OINP Workforce Priority Points System — Full 2026 Breakdown

The Ontario Workforce Priority (OWP) stream that launched on June 26, 2026 as the successor to eight closed OINP streams uses a completely rebuilt selection grid. Every Expression of Interest is scored against nine factors across four categories, and the highest-scoring candidates in each targeted draw receive an invitation to apply. If you understand the grid, you can position yourself with intent — chase the two or three factors that move your total the most, and avoid wasting effort on factors that cap out at 4 or 5 points.

This is Part 2 of our three-part guide. Part 1 covered eligibility and the self-employed physician category. Part 3 covers eligible institutions and the post-nomination follow-up regime. Every point value below is drawn directly from the official ontario.ca scoring factors section, updated July 20, 2026, and cross-referenced against O. Reg. 422/17 as consolidated on June 25, 2026.

The four scoring categories

The OWP points grid breaks into four categories:

• Employment / labour market — five sub-factors (up to 61 points depending on pathway)
• Education — two sub-factors (up to 20 points)
• Language — two sub-factors (up to 25 points)
• Regionalization — one factor (up to 15 points)

Scoring factors are separate from stream eligibility. You can lose points and still be nominated if you meet minimum stream criteria and are ranked high enough in a draw. But because targeted draws issue invitations from the highest scores downward, understanding where you sit relative to the ceiling is essential for realistic planning.

Employment and labour market factors

1. NOC TEER category (max 9 points)

The first digit of your job offer’s TEER category is auto-populated in your EOI from the NOC code the employer selects.

• TEER 0 or 1 — 9 points
• TEER 2 or 3 — 6 points
• TEER 4 — 0 points
• TEER 5 — 0 points

This bakes in Ontario’s preference for higher-skill NOCs at the ranking stage even though all TEER categories are technically eligible. TEER 4-5 applicants recover ground through Ontario work experience and regionalization, but they start with zero on this factor.

2. NOC broad occupational category (max 10 points)

Points are awarded by the broad occupational category — the first digit of the NOC.

• Occupational Category 3 (Health occupations) — 10 points
• Occupational Category 7 (Trades and transport) — 8 points
• Occupational Category 2 (Natural and applied sciences) — 6 points
• Occupational Categories 0, 1, 4, 8, 9 (Management; Business and finance; Education/law/social services; Natural resources/agriculture; Manufacturing/utilities) — 4 points
• Occupational Categories 5, 6 (Arts/culture/recreation; Sales and service) — 2 points

The OWP grid rewards Ontario’s stated labour-market priorities directly. Every health occupation — from surgeons and family physicians in NOC 31100/31101/31102 down to nurse aides in NOC 33102 — earns the maximum 10 points. Skilled trades earn 8. Every management, finance, or education job caps out at 4 regardless of seniority.

Combined with the TEER factor, a family physician can earn up to 19 points before we even reach wages. A financial manager earning $200,000 a year still caps at 13 points across these two factors.

3. Hourly wage (max 15 points) — job offer applicants only

Auto-populated in your EOI from the wage the employer entered in the job offer.

• $40 per hour or higher — 15 points
• $35.00 – $39.99 — 12 points
• $30.00 – $34.99 — 10 points
• $25.00 – $29.99 — 8 points
• $20.00 – $24.99 — 5 points
• Under $20 per hour — 0 points

The wage factor does not apply to self-employed physicians. For everyone else, the difference between $34.99 and $35.00 is worth two points, and the difference between $39.99 and $40.00 is worth another three. Employers with tight compensation bands should look carefully at where the offered wage lands before submitting the job offer through the Employer Portal — a small pay bump can change the rank position of the applicant materially.

4. Ontario work experience (max 18 points)

This is the highest-value single factor for job-offer applicants. Three tiers apply depending on how long the applicant has been working in the job offer position.

