OINP Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills Stream

The OINP Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream no longer exists. Ontario closed it on June 25, 2026, along with seven other Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program streams, and replaced all of them with a single stream called Ontario Workforce Priority. If you were working toward permanent residence through In-Demand Skills, your pathway is now the TEER 4-5 job offer route inside that new stream. This page explains what changed, whether you still qualify, and what the process looks like now.

What happened to the In-Demand Skills stream

Ontario amended Ontario Regulation 422/17 under the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015, and the changes came into force on June 25, 2026. The amendment removed eight existing OINP streams, including Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills, Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, and Employer Job Offer: International Student, and introduced the Ontario Workforce Priority stream in their place.

A few consequences matter for anyone who was in the system:

• No further invitations under the old streams: The last In-Demand Skills invitation round was held on April 23, 2026. No invitations have been issued under that stream since.
• Pending EOIs were withdrawn: Expressions of interest and registered job offers under the former streams that had not already produced an invitation to apply were withdrawn automatically. Scores and profiles did not carry over.
• Submitted applications continue under the old rules: If you were invited and submitted a complete application before the change, your file is still assessed against the criteria that were in effect on the day you submitted.
• Employers do not re-register, but they do re-submit: Employers already registered in the Employer Portal keep their account. They must submit a new job offer and a new application for approval of an employment position under the new stream.
• The EOI system is open again: Ontario reopened the expression of interest portal for the Ontario Workforce Priority stream on August 4, 2026. As of Ontario's most recent program update, no invitation rounds have been held under the new stream yet.

The TEER 4-5 pathway: where In-Demand Skills applicants go now

The Ontario Workforce Priority stream has three pathways: one for job offers in TEER 0 to 3 occupations, one for job offers in TEER 4 or 5 occupations, and one for self-employed physicians. Workers who would previously have applied through In-Demand Skills now fall under the TEER 4-5 pathway.

The most important structural change is that the eligible occupation list is gone. Under the old stream, only a fixed set of NOC codes qualified, and each draw narrowed that list further by occupation and region. Under the TEER 4-5 pathway, any TEER 4 or TEER 5 occupation is eligible, as long as the job offer, the employer, and you meet the requirements. Your TEER category is the second digit of your five-digit NOC code.

The requirements are also stricter than they were:

• Work experience: At least 9 months of cumulative, paid, full-time experience in the exact position your employer is seeking approval for, with that same employer, gained in the 2 years before you submit your application. Full-time here means at least 30 hours of paid work per week and at least 1,170 hours in a 12-month period. Breaks are allowed, since the requirement is cumulative.
• Language: CLB 4 or higher in all four abilities. Your test must be dated within 2 years of your application. Accepted tests are IELTS General Training, CELPIP General, PTE Core, TEF Canada, and TCF Canada.
• Education: A Canadian secondary school diploma or its equivalent from another country. If you studied outside Canada, you need an Educational Credential Assessment report that is less than five years old on the date you apply.
• Licence or authorization: If your occupation requires a licence or authorization under Ontario or Canadian law, you must hold a valid one when you submit and throughout the nomination period.
• Legal status: If you are applying from inside Canada, you need valid status at the time you apply. A visitor record, study permit, or work permit qualifies, and maintained status is accepted if you applied to extend before your document expired.
• Intention to live and work in Ontario: Ontario assesses your ties to the province, including current or past work, studies, property, family, and professional networks.

One thing to know before you plan around this: the TEER 4-5 pathway does not connect to Express Entry. Only TEER 0 to 3 applicants and self-employed physicians can choose the Express Entry nomination route and the additional 600 CRS points, as explained on our Ontario Express Entry Stream page. A TEER 4-5 nomination is a base nomination, and you apply to IRCC on paper. You have 6 months from nomination to file that application.

What your employer has to do

The process is still employer-led, and the employer requirements tightened alongside the applicant requirements. To support your application, your employer must:

• Have been in active business for at least three years before submitting the application, with business premises in Ontario where you will actually work.
• Meet the revenue threshold for your work location: at least $1,000,000 in gross annual revenue for the most recent fiscal year if you work in the Greater Toronto Area, at least $500,000 for a defined list of census divisions including Ottawa, Waterloo, Hamilton, Simcoe, Middlesex, Niagara, Essex, Wellington, Greater Sudbury, Frontenac, Brant, Peterborough, Hastings, and Thunder Bay, and at least $250,000 across the two most recent fiscal years everywhere else. The lower thresholds are new, and they were introduced specifically to open the program to rural and northern employers.
• Meet the employee threshold: at least 5 full-time Canadian citizen or permanent resident employees at the work location if it is inside the GTA, and at least 3 if it is outside.
• Have no outstanding orders under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 or the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• Show reasonable domestic recruitment efforts, unless you are already authorized to work in Ontario or the employer holds a positive LMIA for the same NOC and position. Ontario expects at least two advertising methods, posted publicly for at least four weeks. Recruitment carried out by an immigration representative is not accepted and will lead to refusal.

