OINP overhaul: all eight streams replaced by the single Workforce Priority Stream
Summary
Effective June 26, 2026, Ontario eliminated all eight of its previous OINP nomination streams — Human Capital Priorities, French-Speaking Skilled Worker, the three Employer Job Offer streams, and the Masters/PhD Graduate streams — and replaced them with a single Ontario Workforce Priority Stream (OWPS), covering skilled workers (TEER 0-3), essential workers (TEER 4-5), and self-employed physicians. On July 20, 2026, Ontario published the new stream's 130-point Expression of Interest scoring system.
Who is affected
Anyone with an OINP strategy built around a pre-June-2026 stream name — that stream no longer exists in its old form. Candidates and employers now need to re-assess eligibility against OWPS's three pathways and the new points table, including its confirmed and provisional factor weights.
RCIC practical note
This is a structural change, not a routine intake pause — the old stream names you may have researched no longer apply, and I'm advising every OINP-track client to re-run their eligibility against the new pathway definitions before assuming their prior plan still holds. The points table was only published days before this note, so treat any third-party breakdown you see online with caution until it's cross-checked against the official EOI portal.
— Anil Katta, RCIC
Recommended next steps
- 1Identify which of the three OWPS pathways — TEER 0-3 skilled worker, TEER 4-5 essential worker, or self-employed physician — actually matches your job offer and occupation now.
- 2Re-check your eligibility against the new pathway thresholds using our updated OWPS calculator.
- 3If you were relying on a job-offer-free stream like Human Capital Priorities, confirm whether a comparable no-job-offer route still exists under OWPS before assuming it does.
- 4Confirm current Expression of Interest intake status on the official OWPS page before assuming you can submit a profile today.
This update relates to our OINP & PNP services.
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