Working in the job offer position:

• Over 24 months — 18 points
• 13 to 24 months — 15 points
• 6 to 12 months — 12 points
• Less than 6 months, or not currently working in the position — 0 points on this sub-factor

If the applicant has less than six months in the exact job offer position, a fallback tier kicks in based on any Ontario work experience:

• Over 24 months in Ontario — 12 points
• 13 to 24 months in Ontario — 9 points
• 6 to 12 months in Ontario — 6 points
• Less than 6 months — 0 points

The design is deliberate. It rewards employers who transition proven employees into permanent-residence sponsorship, and it puts a hard ceiling on candidates who have never worked in Ontario. An overseas applicant with a six-month-consecutive job offer meets minimum eligibility but scores zero on the Ontario work-experience factor because they have not yet been in Ontario.

For self-employed physicians the factor rewards cumulative medical practice in Ontario:

• Over 24 months of Ontario medical practice — 18 points
• 13 to 24 months — 15 points
• 6 to 12 months — 12 points
• Less than 6 months — 0 points

5. Canadian earnings history (max 8 points)

Points here are drawn from a CRA Notice of Assessment in the last five years — highest single-year taxable earnings win.

• $70,000 or more in a year — 8 points
• $50,000 to $69,999 — 6 points
• $30,000 to $49,999 — 4 points
• Under $30,000 — 0 points

This factor is designed to reward established Canadian earners rather than new arrivals. Applicants outside Canada with no CRA history score zero. Applicants who have been in Canada on a low-wage work permit for one or two years may score 4 or 6 here even if their offered wage is high, because the earnings must appear on a Notice of Assessment already issued.

6. Legal status in Canada (max 10 points)

• Valid work permit — 10 points
• Valid study permit — 5 points
• Without a valid work or study permit — 0 points

A visitor record does not count for points on this factor even though it satisfies the “legal status in Canada” stream requirement. This is a common trap for applicants who let a work permit lapse into a visitor record while transitioning employers. Maintained status under an in-process work-permit renewal is treated as work-permit status for this factor.

Education factors

7. Highest level of education (max 10 points)

Foreign credentials must be supported by an ECA less than five years old on the application date.

• Doctorate, or degree in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry — 10 points
• Master’s degree — 8 points
• University certificate or diploma above a bachelor level — 6 points
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent — 6 points
• Ontario College Graduate Certificate — 5 points
• University certificate or diploma below a bachelor level — 5 points
• College, CEGEP, or other non-university certificate or diploma that is not an Ontario College Graduate Certificate — 5 points
• Apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma — 5 points
• Less than college or trade certificate — 0 points

There is a two-point premium for a Master’s over a bachelor’s, and a further two-point premium for a doctorate. Applicants weighing whether to complete a Master’s for immigration reasons should factor this in.

8. Number of Canadian education credentials (max 10 points)

The credential must be post-secondary, from an eligible Canadian institution (see Part 3 for the full list), and require at least one year of full-time study.

• More than one Canadian credential — 10 points
• One Canadian credential — 5 points
• No Canadian credential — 0 points

The five-point premium for a second Canadian credential is one of the highest-leverage single moves an applicant can make. A one-year Ontario College Graduate Certificate on top of an existing Canadian bachelor’s degree, for example, is worth five extra points and often costs less than a year of tuition to complete.

Language factors

9. Official language ability (max 15 points)

Points are based on the lowest CLB level across reading, writing, listening and speaking. If both English and French are tested, the higher-scoring test is used. IELTS Academic and IELTS One Skill Retake are not accepted.

• CLB 9 or higher in the lowest of four proficiencies — 15 points
• CLB 8 — 12 points
• CLB 7 — 8 points
• CLB 6 — 4 points
• CLB 5 or lower — 0 points

Note that a single low sub-band drags the whole score down. A CLB 8 speaker with CLB 5 in writing scores 0 here. Applicants at CLB 7 across all four proficiencies who can push writing or listening to CLB 8 pick up four points cheaply and cheaply.

10. Knowledge of official languages (max 10 points)

To claim points for two official languages, both tests must show at least CLB 6 in all four proficiencies.

