Ontario's New Workforce Priority Stream: What Actually Changed
Reflects O. Reg. 422/17 as amended by O. Reg. 204/26. Last reviewed: June 2026.
In late June 2026, Ontario overhauled its immigration program. The former eight Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) streams were removed. In their place, the regulation now sets out three Ontario workforce priority categories — TEER 0-3, TEER 4-5, and self-employed physician — together publicly referred to as the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream.
If Ontario was part of your permanent residence plan, your route may have just disappeared, narrowed, or in some cases opened up. Here's what the regulation actually says — what changed, who qualifies, and what to do next.
The summary
The 8 former streams are removed. The Workforce Priority Stream is now the only pathway to an Ontario nomination.
The Expression of Interest (EOI) system is closed to new entries. No further invitations will be issued under the old streams.
The E-Filing Portal is expected to reopen later this summer.
A job offer from a qualifying Ontario employer is now central to the TEER 0-3 and TEER 4-5 categories — including for graduates, who previously had no-job-offer options. (The self-employed physician category is the exception — no job offer required.)
The scoring grid for the new stream has not been published yet. Anyone quoting you a cut-off score is guessing.
How the process works now
The order matters, because people get this backwards. For every category that requires a job offer, the sequence is:
The employer goes first. They register their business and get the employment position approved by Ontario's director.
You register an Expression of Interest and are ranked.
If Ontario invites you, you apply for the nomination.
If nominated, you apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residence — IRCC makes the final decision.
You cannot be nominated on a position that hasn't been approved, and you can't skip the EOI and invitation step.
The three categories
Category 1 — TEER 0-3 (skilled and professional occupations)
For management, professional, and technical roles classified under NOC TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3. This category absorbed the old Foreign Worker and International Student streams.
Key requirements:
A job offer in a TEER 0-3 occupation, in an approved position
One of three work-experience routes (see below)
A post-secondary degree or diploma of at least one year (or a foreign equivalent with an Educational Credential Assessment less than five years old)
Language ability at CLB 6 in all four abilities, tested within the last two years — this requirement applies only to applicants who are not recent Ontario graduates
Neither you nor your family holding 10% or more equity in the employer's business
The three work-experience routes:
Six consecutive months of full-time work in the position, within the last 12 months, while living and working legally in Ontario; or
Three consecutive months, if you're a recent Ontario graduate; or
Two years of related full-time experience within the last five years — and this route does not have to be in Ontario, making it the main path for applicants outside the province.
A detail many people miss: under that third route, your experience must be in the same occupation as your job offer — with three specific exceptions written into the regulation. A professional engineer can use that experience for a technical engineering role; a pharmacist for a pharmacy assistant role; and a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse for a nurse-aide role. Those are the only cross-occupation pairings allowed — it is not a general "related occupation" rule.
Category 2 — TEER 4-5 (semi-skilled and entry-level occupations)
For service and support roles under NOC TEER 4 or 5. This category replaced the old In-Demand Skills stream — and it's genuinely broader, because the old stream limited you to a closed list of specific NOC codes, while the new one covers any TEER 4-5 occupation.
Key requirements:
A job offer in a TEER 4-5 occupation, in an approved position
At least nine months of full-time work in the position, within the last two years, while lawfully living and working in Ontario
A Canadian secondary school diploma (or a foreign equivalent with an ECA less than five years old)
Language ability at CLB 4 in all four abilities
The same 10% equity restriction
The honest catch: because the nine months of experience must be in Ontario, this category is realistically for people already working in Ontario. If you're applying from outside Canada hoping this is your entry point, it likely isn't — TEER 0-3's third experience route is the one with an out-of-province option.
Category 3 — Self-Employed Physician
For physicians who are or will be self-employed, registered and in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and eligible to bill for publicly funded health services under the Health Insurance Act. This is a narrow, specialized category with no job-offer or general work-experience requirement.
A special note on trades
If you're in a skilled trade, transport, natural resources, processing, or you're a cook or chef, TEER 0-3 treats you more generously:
You need only secondary school education, not a post-secondary credential.
Your language requirement drops to CLB 5.
If you hold the required Ontario trade licence, the work-experience and education requirements both fall away — the licence carries the application.
You still need the invitation and the approved job offer; those never go away.
Old vs new: a side-by-side for skilled workers
If you're not a recent Ontario graduate, the old Foreign Worker stream is what the new TEER 0-3 replaces for you.
| Requirement | Old Foreign Worker | New TEER 0-3 |
|---|---|---|
| Job offer | Approved TEER 0-3 position | Approved TEER 0-3 position |
| Wage floor | Median wage | Median wage |
| Work experience | 2 years in last 5, same NOC | 6 months in Ontario in last 12 months, OR 2 years in last 5 (same NOC, plus 3 specific exceptions) |
| Education | Not a standalone requirement | Post-secondary, at least 1 year — now explicit |
| Language | No hard minimum | CLB 6 in all four abilities — now a hard minimum |
| Licence exemption | Replaces work experience | Exempts both experience and education |
What changed: a hard language floor and an explicit education requirement are now baked in — both were softer before. The trade-off is a shorter six-month experience route, but only if you're already in Ontario.
