Ontario is nominating workers again. Find out if you're one of them.

Your EOI score is out of 130 points across 11 factors: TEER category (9), broad occupational category (10), hourly wage (15), Ontario work experience (18), Canadian earnings (8), legal status (10), highest education (10), Canadian post-secondary credentials (10), lowest CLB across four skills (15), knowledge of both official languages (10), and region of job offer (15).

No cutoffs have been published yet — the EOI system is newly live. In practice, applicants with strong regional (Northern Ontario), language (CLB 9+), and wage scores rank higher. We track draw results and email subscribers when cutoffs are published.

Use the Government of Canada NOC 2021 tool at noc.esdc.gc.ca and search by job title. Your NOC is a 5-digit code — the second digit is your TEER category.

Yes. The stream is designed to distribute nominations across the province. Toronto scores 0 regionalization points; the GTA outside Toronto scores 5; Eastern, Central-outside-GTA, and Southwestern Ontario score 10; Northern Ontario scores 15.

Recent eligible Ontario graduates (2+ year diploma/degree, Ontario College Graduate Certificate, master's or PhD in the last 3 years) are exempt from the language test requirement for eligibility. Test scores still earn up to 25 EOI points, so submit them if you have them.

For nurse aides, orderlies and personal support workers (NOC 33102), an Ontario college certificate in a related field satisfies the education requirement even though the general TEER 3 rule asks for a 1-year credential.

Yes — there is a dedicated path for physicians with an OHIP billing number and a CPSO independent, academic, or provisional certificate (postgraduate education licence does NOT qualify). Employer-side requirements do not apply.

Two things, both done online in the OINP Employer Portal: (1) submit a 'job offer' with basic information about your business and the position — this generates a job offer ID your employee uses to register their EOI; (2) if your employee is invited to apply, submit a fuller 'application for approval of an employment position' with supporting documents. The employee handles their own PR application, documents, and fees.

No. This is not family sponsorship. The employer is not financially responsible for the worker and is not guaranteeing anything to the government beyond the truthfulness of the job information provided. You're confirming the job is real, full-time, permanent, and paid at the required wage.

There is no government fee for the employer's portal submissions — the application fee is paid by the worker on their PR application. The real cost is time gathering documents (financial statements, business registration, premises info) and filling out the forms.

In active business for 3+ years; a business premises in Ontario where the employee will work; a clean record under the ESA and OHSA (no outstanding orders); minimum gross annual revenue of $1M in the GTA or $500K outside (with a lower threshold for rural employers in census divisions under 150,000 population); minimum full-time Canadian/PR employees at the work location (5 in the GTA, 3 outside); and recruitment efforts only if the candidate lives outside Canada or works outside Ontario.

No. LMIA is a separate federal process with mandatory advertising and a $1,000 fee. The OINP process is provincial, has no employer fee, and if the candidate already works for the employer in Ontario, no recruitment proof is needed at all.

Full-time and permanent (indeterminate duration — no fixed-term or part-time), located at the employer's Ontario premises, 'urgently necessary' to the business, and at the required wage level for the position and location. Higher hourly wages also earn the employee more EOI points.

1) Employer registers in the Employer Portal and submits the job offer first. 2) Employee has 30 days to register their EOI using the job offer ID. 3) If invited, the employer has 14 calendar days to submit the application for approval of the employment position — the employee's 17-day window cannot start until the employer submits. 4) If nominated, the worker applies to IRCC within 6 months.

Keep employing the worker in the approved position at the approved wage until PR is granted or refused; report any change to the terms of employment to the OINP immediately; and respond to Post-Nomination Verification Unit follow-ups. Accurate submissions and timely reporting are the entire compliance strategy.

3+ years in active business, a business premises in Ontario, a clean ESA/OHSA record (no outstanding orders), revenue of $1M (GTA), $500K (14 listed mid-size areas), or $250K (everywhere else in each of the two most recent fiscal years), 5 (GTA) or 3 (elsewhere) full-time Canadian citizen or PR employees at the work location, and a full-time permanent job offer at the required wage.

Three tiers based on the work location: $1,000,000 in the Greater Toronto Area; $500,000 in 14 listed mid-size areas (Ottawa, Waterloo, Hamilton, Simcoe County, Middlesex, Niagara, Essex, Wellington, Greater Sudbury, Frontenac, Peterborough, Brant, Hastings, Thunder Bay); $250,000 in each of the last two fiscal years anywhere else in Ontario.

No — an LMIA is not required. However, without a positive LMIA and if the candidate is not already authorized to work in Ontario, the employer must complete domestic recruitment before offering the position (at least two advertising methods, posted for at least four weeks, with required ad content — never conducted by an immigration representative).

A work permit ties your status to one employer and one expiry date. Permanent residence removes both. You stop renewing permits, you can change jobs or start something of your own, your spouse gets an open work permit, your children pay domestic tuition, and the clock toward citizenship starts.

They keep a trained employee instead of replacing one, they stop carrying the risk of a permit expiring mid-project, and it costs them no government fee, no LMIA and no recruitment spend. The portal work itself is about 25 minutes.

No. Employer-initiated nomination is not family sponsorship. The business is not financially responsible for you and does not guarantee your status. It is confirming that a real full-time permanent job exists at the stated wage, and that the information it submits is accurate.

About 25 minutes to submit the job offer once the portal account exists, plus a one-time registration. If you are invited to apply, the fuller application for approval of the employment position takes longer and must be submitted within 14 calendar days.

This stream cannot proceed without them, but nothing else is lost — your work permit and status are unaffected. Options are to ask again with the objection script once the misunderstanding is clear (usually the fear of sponsorship or liability), or to look at other streams such as Express Entry, a different Ontario stream, or another province.

Sometimes. Recent Ontario graduates in TEER 0–3 positions can be assessed at the low wage level, and wages set by a collective agreement are exempt. Otherwise the realistic route is a wage increase before submission — which also raises your EOI score, since wage is worth up to 15 points.

Only where the business purchased or amalgamated with a predecessor that carried on the same products or services. In that case the predecessor's continuous operation can count, with proof. There is no other exemption from the three-year requirement.

You can prepare everything — your NOC, wage, experience, language test, ECA and documents — but you cannot register an Expression of Interest without a Job Offer ID, and only the employer can generate one. The employer going first is what starts the process.

No, you do not need it. Every rule on this page is free, and the employer checklist is a free PDF. The Employer Pack is the prepared version with your employer's name, your NOC and wage, and your real deadline dates already filled in, plus the portal walkthrough and the emails. It saves time and reduces the chance of an error that cannot be undone. You only see the price at checkout, and there is a half-price option if you rate the tool.