• Two official languages (English + French, both at CLB 6+ in all four proficiencies) — 10 points
• One official language — 5 points

Every applicant who submits any test result gets 5 baseline points from this factor. Bilingual applicants earn 10.

Regionalization factor

11. Regional immigration — location of job offer or medical practice (max 15 points)

Regional points are determined by the work location the employer entered in the job offer, or for self-employed physicians by the practice address associated with the OHIP billing number.

• Northern Ontario — 15 points
• Eastern Ontario — 10 points
• Central Ontario outside the GTA — 10 points
• Southwestern Ontario — 10 points
• Inside GTA (Durham, Halton, Peel, York) — 5 points
• City of Toronto — 0 points

Region boundaries

The ontario.ca stream page defines each region by census divisions:

• Northern Ontario — Muskoka, Haliburton, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Manitoulin, Sudbury and Greater Sudbury, Timiskaming, Cochrane, Algoma, Thunder Bay, Rainy River, Kenora.
• Eastern Ontario — Frontenac, Hastings, Kawartha Lakes, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, Lennox and Addington, Northumberland, Ottawa, Peterborough, Prescott and Russell, Prince Edward, Renfrew, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
• Central Ontario outside the GTA — Dufferin, Grey, Simcoe, Waterloo, Wellington.
• Southwestern Ontario — Brant, Bruce, Chatham-Kent, Elgin, Essex, Haldimand-Norfolk, Hamilton, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex, Niagara, Oxford, Perth.
• Inside GTA (except Toronto) — Durham, Halton, Peel, York.
• Toronto — the City of Toronto.

Northern Ontario job offers earn 15 points automatically. Toronto job offers earn zero. That 15-point spread by itself often decides whether a candidate is invited or not in a targeted draw. Employers with multiple Ontario locations should think carefully about which location they name on the employment position approval.

Where the ceilings land

Adding the maximum values across the eleven sub-factors reveals a clear structure.

Job offer applicant — theoretical maximum

• TEER category — 9 points
• Broad occupational category — 10 points
• Hourly wage — 15 points
• Ontario work experience — 18 points
• Canadian earnings history — 8 points
• Legal status in Canada — 10 points
• Highest level of education — 10 points
• Number of Canadian credentials — 10 points
• Language ability — 15 points
• Two official languages — 10 points
• Regionalization — 15 points

Job offer maximum: 130 points.

Self-employed physician — theoretical maximum

Wage is not scored for physicians (no employer wage entered), so the ceiling is 115 points.

Points strategy — where to spend your effort

Not every point is equally cheap to gain. Below is a practical hierarchy of what applicants can influence between EOI registration and invitation.

High-leverage moves (5-18 points each, controllable)

• Region choice by employer. Ontario employers with multi-site operations can, in some cases, move the confirmed work location for an incoming hire to a Northern or Southwestern Ontario site. That single decision is worth 10-15 points.
• Second Canadian credential. A one-year Ontario College Graduate Certificate on top of a foreign bachelor’s degree is 5 points of upside, and it can also unlock the recent-Ontario-graduate work-experience shortcut (three months instead of six).
• Language uplift from CLB 7 to CLB 8, or CLB 8 to CLB 9. Four points per CLB step, and it also affects federal Express Entry CRS if you go the Express Entry route.
• Bilingual test. Adding a French test at CLB 6+ across all four proficiencies is worth 5 points and moves your applicability into targeted francophone draws.
• Wage negotiation to cross a threshold. Moving from $34.99 to $35.00 an hour is worth 2 points and often costs the employer nothing meaningful.

Slow-build moves (structural changes over time)

• Ontario work experience in the offer position. Getting from 12 months to 13 months in the job offer position is 3 points. Getting from 24 months to 25 months is another 3 points.
• Master’s or PhD. A Master’s is worth 2 extra points over a bachelor’s. A PhD or professional medical/dental/veterinary/optometry doctorate is worth 4 extra.

Uncontrollable at the point of application

• NOC broad occupational category — set by the job.
• TEER category — set by the job.
• Canadian earnings history — set by past Notices of Assessment.

