Ontario unveils scoring system for new permanent residence pathways

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has revealed how it will score candidates vying for nominations for Canadian permanent residence under its three new immigration pathways.

The highest ranking candidates will be prioritized to be invited to apply for provincial nomination under the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream (OWPS).

Those who are invited to apply will have the opportunity to obtain Canadian permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams

Each job offer candidate under the OWPS will receive a score of up to 130 points, calculated as follows:

Candidates are awarded up to 15 points according to where in Ontario they will be working:

Candidates receive up to 9 points based on the skill level accorded to their occupation under the Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) framework in Canada's National Occupation System (NOC).

Job offer candidates receive up to 15 points based on their rate of pay.

Candidates are awarded up to 10 points based on the nature of their occupation.

Candidates working at least six months in job offer position:

Income is determined on the basis of a Notice of Assessment issued by the Canada Revenue Agency.

*To count, a credential must be from an eligible Canadian post-secondary institution, and must be from a program that takes at least one year to complete on a full-time basis.

Candidates are awarded up to 15 points based on their level of proficiency in their highest scoring official language, across all four language abilities (speaking, listening, reading, and writing).

Language scores are based on the completion of a government-approved official immigration language test completed within the past two years.

Candidates can score up to 10 points for demonstrating at least an advanced intermediate level of proficiency across both official languages.

Candidates can score up to 10 points for having a valid work permit.

Candidates with neither a valid work permit or study permit must still have legal immigration status in order to qualify for the OWPS.

Self-employed physician candidates are not scored on the hourly wage factor, and are assessed using an alternate scoring method for Ontario Work Experience:

The above scoring criteria were published on the "Ontario Workforce Priority Stream" webpage, which went live on the OINP website on July 20, 2026.

The new web page page also includes lists of eligible Ontario and Canadian postsecondary institutions applicable to the education requirements and education scoring.

The OINP also published a document checklist for OWPS applicants on a separate web page on 20 July.

Pursuing permanent residence through the OWPS

The process of obtaining permanent residence through the OWPS would be as follows:

To pursue a provincial nomination for permanent residence under the OWPS, a foreign national must qualify for one of its three pathways, either as a worker with a job offer from an eligible Ontario employer, or as a self-employed physician:

To be considered for provincial nomination, an eligible foreign national must have an active expression of interest (EOI) in Ontario's online system; in the case of job offer pathways, the employer must initiate creation of the EOI.

Ontario's online EOI system is currently closed, but is expected to re-open later this summer, according to the OINP website.

Once the OINP re-opens its expression of interest system, it is expected to begin holding draws and inviting candidates to apply for provincial nomination.

The OWPS is the only new provincial immigration stream for which Ontario has announced full eligibility criteria in the course of the province's 2026 overhaul of provincial immigration programs.

Ontario retired all its old provincial immigration pathways on May 30, 2026.

The province announced the the full eligibility criteria for the three new OWPS immigration pathways on June 26, 2026.

The province has announced plans to launch three additional provincial immigration streams:

The province has not announced a launch date for any of the above streams, as of the time of writing.

The priority healthcare stream is for workers in healthcare occupations, and is not expected to require a job offer to qualify.

The Exceptional Talent stream is designed for foreign nationals demonstrating excellence in domains such as the literary, creative and performing arts, academic research, and scientific innovation.

Candidates who submitted applications for provincial nomination to the OINP under the retired streams are continuing to be being assessed on the basis of the criteria that were in place at the time their applications were received.

Ontario first announced the planned changes in December 2025.