2025 Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program Updates

Learn about this year’s updates, news and announcements for the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). Updates are organized by the month they were issued.

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August

August 28, 2025

Employer Job Offer streams: candidates in Northern Ontario invited
Employer Job Offer streams: Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) candidates invited

August 28, 2025

Employer Job Offer streams: candidates in Northern Ontario invited

On August 28, 2025, we issued 348 targeted invitations to apply to potential candidates in the Expression of Interest system pool who may qualify for the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker or International Student stream with a job offer in Northern Ontario and who are currently residing in Canada.

Northern Ontario includes the following Census Divisions: Muskoka, Haliburton, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Manitoulin, Sudbury, Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury, Timiskaming, Cochrane, Algoma, Thunder Bay, Rainy River, and Kenora.

Please note that as of July 2, 2025, all applications for the approval of an employment position under the Employer Job Offer streams must be submitted via the Employer Portal. Only candidates whose employers have submitted a job offer through the Employer Portal, and have successfully registered an expression of interest, will be considered.

If the OINP has selected your expression of interest, both you and your employer will be notified via email. Your employer may then submit an application for approval of an employment position directly though the Employer Portal, and you may submit your application and make the payment. Please refer to the June 12 program update and the Employer Portal user guide for more details.

Candidates only received an invitation under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream if they had a score of 53 and above, and under the Employer Job Offer: International Student stream if they had a score of 66 and above, and a job offer in one of the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes:

NOC 10019 – Other administrative services managers
NOC 10022 – Advertising, marketing and public relations managers
NOC 10029 – Other business services managers
NOC 11100 – Financial auditors and accountants
NOC 11101 – Financial and investment analysts
NOC 11102 – Financial advisors
NOC 11109 – Other financial officers
NOC 11200 – Human resources professionals
NOC 11202 – Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations
NOC 12101 – Human resources and recruitment officers
NOC 12102 – Procurement and purchasing agents and officers
NOC 12103 – Conference and event planners
NOC 12200 – Accounting technicians and bookkeepers
NOC 13100 – Administrative officers
NOC 13102 – Payroll administrators
NOC 13110 – Administrative assistants
NOC 13201 – Production and transportation logistics coordinators
NOC 20010 – Engineering managers
NOC 21102 – Geoscientists and oceanographers
NOC 21221 – Business systems specialists
NOC 21222 – Information systems specialists
NOC 21223 – Database analysts and data administrators
NOC 21230 – Computer systems developers and programmers
NOC 21233 – Web designers
NOC 21234 – Web developers and programmers
NOC 21300 – Civil engineers
NOC 21301 – Mechanical engineers
NOC 21310 – Electrical and electronics engineers
NOC 22100 – Chemical technologists and technicians
NOC 22101 – Geological and mineral technologists and technicians
NOC 22210 – Architectural technologists and technicians
NOC 22212 – Drafting technologists and technicians
NOC 22213 – Land survey technologists and technicians
NOC 22214 – Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology
NOC 22220 – Computer network and web technicians
NOC 22221 – User support technicians
NOC 22232 – Occupational health and safety specialists
NOC 22233 – Construction inspectors
NOC 22301 – Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians
NOC 22302 – Industrial engineering and manufacturing technologists and technicians
NOC 22303 – Construction estimators
NOC 22310 – Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
NOC 22311 – Electronic service technicians (household and business equipment)
NOC 22312 – Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
NOC 30010 – Managers in health care
NOC 31101 – Specialists in surgery
NOC 31102 – General practitioners and family physicians
NOC 31202 – Physiotherapists
NOC 31301 – Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
NOC 32100 – Opticians
NOC 32101 – Licensed practical nurses
NOC 32109 – Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
NOC 32111 – Dental hygienists and dental therapists
NOC 33100 – Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
NOC 33101 – Medical laboratory assistants and related technical occupations
NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
NOC 33109 – Other assisting occupations in support of health services
NOC 41220 – Secondary school teachers
NOC 41301 – Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies
NOC 41405 – Education policy researchers, consultants and program officers
NOC 42200 – Paralegals and related occupations
NOC 42201 – Social and community service workers
NOC 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants
NOC 42203 – Instructors of persons with disabilities
NOC 43202 – By-law enforcement and other regulatory officers
NOC 52113 – Audio and video recording technicians
NOC 52120 – Graphic designers and illustrators
NOC 70010 – Construction managers
NOC 70012 – Facility operation and maintenance managers
NOC 72011 – Contractors and supervisors, electrical trades and telecommunications occupations
NOC 72013 – Contractors and supervisors, carpentry trades
NOC 72014 – Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
NOC 72100 – Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
NOC 72200 – Electricians (except industrial and power system)
NOC 72201 – Industrial electricians
NOC 72205 – Telecommunications equipment installation and cable television service technicians
NOC 72310 – Carpenters
NOC 72321 – Insulators
NOC 72401 – Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
NOC 72404 – Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors
NOC 72410 – Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers
NOC 72411 – Auto body collision, refinishing and glass technicians and damage repair estimators
NOC 72422 – Electrical mechanics
NOC 72429 – Other small engine and small equipment repairers
NOC 72600 – Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors
NOC 73100 – Concrete finishers
NOC 73111 – Glaziers
NOC 73201 – General building maintenance workers and building superintendents
NOC 73209 – Other repairers and servicers
NOC 73400 – Heavy equipment operators
NOC 92100 – Power engineers and power systems operators
NOC 92101 – Water and waste treatment plant operators

