BREAKING: Ontario to begin overhaul of immigration streams by end of May 2026

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has prepared legal changes to the Ontario Immigration Act (OIA) that will allow for a complete overhaul of existing streams, candidate selection, and the structure of the program itself.

These changes are slated to be made on May 30, 2026, suggesting that new streams may be instituted on that day as well; however, the province has not confirmed this at the time of writing.

Changes made to the OIA give some indication as to what reforms Ontario’s immigration authority is planning for 2026.

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This is a breaking news story. CIC News will continue to update this article as further details emerge.

On May 30, these categories of applicants eligible for provincial nomination will be revoked

The OINP has (on May 30, 2026) committed to the revocation of the following categories of applicants for a certificate of nomination, broadly tied to the different OINP streams that are currently in effect at the time of writing:

• The foreign worker category;
• The international student with a job offer category;
• The in-demand skills category;
• The master’s graduate category;
• The Ph.D. graduate category;
• The human capital priorities category;
• The French-speaking skilled worker category;
• The skilled trades category; and
• The entrepreneur category.

In effect, this change will mean that individuals who currently meet the categories above (as defined through each stream’s eligibility criteria) will no longer be eligible.

At the time of writing, the OINP has not provided further details on whether this change is permanent, whether newly established categories will cover the same applicants, or when these new categories will be established.

The province has, however, telegraphed which new streams they were considering in previous consultations with stakeholders.

This move is part of a wider change that will allow Ontario’s immigration minister greater ease and ability to “redesign the OINP by creating or removing selection streams” as previously reported.

New regulations support targeted draws for all streams

Another change that will be instituted on May 30 is the expansion of draw selection criteria to encompass both targeted and general draws under each category (or stream).

In particular, the OINP director* will now have the ability to decide “...whether to issue general or targeted invitations to apply for a certificate of nomination”.

In the updated regulations, should the director choose to issue targeted invitations to apply, candidates will only be ranked if they have “one or more labour market or human capital attributes that would satisfy the targets established,” with invitations to apply only being issued to the “highest ranking applicants in that category who have those attributes.”

The “ranking” for targeted draws would be based on a candidate’s:

• Level and field of education, and where they completed their studies;
• Proficiency in official languages (English or French);
• Intention to settle outside of the Greater Toronto Area;
• Skill and work experience level, earnings history, and “any other factor relevant to their employment prospects in the Ontario labour and employment market”; or
• Ability to meet Ontario’s immediate labour market needs or the labour market needs of a specific region of the province.

*The "director" as defined in the OIA is a public servant appointed by the immigration minister to oversee the administration and enforcement of the Act. Under the law, this position holds significant legal powers, including (but not limited to) the approval or refusal of applications to the OINP and issuing administrative penalties against non-compliant individuals and businesses.

What new streams could be instituted by the OINP?

In December of 2025, the OINP sent out consultations around program changes to interested stakeholders, wherein the province proposed a major overhaul of its streams, structured in two phases.

In phase one, the province would merge its three existing Employer Job Offer streams into a single stream with two pathways (one for higher-skilled TEER* 0–3 occupations and one for TEER 4–5).

In phase two, all remaining existing streams would be eliminated and replaced with three entirely new ones:

• a priority healthcare stream;
• an entrepreneur stream; and
• an exceptional talent stream.

More information on the proposed streams and new eligibility criteria for each is available in our dedicated article on the topic.

*TEER stands for Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities, and is the Canadian federal government’s system for classifying the skill level of occupations under the National Occupation Classification (NOC), with TEER 0 representing the highest skill level and TEER 5 the lowest.

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