OINP Resumes Accepting Candidates: Ontario Workforce Priority Stream Portal Opens August 4, 2026 | ImmigraCan

On August 4, 2026, the Ontario government reopened the door to provincial nomination: the Expression of Interest (EOI, the statement of interest a candidate fills out before being invited) portal for the new Ontario Workforce Priority Stream (OWPS) went live. It's the first time Ontario has accepted candidates since it revoked all OINP (Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program, Ontario's provincial nomination program) streams on May 30, 2026 — more than two months with no active provincial route in Canada's most sought-after province.

Why the OINP sat idle for two months

Regular ImmigraCan readers already know that, on May 30, 2026, Ontario revoked all nine OINP streams at once — Foreign Worker, Human Capital Priorities, Skilled Trades, Masters and PhD Graduate, Entrepreneur, among others — leaving anyone with a profile or application already underway not knowing what to do.

What happened in the meantime:

• May 30, 2026 — all of the OINP's old streams were revoked
• June 26, 2026 — Ontario announced Phase 1 of the program's redesign, creating the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream as the main route for job-offer-linked nomination
• August 4, 2026 — the EOI portal officially opened, allowing eligible candidates to submit an expression of interest

In other words: the program didn't end, it was restructured. And now, for the first time since May, you can actually apply.

How the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream works

The OWPS has three eligibility paths:

• TEER 0 to 3 workers (higher-skilled occupations) — need a permanent, full-time job offer in Ontario, plus at least 6 months of recent experience in the role (3 months for those who recently graduated in Ontario), or 2 years of related experience in the last 5 years, or a professional license required for the occupation
• TEER 4 and 5 workers (more basic essential occupations) — need at least 9 months of relevant full-time experience in the last 2 years, in addition to the job offer
• Self-employed physicians — the only path with no job offer requirement, but they must be regular members of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and eligible to bill OHIP (the province's public healthcare system)

The general language and education requirements are CLB (Canadian Language Benchmark, the official English/French proficiency scale used for immigration) 6, with CLB 5 for some specific occupations, and a post-secondary diploma or certificate as the minimum education level.

What the Ontario employer needs to meet

It's not just the candidate who needs to qualify — the company making the offer has its own barrier to entry:

• An active business in Ontario for at least 3 years
• A physical address where the candidate will actually work
• No pending Employment Standards or Health and Safety orders
• Minimum revenue over the last two fiscal years: CAD 1 million for businesses in the Greater Toronto Area, CAD 500,000 in regions like Ottawa, Waterloo, Hamilton, and Niagara, and CAD 250,000 in the rest of the province

This significantly narrows the pool of eligible employers — it's worth confirming with HR or the business owner whether the company offering the position meets these numbers before counting on this route.

How to submit the Expression of Interest

An eligible candidate creates the EOI on Ontario's e-Filing portal. Unlike federal Express Entry, the OWPS doesn't yet have a published history of invitation rounds — it's a new system, so the pace and selection criteria within the EOI pool (whether it will be by score, first-come-first-served, or a priority-sector draw) is still being watched by the market in these first weeks of operation.

What this means if you already had a profile in the old OINP

If you had an EOI or application in progress in any of the nine streams revoked in May, it doesn't migrate automatically — you need to reassess whether your profile fits one of the OWPS's three paths and submit a new EOI. It's worth rereading the guide on the OINP revocation and alternatives to understand what still applies.

For those in the Express Entry pool, a confirmed OWPS nomination still adds the 600-point bonus to your CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System, the Express Entry points system) — the same impact an OINP nomination had before the restructuring. Anyone who wants to check whether their own professional profile (including regulated trades) fits a PNP or federal program can use ImmigraCan's free eligibility quiz, which matches your profile against the available programs. And to compare the OWPS with other provincial nomination routes and federal programs, the immigration programs catalog brings all the options together in one place.

Keep an eye on Phase 2

Ontario has already signaled that a second phase of the OINP redesign is in the works, with proposed streams focused on healthcare (Priority Healthcare Stream), exceptional talent (Exceptional Talent Stream), and a redesigned version of the entrepreneur stream — but none of these routes has a confirmed eligibility rule or launch date yet. Anyone who fits these profiles and doesn't qualify for the current OWPS should follow upcoming official announcements before making any decisions based on expectations.

*Information based on official announcements from the Ontario government about the OINP restructuring and CIC News coverage of the EOI portal opening on August 4, 2026. This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace legal or immigration advice — ImmigraCan is not affiliated with the Government of Canada or the Government of Ontario. For your specific case, consult a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or specialized lawyer.*