Ontario extends more than 1,300 invitations to candidates working in priority occupations

This week, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) held two draws through which it issued 1,334 invitations to Apply (ITA) to candidates in agriculture-related and other priority occupations.

Invitations were issued solely through the province’s Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream.

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This marks the OINP’s third round of selections in April.

Eligible profiles must have been created and attested to by April 13, 2026, at 11:59 p.m, and no earlier than July 2, 2025.

Draw details

On April 15, Ontario invited candidates holding job offers in either agriculture-related occupations, or occupations deemed to be in high demand across the province.

The majority of invitations issued were to candidates in non-agriculture-related occupations: approximately 77%.

These invitations were split between two draws, based on occupation categorization. The cutoff scores, invitation volumes, and eligible occupations differed for each:

Occupation type	Invitations issued	Minimum score
Agriculture-related occupations	*315	35
Other priority occupations	*1,024	36

In addition to having a qualifying job offer, candidates needed to reside in Canada at the time of selection—with either a valid work or study permit.

*According to the OINP’s official invitation webpage, these are the total number of invitations issued through each draw, which add up to 1,339 invitations. This demonstrates a slight discrepancy (five invitations) from the stated total issued (1,334) on their Program updates webpage.

Which occupations were targeted?

Across both In-Demand Skills stream draws, a total of 39 occupations were targeted.

For agriculture-related occupations, candidates in one of six National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes were considered.

For other priority occupations (unrelated to the agriculture industry), candidates in one of 33 occupations were selected.

You can find more details on which NOCs were eligible across these two draws, based on occupation categorization, below:

How to be considered for provincial nomination under an Employer Job Offer stream

Consideration under one of Ontario’s three Employer Job Offer streams (Foreign Worker, International Student, or In-Demand Skills) requires the following:

• Ensuring you are eligible under one of the streams (e.g., having a qualifying job offer);
• Having your employer register their business in the Employer Portal and submit your job offer.
• Registering an Expression of Interest (EOI) after receiving an email with your job offer ID.
  • This email gets sent automatically following your employer’s registration.

Once your employer submits your job offer, you will only have 30 days to register an EOI, after which your job offer will expire, and a new one must be submitted.

There is no fee to register an EOI, which remains valid in OINP’s candidate pool(s) for 12 months.

Those who receive an ITA will receive a notification in the OINP’s e-Filing Portal.

Invited candidates must have their employer review the employer guide and submit a complete application for approval of an employment position within 14 days of receiving the invite.

Candidates must submit their application to the OINP within 17 days of getting the ITA.

Those who successfully obtain a provincial nomination from the OINP can apply to the federal government for permanent residence.

Note: The OINP is expected to undergo a major program overhaul on May 30, 2026, which will see existing applicant categories revoked. The Employer Job Offer streams are expected to be replaced by a single consolidated stream.

The province has not yet clarified how existing candidates will be transitioned.

Assess your eligibility for enhanced PNP streams