OINP Employer Requirements: Hiring Through the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream
There is no OINP list of approved employers. Under the Ontario Workforce Priority stream, any Ontario business can support a foreign worker for permanent residence if the business itself passes Ontario's tests, and the employer, not the worker, starts the file. The stream replaced Ontario's eight old streams on June 25, 2026, opened to Expressions of Interest (EOIs) on August 4, and is now the only Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) stream taking new ones.
What your worker needs, in one paragraph
Any occupation qualifies, TEER 0 to TEER 5. The main routes run through time in the job with you: 6 consecutive months in the last 12 (3 for a recent Ontario graduate) for a TEER 0 to 3 job, and 9 months in the last 2 years for TEER 4 or 5, gained while lawfully living and working in Ontario. A TEER 0 to 3 worker can instead use 2 years in the same occupation or a mandatory licence. In practice the stream rewards keeping a worker you already have. The detail is in my complete guide to the stream.
The five tests your business must pass
Test | Requirement |
|---|---|
Time in business | Active for at least 3 years before you apply |
Location | An Ontario place of business where the worker will work; work done mainly in Ontario |
Compliance | No outstanding orders under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 or the Occupational Health and Safety Act |
Revenue | $1,000,000 (last fiscal year) in the GTA; $500,000 in 14 census divisions including Ottawa, Hamilton and Thunder Bay; $250,000 in each of the last two years elsewhere |
Staff | 5 full-time citizens or permanent residents at the work location in the GTA, 3 elsewhere, at 30+ hours a week |
Three details decide these files. Revenue and headcount follow the location where the worker works or reports to work, not your head office, so for a multi-site business the reporting location can move the bar from $1,000,000 to $250,000. Only citizens and permanent residents count: a SIN starting with 9 belongs to a temporary resident. And if you bought or amalgamated the business in the last three years, expect to prove it ran continuously, doing the same thing, with CPA-signed statements and the purchase agreement.
The job offer sets almost half the score
The offer must be full-time (at least 30 paid hours a week and 1,560 a year), permanent with no end date, urgently necessary to maintain or grow the business, and paid at least the Job Bank median wage for the occupation and region, or the low wage level for a recent Ontario graduate in a TEER 0 to 3 job. Only the base hourly wage counts, never bonuses, commissions or vacation pay.
Ontario Regulation 422/17 measures the wage against Job Bank on the day you file, not the day you signed, so I build in a margin. And the offer fixes four scoring factors before the worker does anything: TEER (up to 9 points), occupational category (10), wage (15) and work region (15). By my arithmetic that is 49 points. The wage bands are cliff edges: $39.99 an hour scores 12 points and $40.00 scores 15.
What the signed job offer letter must show
On your letterhead, signed by the responsible officer and by the worker, Ontario's employer checklist wants the job title and NOC code, wage, duties, hours per week and weeks per year, vacation, workplace address, any remote work with its location and frequency, the start date, that the job is full-time with no end date, and that its terms take effect on nomination (or, for a new hire, when the work permit issues and work starts). If the offer is over 6 months old or misses anything, add a supplementary letter signed by both of you.
Recruitment: when you must advertise, and who cannot run it
You must show reasonable efforts to hire a Canadian citizen or permanent resident first, unless the worker is already authorized to work in Ontario or you hold a positive LMIA for the same position. Ontario may ask for proof when the worker lives abroad, is visiting or works in another province. Use at least two methods, such as Job Bank and Indeed, for four weeks or more before the offer.
One rule has no flexibility. If an immigration representative carried out the recruitment, Ontario will refuse the application, because the representative gains if recruitment fails. The regulation also lets Ontario require recruitment whenever it decides it is necessary, so I keep a recruitment file even where the guide does not demand one.
The portal and your 14 days
You register the business in the Employer Portal, inside the OINP e-Filing Portal, and submit a job offer. The worker gets a job offer ID and has 30 calendar days to register an EOI, which stays in the pool for up to 12 months. If the worker is invited, you have 14 calendar days to file the application for approval of the employment position, and the worker cannot file until you do. Their side is in my guide to the invitation to apply.
You upload the signed offer and the employer consent form, which must be signed in ink by your signing officer, not your representative or an ordinary contact. Signing it lets the CRA share your tax information with Ontario and accepts site inspections under the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015. Ontario can then ask for CRA Schedules 125 and 141 or CPA-signed statements, your lease and a staff chart with T4s, so have them ready before the invitation.
After approval, you are part of the nomination
Until IRCC decides the worker's PR application, they must stay in the approved position on the approved terms, and any change in duties, wage, hours or term is reported to the OINP immediately. A promotion goes through the OINP with a revised offer signed by both of you. If the job ends, the approval and the nomination can be cancelled. A work permit needs your offer in IRCC's Employer Portal and the compliance fee. Ontario's Post-Nomination Verification Unit follows up with employers, and misrepresentation can lead to refusal, administrative monetary penalties or prosecution.
A refusal can go to internal review within 30 days, by email, identifying the error that changed the outcome. New information is rarely accepted, so the first filing has to carry the case. That is how I build provincial nominee program files from the start.
What I would do now
Test your last fiscal year and your staff at the worker's location before creating the job offer.
Choose the NOC, wage and work location deliberately. They fix 49 points.
If the worker is abroad, visiting or in another province, run the recruitment before the offer, without your immigration representative.
Name the signing officer and collect the revenue, lease and payroll records before the EOI is registered.
This article reflects the rules as of October 2026.
If you want me to review your hiring plan, you can book an online consultation. I work virtually, in English and Turkish, on flat fees. If a route does not fit your facts, I will tell you.
The articles on this site are general information, not legal advice, and reading them doesn't create a lawyer-client relationship. Immigration rules change often, so always consult a qualified Canadian immigration lawyer about your specific situation.