You may apply to the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker or International Student stream if you received an invitation to apply on August 28, 2025.

To apply:

Review the Employer Job Offer stream page corresponding to the stream for which you were invited to apply to determine if you meet the requirements.
Review the document checklist to ensure you have the mandatory documents.
Your employer must submit the application for the approval of an employment position within 14 calendar days from the date we issued the invitation to apply.
Log in to the OINP e-Filing Portal and click the newly created file number with the prefix JOXX. You must submit your application and payment within 17 calendar days from the date we issued the invitation to apply.

Your new application file number is different than your EOI file number. The EOI file number (EOI-JOXX-XXXXXX) will be greyed out; this is not an error.

If you received an invitation to apply you don’t need to contact the program.

Employer Job Offer streams: Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) candidates invited

On August 28, 2025, we issued 138 targeted invitations to apply to candidates in the Expression of Interest system pool who may qualify for the REDI pilot under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student or In-Demand Skills stream and who are currently residing in Canada.

The targeted communities include the following Census Divisions: Lambton, Lanark, and Leeds and Grenville.

Candidates only received an invitation under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream if they had a score of 45 and above, and under the Employer Job Offer: International Student stream if they had a score of 68 and above, and a job offer in one of the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes:

NOC 10019 – Other administrative services managers
NOC 10022 – Advertising, marketing and public relations managers
NOC 12200 – Accounting technicians and bookkeepers
NOC 13100 – Administrative officers
NOC 13102 – Payroll administrators
NOC 13110 – Administrative assistants
NOC 13200 – Customs, ship and other brokers
NOC 21231 – Software engineers and designers
NOC 21234 – Web developers and programmers
NOC 22212 – Drafting technologists and technicians
NOC 22213 – Land survey technologists and technicians
NOC 22220 – Computer network and web technicians
NOC 22221 – User support technicians
NOC 30010 – Managers in health care
NOC 31103 – Veterinarians
NOC 31301 – Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
NOC 32101 – Licensed practical nurses
NOC 32109 – Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
NOC 32124 – Pharmacy technicians
NOC 33100 – Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
NOC 42201 – Social and community service workers
NOC 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants
NOC 72010 – Contractors and supervisors, machining, metal forming, shaping and erecting trades and related occupations
NOC 72014 – Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
NOC 72100 – Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
NOC 72310 – Carpenters
NOC 72311 – Cabinetmakers
NOC 72410 – Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers
NOC 72422 – Electrical mechanics
NOC 72999 – Other technical trades and related occupations
NOC 82030 – Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors
NOC 92012 – Supervisors, food and beverage processing

Candidates only received an invitation under the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream if they had a score of 34 and above, and a job offer in one of the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes:

NOC 44101 - Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations
NOC 74203 - Other automotive mechanical installers and servicers
NOC 75101 - Material handlers
NOC 75110 - Construction trades helpers and labourers
NOC 84120 - Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
NOC 94100 - Machine operators, mineral and metal processing
NOC 94106 - Machining tool operators
NOC 94111 - Plastics processing machine operators
NOC 94140 - Process control and machine operators, food and beverage processing
NOC 94201 - Electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors and testers
NOC 95100 - Labourers in mineral and metal processing
NOC 95106 - Labourers in food and beverage processing

You may apply to one of the Employer Job Offer streams if you received an invitation to apply on August 28, 2025.