The job offer itself must be full-time, meaning at least 30 hours of paid work per week and at least 1,560 hours per year, and permanent, meaning no end date. Seasonal and contract positions do not qualify. The wage must meet or exceed the median wage for that occupation in the Ontario region where you will work, and if you already hold the position, it must also be at least what you are being paid now. Piece work, bonuses, commissions, vacation pay, and non-financial compensation do not count toward the base wage. Wage rules do not apply where a collective agreement sets the rate.

How the application runs, step by step

• Your employer submits a job offer. They log into the Employer Portal, register the business if they have not already, and submit a job offer for your position. A job offer ID is generated and shared with you.
• You register an expression of interest within 30 calendar days. You use the job offer ID to register your EOI. Register late and you start the process over.
• Ontario scores and ranks profiles, then invites. The highest ranked candidates receive an invitation to apply by email.
• Your employer submits within 14 calendar days of the invitation. They apply for approval of the employment position through the Employer Portal.
• You submit within 17 calendar days of the invitation. You can prepare your application at any point during those 17 days, but you cannot submit until after your employer has submitted theirs. This ordering is a common reason applications fail.
• Ontario reviews both files and decides. If approved, you receive a nomination approval letter, a nomination certificate, and a work permit support letter where applicable.
• You apply to IRCC within 6 months. Under the TEER 4-5 pathway this is a paper, non-Express Entry application. IRCC makes the final decision on permanent residence.

Nominations come with conditions. If your employment in the approved position ends, for any reason and initiated by either side, the approval and the nomination can be cancelled, and you would need to register a new expression of interest to start again. Ontario's Post-Nomination Verification Unit checks this actively.

How you are scored

The Ontario Workforce Priority stream uses a single scoring grid out of 130 points. Several factors carry different weight than they did under In-Demand Skills, and two of them are worth understanding before you register:

• TEER category itself gives you nothing in this pathway. TEER 0 and 1 earn 9 points, TEER 2 and 3 earn 6, and TEER 4 and 5 earn 0. Your points have to come from elsewhere.
• Hourly wage is worth up to 15 points, on a sliding scale from under $20 per hour at 0 points up to $40 or more at 15.
• Ontario work experience is worth up to 18 points, with the maximum for more than 24 months full-time in the job offer position.
• Earnings history is worth up to 8 points, based on a Notice of Assessment from the CRA in the last 5 years. The bands are $30,000 to $49,999 for 4 points, $50,000 to $69,999 for 6 points, and $70,000 or more for 8 points. If you were relying on the old $40,000 threshold from the previous stream, that figure no longer applies.
• Region is worth up to 15 points, with Northern Ontario at 15, Eastern Ontario, Central Ontario outside the GTA, and Southwestern Ontario at 10, the GTA outside Toronto at 5, and Toronto at 0.
• Language is worth up to 15 points, and knowledge of both official languages adds up to 10 more. At CLB 4 you meet the minimum but score 0 on this factor, so language testing is often the single highest-return area to improve before registering.
• Legal status is worth up to 10 points, with a valid work permit at 10 and a valid study permit at 5.

Education contributes up to 10 points for your highest credential and up to 10 more for Canadian credentials.

What to prepare now

No invitation rounds have been held under the new stream yet, which makes this a useful window rather than a reason to wait. Documents that take weeks or months to obtain are the ones that decide whether you can meet a 17-day submission deadline later:

• Language test results dated within two years of the day you plan to submit
• An ECA report if any of your education was completed outside Canada, dated within five years
• Notices of Assessment from the CRA for the last five years, since T4 slips on their own are not accepted for the earnings factor
• Employment records covering your nine months in the offered position, including pay statements and a reference letter on company letterhead
• Your current permit and any previous permits, plus the IRCC acknowledgment letter and fee receipt if you are on maintained status
• Your licence or authorization if your occupation is regulated in Ontario

For the full official requirements, review the Ontario Workforce Priority stream page on ontario.ca, which is updated as the program develops.