Ontario overhauls OINP streams, invitation criteria through immigration…
Ontario revoked all nine existing Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) streams on May 30, 2026, through amendments to Ontario Regulation 421/17. The changes eliminate every current pathway to provincial nomination in the province, marking the largest restructuring of the OINP since its inception.
The revocation affects the foreign worker category, international student with a job offer category, in-demand skills category, master's graduate category, Ph.D. graduate category, human capital priorities category, French-speaking skilled worker category, skilled trades category, and entrepreneur category. After May 30, candidates who previously met eligibility criteria for these streams no longer qualify for nomination under the old rules, as reported by CIC News.
The same regulation introduces targeted draws across all future OINP streams. The OINP director now has authority to issue both general and targeted invitations to apply. Under targeted draws, candidates will only be ranked if they meet specific labour market or human capital attributes set by the director, and only the highest-ranking candidates meeting those targets will receive invitations. The regulation also formalizes employer verification requirements: candidates applying through any stream requiring an Ontario job offer cannot submit an application unless their employer is registered with the OINP director and has provided an eligible job offer through the employer portal.
"Candidates in any category that requires an Ontario job offer can't apply unless their employer is registered with the OINP director," the regulation states.
The overhaul affects foreign workers with Ontario job offers, international students who graduated from Ontario institutions, master's and Ph.D. graduates, French-speaking skilled workers, tradespeople in skilled occupations, and entrepreneurs planning to establish businesses in the province. Candidates who had Expression of Interest profiles in any of the nine revoked streams face uncertainty about whether those profiles will transfer to replacement streams or be withdrawn entirely.
Ontario has not published details on replacement streams, eligibility criteria, or transition policies for existing profiles. In December 2025, the province consulted stakeholders on a two-phase redesign that proposed merging the three employer job offer streams into one with separate tracks for TEER 0–3 and TEER 4–5 occupations, and replacing remaining streams with a Priority Healthcare stream, an Entrepreneur stream, and an Exceptional Talent stream. These remain proposals without confirmed launch dates or eligibility rules. During the Employer Portal transition in July 2025, Ontario withdrew existing profiles, but the province has not confirmed whether it will take the same approach with this overhaul.
Candidates with pending applications submitted before May 30 should expect assessment under the rules in effect at the time of submission, though the regulation does not include explicit transitional provisions confirming this. Prospective applicants should monitor the OINP website for announcements on replacement streams and eligibility criteria before attempting to register new profiles.
Source: CIC News — published 2026-05-30.