To apply:

Review the Employer Job Offer stream page corresponding to the stream for which you were invited to apply to determine if you meet the requirements.
Review the document checklist to ensure you have the mandatory documents.
Your employer must submit the application for the approval of an employment position within 14 calendar days from the date we issued the invitation to apply.
Log in to the OINP e-Filing Portal and click the newly created file number with the prefix JOXX. You must submit your application and payment within 17 calendar days from the date we issued the invitation to apply.

Your new application file number is different than your EOI file number. The EOI file number (EOI-JOXX-XXXXXX) will be greyed out; this is not an error.

If you received an invitation to apply you don’t need to contact the program.

July

July 11, 2025

2024 OINP results

July 2, 2025

Recent changes to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)

July 11, 2025

2024 OINP results

Immigration is a shared responsibility between the federal government and provinces and territories.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) is the province’s economic immigration program. It operates alongside federal immigration programs, offering its own permanent residence pathways tailored to Ontario’s labour market needs. Through the OINP, Ontario nominates individuals for permanent residence who have the skills and experience to fill labour shortages in priority sectors such as healthcare.

Demand for the OINP remained strong in 2024. The program reached its full federal allocation of 21,500 nominations by December.

Nominations in 2024 were issued under the following streams:

2024 OINP nominations by stream
Stream	Number of nominations
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker	2,731
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream	408
Employer Job Offer: International Student stream	3,283
PhD Graduate stream	446
Masters Graduate stream	3,810
Ontario’s Express Entry Skilled Trades stream	4,101
Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream	6,330
Ontario’s Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker stream	300
Entrepreneur stream	91
Grand total	21,500

Health care

To address critical gaps in the healthcare sector, the OINP nominated more than 3,200 health care workers — more than any previous year Approximately, 15% of all nominations were made to health care workers, including:

pharmacists
registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
general practitioners and family physicians

Technology

Approximately 30% (over 6,300) nominations were made to individuals in technology-related occupations. These included:

software engineers and designers
software developers and programmers
user support technicians
information systems specialists
business systems specialists

July 2, 2025

Recent changes to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD) has made regulatory changes that will allow the OINP to better respond to Ontario’s labour market needs. These changes are now in effect as of July 1, 2025.

Program materials and website pages have been updated to reflect these changes.

Launch of the new Employer Portal

The OINP has launched a new electronic Employer Portal, shifting the Employer Job Offer streams to an employer-led application process.

Please refer to the June 12 program update and the Employer Portal user guide for more details.
Now that the Employer Portal is live, employers can register their business information in the Employer Portal and provide employment position information to enable a prospective applicant to register their Expression of Interest (EOI).
Individuals who had an EOI automatically withdrawn from the system are encouraged now to work with their employer to submit a new EOI.

In-person interview requirements

The OINP may now require in-person interviews for employers and foreign national applicants.

This change enables the OINP to address concerns related to the credibility and authenticity of certain applications.
Accommodations will be provided when merited.

Authority to return applications

The OINP now has the authority to return applications before a nomination is issued.

OINP applicants and/or their representatives will be notified by the program if their application is returned. The full application fee will be refunded.
This change enables the program to return applications in consideration of a variety of factors, including the nomination allocation, alignment with Ontario’s most pressing labour market needs, and program integrity risk factors.
This new authority will allow the program to focus on high quality applications that meet current labour market priorities.

Changes to the education requirement for early childhood educators applying to certain streams

The OINP has made changes to the education requirement for early childhood educators applying to the following streams:

Human Capital Priorities (HCP) stream
French-Speaking Skilled Worker (FSSW) stream

These changes will make it easier for them to qualify for the OINP.

