Self-employed physicians have smoother path to permanent residence under new Ontario rules
Ontario is broadening eligibility for self-employed physicians under its Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream, in accordance with regulations that came into effect on January 1, 2026.
Changes primarily pertain to the class of certification that internationally educated physicians are permitted to hold in order to qualify as self-employed for this stream.
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Under the OINP’s Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream, candidates typically need a job offer to qualify, but self-employed physicians don’t (as of January 27, 2025) provided they meet certain criteria.
At this time, to qualify under this stream without needing a job offer, a self-employed physician must be applying under National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes 31100, 31101, or 31102* and:
- Be eligible to receive payment for publicly funded health services—meaning they have an Ontario Health Insurance Plan billing number; and
- Be registered and in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), and hold a certificate in one of the following classes:
- Certificate of registration authorizing independent practice;
- Certificate of registration authorizing academic practice; or
- Provisional certificate of registration.
*These NOCs include: specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (31100), specialists in surgery (31101), and general practitioners and family physicians (31102).
What changes have been implemented?
Prior to January 1, 2026, the qualifying classes of certification that permitted patient care were as follows:
- Independent practice;
- Academic practice; and
- Postgraduate education.
As part of the new changes, the OINP removed “postgraduate education” as a qualifying class of certification, due to the fact that post-graduate license-holders are unable to meet the requirement of having an OHIP billing number.
It was replaced by a new qualifying class: provisional certificate of registration.
The provisional certificate of registration came into force on January 1 as part of Ontario's "As of Right" framework, which is intended to remove barriers for those in regulated professions—making it faster for them to obtain legal work authorization.
A provisional certificate of registration is a time-limited, restricted type of medical license that allows a physician to practice in Ontario under specific conditions while they complete all outstanding exams before obtaining full independent licensure. Someone can only obtain such a certificate if they are “officially eligible” to take the required exams.
Those holding provisional certificates must practice with a supervisor until all aspects of their full independent licensure have been completed.
Postgraduate education licence holders will now require a job offer from an Ontario employer to qualify for the OINP’s Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker Stream, as they are no longer eligible to apply as self-employed professionals.
Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams
About the OINP’s Employer Job Offer Stream
This stream provides a pathway to permanent residence for skilled foreign workers with a job offer in Ontario, or qualifying physicians without job offers, and is open to individuals within and outside Canada.
Job offers must be in an occupation at a Training Education Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) level 0, 1, 2, or 3, full-time, and be for a permanent position.
This is an employer-driven stream, meaning an employer must first register their business in Ontario’s employer portal before a foreign worker can submit an expression of interest (EOI) for the stream.
This process differs slightly for self-employed physicians who are eligible to apply without a job offer. Such individuals must contact Ontario through the OINP webform to begin the process of registering an EOI for this stream.
Once an EOI is registered under this stream, candidates are assigned points based on scoring factors like language ability and job offer category, location, and wage.
Physicians who are eligible to apply without a job offer, which, following the January 1 change,s includes those with provisional certificates of registration, are exempt from the scoring process.
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