Ontario Workforce Priority Stream: employer checklist

Summary

Employers must submit applications for the approval of an employment position under the Ontario Workforce Priority stream via the Employer Portal.

On this page, an employee means an employee who is registering an expression of interest (EOI) and/or applying for a certificate of nomination.

If you are an employer applying for the approval of an employment position, you must do the following:

1. Create an account in the Employer Portal.
2. Provide information about the employment position by submitting a job offer for the employee.

After you have submitted a job offer, the employee will receive an email prompting them to register an EOI. After they complete this step, their EOI will be entered into the OINP stream selection pool for up to 12 months.

If the OINP selects the employee’s EOI by sending them an invitation to apply, you will be notified via email and you may submit the application for approval of an employment position.

Please refer to the Employer Portal User Guide for more details on creating job offers and submitting applications.

Important: When we assess the application, we may request from you additional supporting documents to validate information included in the application. Please note that these documents are not required up front and will only be requested post submission if needed. The list of possible documents that may be requested can be found in additional documents.

Application for approval of an employment position

You must submit the application for approval of an employment position through the Employer Portal. Please refer to the Employer Portal User Guide for step-by-step instructions on how to fill out the application.

Submit your documentation

If the OINP selects the employee’s EOI, you will be notified via email.

You must submit your application for approval of an employment position and upload the mandatory documents through the Employer Portal within 14 calendar days from when you received the invitation to apply.

The following documents must be uploaded with your application:

• signed job offer
• consent form
• If applicable:
  • employment letter
  • copies of job advertisements and recruitment efforts
  • Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)
  • collective agreements
  • Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration (CVOR) certificate

Make sure all your supporting documents are clear and legible. We will not accept documents that are blurry or illegible.

Your supporting documents must be uploaded using one of the accepted document formats:

• .doc
• .docx
• .xls
• .xlsx
• .ppt
• .pptx
• .pdf
• .rtf
• .txt
• .jpeg
• .bmp
• .png
• .gif
• .tiff

File size limits

In most cases, the maximum file size is 10 MB per document.

Scan your documents at a lower resolution to reduce the size of your documents and allow for a faster upload. All pages of a specific document should be uploaded into one file (if the size limit permits).

Signed job offer

You must provide a copy of the original job offer that is signed and dated by the employer and the employee.

The job offer should:

• be printed on business letterhead that shows your business address, telephone/fax numbers, email and website addresses
• identify the responsible officer/supervisor and include their signature
• be stamped with the business corporate seal (if applicable)
• include the following information:
  • job title
  • National Occupational Classification (NOC) code
  • wage for the position being offered
  • duties and responsibilities
  • number of hours per week and number of weeks of work per year
  • number of days/weeks of vacation
  • workplace location
  • details of remote work, including location and frequency, if applicable
  • employment start date
  • an indication that the offer being made is for a full-time position of an indeterminate duration (no end date)
  • confirmation that the terms and conditions of the job offer are effective as of the date of nomination if the nominee is already working for you in the approved employment position
    • if the nominee is not, on the date that the nominee obtains a work permit and begins working for you in the approved employment position

If the original job offer is older than 6 months or is missing any of the information listed above, please provide a supplementary letter containing any missing information, that is signed and dated by you and the employee.

If the employee is already working in the position, please provide a supplementary letter confirming the employee is still employed by your company and any updates or changes to the position being offered. Please ensure this letter is signed and dated by both you and the employee.

Consent form

This form can only be accessed through the Employer Portal and will be visible to the signing officer and employer contacts after an invitation to apply has been issued to the employee.

The signing officer must print the declaration, complete the consent form in ink and upload it to the application. For more information on how to upload the form, please refer to the Employer Portal User Guide.

By completing the consent form, you:

• authorize the Canada Revenue Agency to share employer taxpayer information with the Ministry of Finance to:
  • validate the authenticity of the application
  • verify eligibility
• acknowledge that the employer is subject to the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015, including site inspections

In cases of misrepresentation, the application may be refused, and the employer may be subject to administrative monetary penalties and/or prosecutions under the Act or the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Note that the consent form cannot be completed by the authorized representative or an employer contact. It must be signed by a signing officer.

Other documents (if applicable)

If applicable, you may also need to upload the following documents with your application:

• a copy of your job advertisements, if you are required to demonstrate reasonable recruitment efforts (see Recruitment efforts documentation for more information)
• a copy of your Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), if you have one for the same NOC code as the position being offered to the employee
• a copy of the applicable section in your collective agreement that outlines wages, if the wage of the position offered to the employee does not meet the low or median wage requirement but adheres to the wage requirements outlined in the collective agreement

Transport truck driver positions

Please note, if you are seeking approval of an employment position under NOC 73300 – Transport truck driver or NOC 73301 – Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators, you must demonstrate that your business has both:

• a valid CVOR certificate, as defined in subsection 1 (1) of the Highway Traffic Act
• a safety rating under that Act of Excellent, or Satisfactory

Representative’s declaration (if applicable)

If you have appointed a representative to the application, your representative must upload the signed declaration to the application. The declaration must be signed in ink.

Additional documents (if requested after application submission)

We may ask for additional documents after application submission if we think it is necessary to assess an application.