Individuals applying to the HCP or FSSW streams who have indicated NOC 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants as their primary NOC will not have to meet the minimum education requirement if they are members of the College of Early Childhood Educators and are thus deemed to be job-ready.

Updated regulations

The updated regulations can be found on Ontario’s e-Laws website:

June

June 12, 2025

Launch of the new OINP Employer Portal

We are launching a new OINP Employer Portal on July 2, 2025.

What is changing

The new Employer Portal will provide a secure and user-friendly digital platform to replace the current paper-based Application for Approval of an Employment Position (Employer Form). Employers will now initiate an application by submitting employment position details directly through the Employer Portal before the applicant can register an Expression of Interest (EOI).

Key features of the Employer Portal

In response to stakeholder feedback, the Employer Portal will mark a shift from an applicant-led to an employer-led process for the OINP’s Employer Job Offer streams.

Key features include:

seamless integration with My Ontario for one-window service delivery
online submission and management of applications
direct communication between employers and the program
secure document uploads
auto-population of application fields to reduce duplication
ability to add employer contacts and authorized representatives
simplified tracking of applications

Required action: re-register EOIs

Prospective applicants will be able to work with their employers to re-initiate existing EOIs once the portal launches on July 2. In preparation for this system upgrade:

From June 20 to July 2, 2025, registrants will be unable to create new Expressions of Interest (EOI) for Employer Job Offer streams.
On June 21 and 22, existing EOIs under the Employer Job Offer streams will be automatically withdrawn.
From June 27 (after close of business) to June 29, 2025, the system will be unavailable for all OINP streams. Individuals will be unable to access current applications, submit applications or register EOIs.
On July 2, the Employer Portal will open for registration.

Once the Employer Portal is available, employers will be able to register and provide employment position information, which will enable applicants to re-register their EOIs.

New EOIs will be eligible for future program draws and will be valid for 12 months.

The automatic EOI withdrawals will affect EOI registrants under the following streams:

Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream
Employer Job Offer: International Student stream
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream

Please continue to monitor this page for more information about the Employer Portal, including detailed information about the new employer-led process starting July 2.

June 6, 2025

Employer Job Offer streams: additional candidates in Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury invited

On June 6, 2025, we issued an additional 72 targeted invitations to apply to potential candidates in the Expression of Interest system pool who may qualify for the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student or In-Demand Skills stream with a job offer in the Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury census division, to correct a system error, and who are currently residing in Canada with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

Please note that as of April 10, 2024, all new applications under the Employer Job Offer streams must include the updated Application for Approval of Employment Position (Employer Form). If you upload an older version of the form, we will return your application as incomplete and refund your fee.

You may apply to this stream if you received an invitation to apply on June 6, 2025.

You must submit your application by June 20, 2025. Due to system upgrades, no extension requests can be granted.

To apply:

Review the Employer Job Offer stream page corresponding to the stream for which you were invited to apply to determine if you meet the requirements.
Review the document checklist to ensure you have the mandatory documents.
Log in to the OINP e-Filing Portal and click the newly created file number with the prefix JOXX.

Your new application file number is different than your EOI file number. The EOI file number (EOI-JOFW-XXXXXX) will be greyed out; this is not an error.

If you received an invitation to apply you don’t need to contact the program.

June 3, 2025

Employer Job Offer streams: candidates in Eastern Ontario invited

On June 3, 2025, we issued 334 targeted invitations to apply to potential candidates in the Expression of Interest system pool who may qualify for the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student or In-Demand Skills stream with a job offer in Eastern Ontario and who are currently residing in Canada with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

Eastern Ontario includes the following Census Divisions: Ottawa, Leeds and Grenville, Lanark, Frontenac, Peterborough, Hastings, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Renfrew, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Prescott and Russell, Lennox and Addington, Prince Edward.

You may apply to one of the Employer Job Offer streams if you received an invitation to apply on June 3, 2025.