Worked examples

Example 1 — International nurse aide (NOC 33102) with an eligible Ontario employer in Sudbury

• TEER 3 — 6
• Broad occupational category 3 (health) — 10
• Hourly wage $28 — 8
• Ontario work experience — 8 months in the offer position — 12
• Canadian earnings history — $32,000 last year — 4
• Legal status — valid work permit — 10
• Highest education — Ontario College Certificate (nursing aide program from an eligible Ontario college) — 5
• Canadian credentials — one — 5
• Language — CLB 6 across four — 4
• Second official language — no French — 5
• Region — Northern Ontario — 15

Total: 84 points.

The same profile in Toronto would lose 15 regional points and drop to 69. Northern Ontario placement is the difference between a competitive score and a filler score in a targeted draw.

Example 2 — Toronto software developer (NOC 21232) with $52/hour offer

• TEER 1 — 9
• Broad occupational category 2 (natural and applied sciences) — 6
• Hourly wage $52 — 15
• Ontario work experience — 30 months in the offer position — 18
• Canadian earnings history — $95,000 — 8
• Legal status — work permit — 10
• Highest education — Master’s — 8
• Canadian credentials — one (an Ontario Master’s) — 5
• Language — CLB 9 across four — 15
• Second official language — English only — 5
• Region — City of Toronto — 0

Total: 99 points.

The Toronto tech worker has a strong score, but the zero on regionalization is a permanent structural drag. A move to a Waterloo or Ottawa office (Central Ontario outside GTA or Eastern Ontario) would push the total to 109.

Example 3 — Self-employed family physician (NOC 31102) in Timmins

• TEER 1 — 9
• Broad occupational category 3 — 10
• Hourly wage — not applicable — 0
• Ontario medical practice — 14 months — 15
• Canadian earnings history — $180,000 last year — 8
• Legal status — valid work permit — 10
• Highest education — MD — 10
• Canadian credentials — none (foreign MD) — 0
• Language — CLB 9 across four — 15
• Second official language — English only — 5
• Region — Northern Ontario (Timmins is in Cochrane) — 15

Total: 97 points.

Adding a Canadian residency or a Canadian Master of Public Health would push the total by 5-13 points, moving this physician into the top of any targeted health-occupation draw.

How OWP draws are expected to run

The OINP’s stated design objective is targeted-draw selection based on labour market priorities and human capital attributes. Historical OINP draws under the closed streams routinely targeted specific NOC groups (health, skilled trades, technology, education) or French-speaking candidates. Applicants and employers should expect the same pattern under the OWP: a mix of general draws and targeted draws favouring particular NOCs, regions, or language combinations.

As of the July 20, 2026 update to the ontario.ca stream page, the OINP EOI system remains temporarily closed while the redesigned platform is finalized. The Ministry has publicly stated the system is expected to reopen “later this summer.” No OWP draws have been held to date. Applicants who anticipate applying should have their language tests, ECAs, and Canadian tax documents in hand before the system reopens.

Bottom line — the OWP rewards proven Ontario ties in high-demand fields outside Toronto

The OWP grid encodes Ontario’s post-2026 labour market priorities in five words: health, trades, wages, regions, ties. Applicants and employers who position an application against those priorities will consistently outperform those who don’t. The two highest-leverage decisions in almost every OWP application are the job location (regionalization) and language uplift.

Want a personalized OWP points calculation and an application strategy? Book a consultation with VG Immigration Services. We work with both applicants and Ontario employers on the Employer Portal side of the file. Dimple Verma, RCIC-IRB R708308.

Continue reading: Part 1 — Eligibility and the Self-Employed Physician Category · Part 3 — Eligible Institutions and Post-Nomination Follow-Ups

Sources: Ontario Workforce Priority stream (ontario.ca, updated July 20, 2026); Ontario Regulation 422/17 as amended by O. Reg. 204/26 (e-Laws consolidation); 2026 OINP Updates (ontario.ca).