We may request documents to confirm or prove:

• you have a business that has been in continuous operation for at least three years
• you maintain a place of business in Ontario where the employee will work
• your business meets the minimum gross annual revenue required
• your business has at least three or five full-time employees (depending on the business location) who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents where the employee will work or report to work
• your business has enough full-time employees to submit one or more applications to the OINP in the same calendar year
• you made efforts to hire a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, if required

Active business documents

Your business must have been active for at least three years before you apply. We may ask you for more information depending on whether:

• your business has been active in Canada or outside Canada within the last three years
• your business amalgamated within the last three years
• you purchased your business within the last three years

Your business was active in Canada within the last three years

We may ask for a copy of either:

• Canada Revenue Agency Schedules 125 (Income Statement Information) and 141 (Accounting Practitioner Information) for (at least one of) the predecessor business(es), each corporation covering the three years prior to the application submission date or
• the business’s financial statements signed by a chartered professional accountant (CPA) for (at least one of) the predecessor business(es), each corporation covering the three years prior to the application submission date

Your business was active outside Canada within the last three years

If your business operated outside Canada within the last three years, you may be required to demonstrate that your business was active. We may ask for the following:

• foreign corporate or other business tax returns for the past three years prior to the application submission date
• incorporation or other constituting documents for the foreign business and the Canadian business
• any other documentation that demonstrates that your business in Ontario is affiliated with the business outside Canada and been active for at least three years prior to the application submission date

Your business was amalgamated within the last three years

If your business has gone through an amalgamation in the past three years, you may be required to submit documents for the predecessor business(es). We may ask for a copy of either:

• Canada Revenue Agency Schedules 125 (Income Statement Information) and 141 (Accounting Practitioner Information) for (at least one of) the predecessor business(es), each corporation covering the three years prior to the application submission date
• the business’s financial statements signed by a CPA for (at least one of) the predecessor business(es), each corporation covering the three years prior to the application submission date

You purchased your business within the last three years

If you have purchased your business in the past three years, you may be required to submit documentation to demonstrate that the business was in continuous operation prior to you purchasing it and that the purpose of the business remained the same following the purchase. We may ask for copies of the following:

• the business’s financial statements signed by a CPA covering the three years prior to the application submission date
• the purchase agreement (or franchise agreement, if applicable) that shows you purchased the business
• any other documentation that demonstrates that the business you purchased had been active for at least three years prior to the application submission date and that the same products and services continued to be provided after the purchase

Business premise documents

To prove you have a business premise in Ontario, you may be asked to submit copies of either:

• a deed to the property, which shows the employer as owner
• a valid lease, offer of lease, license or valid notice of license registered on title with landlord/licensor’s name, address and telephone number

Gross annual revenue documents

To prove your business’s gross annual revenue, you may be asked to submit copies of either:

• Canada Revenue Agency Schedules 125 (Income Statement Information) and 141 (Accounting Practitioner Information) for the most recently completed fiscal year
• the business’s financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal year, signed by a chartered professional accountant (CPA)

Number of full-time employees documents

To show how many full-time employees work for you at the time of application submission, and to show that your business has enough full-time employees to submit one or more applications in the same calendar year, you may be asked for the following:

• a completed full-time employee chart
• your business’s organizational chart
• individual T4 statements and pay slips to demonstrate that you employ at least three or five (depending on the location of your business) full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents at the time of application

Important: Only Canadian citizens or permanent residents can be considered part of the employer’s full-time staff.

Note: Social insurance numbers (SIN) that begin with the number nine are issued to temporary residents who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Recruitment efforts documentation

Some employers have to demonstrate that they made enough effort to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident for the position being offered to the employee.

You may be asked to provide proof of recruitment efforts if the employee is:

• currently living abroad
• visiting Canada
• working in a province or territory other than Ontario

You will not have to provide proof of recruitment if the employee is currently authorized to work in Ontario, or you have a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for the same NOC code and position being offered to the employee. If you do have an LMIA, you may be asked to provide a copy.

Proof of recruitment efforts

To prove you tried to recruit a Canadian citizen or permanent resident prior to offering the position to the employee, you may be asked to submit additional documents to demonstrate your advertising or recruitment methods after application submission, above and beyond the job advertisements that you uploaded with your application.

You should use a minimum of two advertising or recruitment methods, including:

• a job bank advertisement with the Government of Canada’s Job Bank
• print media (national or provincial/territorial newspapers, national journals, magazines with national coverage, specialized journals, professional association magazines, newsletters, etc.)
• advertisement on general employment websites (Workopolis.com, Monster.ca, Indeed.ca, LinkedIn Jobs, CareerBuilder.ca, Glassdoor.ca, Eluta.ca, etc.)
• advertisement on specialist websites dedicated to specific occupation profiles (accounting, marketing, biotechnology, education, engineering, etc.)
• posting on employer’s career website for internal and external candidates
• demonstrated participation at job fairs

Your advertisements should be posted for at least four weeks prior to offering the position to the employee, be accessible to the general public and include:

• business operating name
• business address
• position title and duties
• skill requirements which include education and/or work experience
• wage (the wage must align with the prevailing wage level required by the stream)
• location where the employee will work (city or town)
• contact information: name, address, telephone number, email address
• date posted and date advertisement will close (dd/mm/yyyy – dd/mm/yyyy)

Do not submit personal information about candidates to the OINP, such as resumes containing names, addresses, dates of birth, etc.

Contact us

Ask us a question via webform or by phone from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at:

• Tel: 416-327-0374
• Toll-free: 1-866-214-6820 (toll-free within North America only)
• TTY: 416-325-0866
• Toll-free TTY: 1-866-853-2137