To apply:

Review the Employer Job Offer stream page corresponding to the stream for which you were invited to apply to determine if you meet the requirements.
Review the document checklist to ensure you have the mandatory documents.
Log in to the OINP e-Filing Portal and click the newly created file number with the prefix JOXX.

Your new application file number is different than your EOI file number. The EOI file number (EOI-JOXX-XXXXXX) will be greyed out; this is not an error.

If you received an invitation to apply you don’t need to contact the program.

Employer Job Offer streams: candidates in Northern Ontario invited

On June 3, 2025, we issued 973 targeted invitations to apply to potential candidates in the Expression of Interest system pool who may qualify for the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student or In-Demand Skills stream with a job offer in Northern Ontario and who are currently residing in Canada with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

You may apply to one of the Employer Job Offer streams if you received an invitation to apply on June 3, 2025.

To apply:

Review the Employer Job Offer stream page corresponding to the stream for which you were invited to apply to determine if you meet the requirements.
Review the document checklist to ensure you have the mandatory documents.
Log in to the OINP e-Filing Portal and click the newly created file number with the prefix JOXX.

Your new application file number is different than your EOI file number. The EOI file number (EOI-JOXX-XXXXXX) will be greyed out; this is not an error.

If you received an invitation to apply you don’t need to contact the program.

Employer Job Offer streams: Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) candidates invited

On June 3, 2025, we issued 843 targeted invitations to apply to candidates in the Expression of Interest system pool who may qualify for the REDI pilot under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student or In-Demand Skills stream and who are currently residing in Canada with a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

Employer Job Offer streams: candidates in healthcare occupations invited

On June 3, 2025, we issued invitations to apply to potential candidates in the Expression of Interest system pool who may qualify for the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student or In-Demand Skills stream who work in priority health occupations and who are currently residing in Canada.

Health occupations

Candidates only received an invitation under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker or Employer Job Offer: International Student streams if they had a score of 68 and above, and a job offer in one of the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes:

NOC 31101 - Specialists in surgery
NOC 31102 - General practitioners and family physicians
NOC 31300 - Nursing co-ordinators and supervisors
NOC 31301 - Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
NOC 31302 - Nurse practitioners
NOC 31303 - Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals
NOC 32101 - Licensed practical nurses
NOC 33102 - Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates

Candidates only received an invitation under the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream if they had a score of 34 and above, and a job offer in the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) code:

NOC 44101 - Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations

You may apply to the Employer Job Offer stream if you received an invitation to apply on June 3, 2025.

To apply:

Review the Employer Job Offer stream page corresponding to the stream for which you were invited to apply to determine if you meet the requirements.
Review the document checklist to ensure you have the mandatory documents.
Log in to the OINP e-Filing Portal and click the newly created file number with the prefix JOXX.

Your new application file number is different than your EOI file number. The EOI file number (EOI-JOXX-XXXXXX) will be greyed out; this is not an error.

If you received an invitation to apply you don’t need to contact the program.

Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker stream: targeted occupation invited

On June 3, 2025, we issued invitations to apply to potential candidates who may qualify for Ontario’s Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker stream with a job offer under National Occupational Classification (NOC) code 41321.

Candidates only received an invitation if they had a score of 45 and above, and a job offer in in NOC code 41321 - Career Development Practitioners and Career Counsellors (Except Education).

You may apply to this stream if you received an invitation to apply on June 3, 2025.

To apply:

Review the Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker stream page to determine if you meet the requirements.
Review the document checklist to ensure you have the mandatory documents.
Log in to the OINP e-Filing Portal and follow the steps as a new or returning user.

Your new application file number is different than your EOI file number. The EOI file number (EOI-JOFW-XXXXXX) will be greyed out; this is not an error.

If you received a notification of interest, you don’t need to contact the program.

May

May 30, 2025

2025 Nomination Allocation

May 30, 2025

2025 Nomination Allocation

The federal government has reduced provincial nominee program admissions by 50%.

Individuals should expect longer processing times as there are fewer nominations available for 2025.

Ontario will continue to review applications and respond within the new program constraints, while selecting skilled economic immigrants who can help address the province’s most critical labour shortages.

Please monitor this page for news, announcements, and program developments.