Old vs new: a side-by-side for recent graduates
If you are a recent Ontario graduate, the old International Student stream is what the new TEER 0-3 recent-graduate provisions replace.
| Requirement | Old International Student | New TEER 0-3 (recent grad) |
|---|---|---|
| Job offer | Approved TEER 0-3 position | Approved TEER 0-3 position |
| Wage floor | Low wage | Low wage |
| Work experience | None required | 3 months in Ontario (or another TEER 0-3 route) — now expected |
| Qualifying credential | 2-yr+ diploma/degree or 1-yr+ grad degree/diploma from any eligible Canadian institution; or an Ontario college/university grad certificate | 2-yr+ diploma/degree, master's/PhD, or Ontario college grad certificate — but must be from an eligible Ontario institution |
| Institution location | Degrees/diplomas accepted Canada-wide | Must be an Ontario institution to hold recent-grad status — narrower than before |
| Graduation window | Apply within 2 years | Recent-grad status lasts 3 years |
| Language | No minimum to qualify | CLB 6 requirement applies only to applicants who are not recent grads — so recent grads are carved out |
What changed: the credential types are similar, but there's an important narrowing — to hold recent-graduate status now, your degree or diploma must be from an eligible Ontario institution. The old International Student stream accepted degrees and diplomas from eligible Canadian institutions across the country. So a graduate of, say, a BC or Alberta university could use the old stream's perks; under the new rules, that same person qualifies for the stream on baseline education, but does not get recent-graduate status (and its shorter experience and language carve-out) unless they studied in Ontario. The other two shifts: a job offer plus a short period of Ontario work experience now matters where the old stream needed none, and the window stretched from two years to three. The standalone Masters and PhD Graduate streams (which needed no job offer) are gone entirely.
What about the employer? Here's what changed for them
Every job-offer category depends on the employer's business qualifying — and if it doesn't, your application can't proceed no matter how strong your own profile is. Most of the employer bar carried over unchanged, but there are a few real changes worth knowing.
| Requirement | Old streams | New Workforce Priority Stream |
|---|---|---|
| Years in active business | At least 3 years | At least 3 years (unchanged) |
| Place of business in Ontario | Required | Required (unchanged) |
| Full-time employees (Cdn/PR) | 5 in GTA / 3 outside GTA | 5 in GTA / 3 outside GTA (unchanged) |
| No outstanding orders (ESA / OHSA) | Required | Required (unchanged) |
| Position type | Full-time, permanent, urgently necessary | Full-time, permanent, urgently necessary (unchanged) |
| Revenue threshold | 2 tiers: $1M GTA / $500K outside GTA | 3 tiers: $1M GTA / $500K in 14 named census divisions / $250K everywhere else |
| Revenue track record | Most recent fiscal year | Most recent year for the $1M and $500K tiers; last two years for the $250K tier |
| CVOR for transport roles | Not specified | New: truck/bus driver positions (NOC 73300/73301) require a valid CVOR with Excellent or Satisfactory safety rating |
| Recruitment-effort requirement | Standing requirement (Foreign Worker / In-Demand Skills), with LMIA or work-permit exemptions | Only "if the director determines it is necessary" — more discretionary |
The change that matters most: the new $250,000 revenue tier. Under the old rules, an employer outside the GTA needed $500,000 in revenue, full stop. Now, only employers in 14 named census divisions (Ottawa, Waterloo, Hamilton, Simcoe, Middlesex, Niagara, Essex, Wellington, Greater Sudbury, Frontenac, Brant, Peterborough, Hastings, Thunder Bay) sit at the $500,000 level. Employers anywhere else in Ontario now qualify at $250,000 — a meaningfully lower bar that opens the door to smaller businesses in smaller communities.
The trade-off: that $250,000 tier must be met in each of the last two completed fiscal years, not just the most recent one. So it's a lower dollar figure but a longer track record.
If your prospective employer is a smaller business outside a major centre, this change may be the difference between qualifying and not — and it's worth checking their numbers against the right tier before assuming they don't meet the threshold.
What this means for you
If you had an active EOI under the old streams, no new invitations will be issued under those streams. Applications already submitted before the change will be assessed under the old rules.
The portal is closed — watch for the reopening later this summer.
All new applicants will apply under the Workforce Priority Stream.
A job offer from a qualifying Ontario employer is now central to the TEER 0-3 and TEER 4-5 categories. If you don't have one, that's the first thing to solve.
Don't wait for certainty to start preparing
The portal reopens later this summer, but eligibility turns on details that take time to line up: an employer who actually qualifies, the right work-experience route for your situation, a valid language test, and a properly assessed credential. The applicants who move first when the portal reopens will be the ones who got these pieces in place during the closure.
If Ontario was part of your permanent residence plan, now is the time to get your specific situation assessed against the new rules — not after the portal reopens and the queue forms.
This article reflects Ontario Regulation 422/17 as amended by O. Reg. 204/26. It is general information, not legal advice. Immigration rules change and operational guidance from the OINP may add requirements beyond the regulation. For advice on your specific circumstances, book a consultation with Magellan Immigration.
Sao Khadjieva, RCIC — Magellan Immigration Consulting Inc.