitations last year.

OINP Streams At A Glance

OINP offers two broad categories of provincial nominee programs: provincial Expression of Interest (EOI) streams and Express Entry streams.

For Expression of Interest (EOI) streams, individuals need to create a profile with OINP, while OINP Express Entry streams automatically scan and select existing profiles in the Express Entry system that meet the eligibility criteria.

OINP announces rounds of invitations outlining the selection criteria after some intervals and sends permanent residency invites to selected candidates, commonly known as OINP draws.

Invited candidates under these streams have 14 days to respond to an invitation by OINP, as compared to 45 days for OINP Express Entry streams.

OINP Foreign Worker Stream Eligibility

Securing a job offer is the major component in the Foreign Worker Stream, similar to the International Student Stream and the In-Demand Skills Stream.

To qualify for the Foreign Worker stream, you must have a full-time (1,560 hours per year), permanent, and indefinite (without an end date) job offer from an employer in Ontario in a TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupation.

Self-employed professionals, including physicians, are not eligible for the OINP Employer Job Offer streams.

Furthermore, the pay rate of the job offer must be equal to or higher than the occupation’s median wage as per the Job Bank website for the specific region of Ontario where the individual will be working.

For regulated professions, applicants must have a license issued by the regulatory authority.

For other occupations, applicants must have at least 2 years (at least 3,120 hours) of cumulative paid full-time work experience in the same occupations in the last 5 years.

Employer requirements to offer a job offer for this stream include the business being in operation for at least 3 years with a minimum annual gross revenue requirement as listed below:

Location where the applicant will work or report to work	Minimum Annual Gross Revenue Needed	Number of Employees Working Requirement at the location
Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto, Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions)	$1,000,000	must have at least 5 full-time Canadian citizens or permanent residents working or reporting to work
Outside the Greater Toronto Area	$500,000	must have at least 3 full-time Canadian citizens or permanent residents working or reporting to work

An employer needs to demonstrate that they made enough effort to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident for the job, except if

• the applicant is already on a work permit working for the employer in Ontario

or

• employer already has the positive labour market impact assessment (LMIA) for this job position.

There is no mandatory language requirement, but having language proficiency in English or French adds valuable extra points to the profile.

Once a job offer is secured, other requirements, such as the intention to live in Ontario and/or legal status in Canada (if already in Canada), can be easily met, but there can be variations on a case-by-case basis.

OINP Foreign Worker Stream Points Calculator

1. Job offer, NOC TEER Categories Points

NOC category	Points
NOC TEER 0 or 1	10 Points
NOC TEER 2 or 3	8 Points

1. Job offer; NOC broad occupational category Points

Occupational Category	Points
Occupational Categories 0, 2, and 3	10 Points
Occupational Category 7	8 Points
Occupational Category 1, 9	5 points
Occupational Category 4, 8	4 points
Occupational Category 5, 6	3 points

3. Job offer, wage rate points

Offered Wage Rate	Points
$40 per hour or higher	10 Points
$35 to $39.99 per hour	8 Points
$30 to $34.99 per hour	7 points
$25 to $29.99 per hour	6 points
$20 to $24.99 per hour	5 points
Less than $20 per hour	No points

4. Work permit status points

Work Permit Status	Points
With a valid work permit	10 Points
Without valid work permit	No points

5. Points for job tenure with job offer employer

Job Tenure in Ontario	Points
6 months or more working in the job offer position	3 points
Less than 6 months	No points

6. Canadian work experience points

As per the Canada Revenue Agency’s Notice of Assessment (NOA) in the last five years:

Annual earning	Points
$40,000 or more	3 points
Less than $40,000	No points

7. Language Proficiency Points

English or French proficiency	Points
CLB 9 or higher	10 Points
CLB 8	6 Points
CLB 7	4 points
CLB 6 or lower	No points

8. Knowledge of Official languages points

Bilingual or Unilingual	Points
Knows Both English and French	10 points
Knows either English or French	5 points

9. Regionalization points

Location of the job offer	Points
Northern Ontario	10 Points
Other areas outside GTA (except Toronto and Northern Ontario)	8 Points
GTA regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel and York, except Toronto	3 points
City of Toronto	No points

Northern Ontario includes Muskoka, Haliburton, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Manitoulin, Sudbury, Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury, Timiskaming, Cochrane, Algoma, Thunder Bay, Rainy River, and Kenora.

How to Apply For OINP Foreign Worker Stream

If an individual meets all the eligibility criteria for the Foreign Worker Stream, then the first step involves registering an Expression of Interest (EOI) using OINP e-filing portal..

Only one EOI registration per OINP stream is allowed and creating an EOI profile with OINP is totally free and valid for up to 12 months.

Once you create your profile, a score is assigned based on the above-mentioned scoring matrix.

In an upcoming OINP round of invitations for the Foreign Workers Stream, a selection criteria, including the cutoff score, is announced, and invitations are extended to eligible profiles in the e-filing portal.

You may receive an invitation to apply if your score is higher than the cutoff score and you meet any other selection criteria outlined by that particular draw.

Invited candidates have 14 days to submit a complete application using the OINP e-filing portal.

Process After OINP Nomination

Successful submitted complete applications receive Ontario provincial nomination approval letter and a nomination certificate via email.

OINP may also send work permit support letter to extend your stay as a worker.

With provincial nomination proofs, you can then apply to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residency and work permit (if applicable).

Following conditions are still applicable after an individual receive the nomination and needs to be maintained:

1. reasonable demonstration of an intention to reside in Ontario.
2. continue to be employed in the approved job position if you are already working on a work permit for the employer.
3. work permit application must be submitted within 6 months and start work for the employer within 10 months from the nomination date, if you are not already working for the employer.
4. approved individuals must inform to OINP in writing by emailing to ontarionominee@ontario.ca if you have not started working within 10 months from the date of your nomination.
5. continue to be employed in the approved job position during the nomination period until you receive permanent residency.
   • This means that your employment terms must remain consistent throughout the nomination period including:
     • employer
     • job title and duties
     • wage rate
     • work hours
     • location of work

OINP Foreign Worker Stream Processing Time

Under the foreign worker stream, OINP can take up to 4-5 months to process the nomination form the date of submission of complete application after receiving the invitation to apply.

This does not include time take by the IRCC to process permanent residency applications or work permit (if applicable).

For permanent residency application, below are the latest IRCC processing times for provincial nominee programs:

PNP programs	Processing time as of July 3
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) via Express Entry	6 months
Non-Express Entry PNP	11 months

All The OINP foreign workers stream draws in 2024

In 2024, the OINP’s Foreign Worker Stream held six draws, issuing 3,544 permanent residency invitations, as listed below.

Date	Invitations	Cut-off Score	Description
June 17, 2024	106	39 and above	Targeted draw for Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202)
June 11, 2024	124	43 and above	Targeted draw for Early childhood educators and assistants (NOC 42202)
April 23, 2024	209	53 and above	Targeted draw for 61 skilled trades occupations
January 19, 2024	1,654	50 and above	General Draw
January 9, 2024	630	33 and above	Targeted draw for 63 skilled trades occupations
January 9, 2024	821	40 and above	Targeted draw for 41 healthcare and 15 tech occupations

---

---

---

You may also like: New Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Applications Open March 16

Next Canada Child Benefit Payments Coming On March 20

New Canada CDB Payment Of Up To $200 In March 2026

New Ontario Rent Cap for 2026 Every Tenant Must Know