January

January 28, 2025

Changes to the Employer Job Offer – Foreign Worker stream for Self-Employed Physicians
Changes to the Express Entry Human Capital Priorities and French-Speaking Skilled Worker streams for Self-Employed Physicians

January 17, 2025

Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) pilot

January 15, 2025

Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker stream: Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP) candidates invited

January 2, 2025

Immediate bans for non-compliant immigration representatives

January 28, 2025

Changes to the Employer Job Offer – Foreign Worker stream for Self-Employed Physicians

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has made changes to the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream that will allow physicians to qualify for the stream without needing a job offer from an Ontario employer.

Applicants to the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream must have a job offer from an Ontario employer. This requirement meant that physicians who were independent contractors (i.e., self-employed, OHIP-billing) were ineligible to apply under this stream.

To help address Ontario’s labour market needs in healthcare, the program has made changes to the requirements for physicians applying to the OINP through this stream.

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) system groups all physician occupations under NOC codes 31100, 31101 and 31102. To qualify, physician applicants no longer need a job offer if they can demonstrate that they meet the following:

The applicant must be registered and in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in one of the following certificate categories that permits patient care:
- Independent practice
- Academic practice
- Postgraduate education
The applicant must be eligible to receive payment for publicly funded health services in accordance with the Health Insurance Act,1990.

The amendments came into effect on January 27, 2025.

There are no changes to the requirements for applicants applying to the stream under any other NOC.

These changes are reflected on the program requirements webpage. For more information, please visit:

OINP Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream | ontario.ca

The updated regulations can be found on Ontario’s e-Laws Website:

Ontario Regulation 422/17 (General)
Ontario Regulation 421/17 (Approvals under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program and Other Matters)

Changes to the Express Entry Human Capital Priorities and French-Speaking Skilled Worker streams for Self-Employed Physicians

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has amended regulations so that applicants to the Human Capital Priorities and French-Speaking Skilled Worker streams can use periods of self-employment to meet the streams’ work experience requirement if they have periods of self-employment in an occupation under one of the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes:

NOC 31100 - Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
NOC 31101 - Specialists in surgery
NOC 31102 - General practitioners and family physicians

Applicants to these streams must decide which of two federal program criteria they would like to be assessed against:

the Federal Skilled Workers Program; or
the Canadian Experience Class

The amendments allow applicants who choose to be assessed against Canadian Experience Class criteria to use periods of self-employment if that experience is in a designated NOC.

The amendments do not apply to applicants under any other NOC. This amendment mirrors recent updates to federal policy.

These changes are reflected on the program requirements webpage. For more information, please visit:

The updated regulations can be found on Ontario’s e-Laws Website:

Ontario Regulation 422/17 (General)
Ontario Regulation 421/17 (Approvals under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program and Other Matters)

January 17, 2025

Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) pilot

On January 2, 2025, the Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) pilot launched for a one-year term. The pilot sets aside 200 nominations from the OINP’s Employer Job Offer streams for each partner community, addressing specific regional immigration needs

The REDI pilot offers a pathway to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers with a job offer who want to live and work in a participating community including Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, Sarnia-Lambton, and Thunder Bay.

There is no separate application process for the pilot. Applicants with job offers from Ontario employers in one of the designated pilot communities should apply through the standard OINP Expression of Interest (EOI) system, and would be eligible for targeted pilot draws.

January 15, 2025

Employer Job Offer Foreign Worker stream: Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP) candidates invited

On January 15, 2025, we issued 4 targeted invitations to apply to candidates who may qualify for the federal Economic Mobility Pathways Project under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream.

January 2, 2025

Immediate bans for non-compliant immigration representatives

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has updated its procedures to strengthen protections for newcomers. Effective immediately, the Director of the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015 can ban immigration representatives who contravene the Act without first issuing an administrative monetary penalty.

This change allows quicker action against fraud and misrepresentation, building on existing measures to protect newcomers and maintain the integrity of the OINP.

Learn more:

Penalties for contraventions of the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015.
Updated regulation: Ontario Regulation 422/17 (General).

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Updated: August 29, 2025

Published: January 02, 2025