On July 20, 2026, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program published the full scoring criteria for the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream (OWPS) on ontario.ca. Job-offer candidates can score up to 130 points. Highest-ranking profiles will be prioritized when the Expression of Interest system reopens later this summer.

The same update confirmed three additional streams still to launch: Priority Healthcare, Entrepreneur, and Exceptional Talent. No launch dates were announced. For business immigration advisors, the scoring grid is the operational signal that matters now. It shows how Ontario will rank employer-driven files, and it frames how entrepreneur-stream positioning is likely to be built when that pathway opens.

What was published

Ontario updated OWPS webpages on July 20, 2026, including eligibility, employer requirements, scoring factors, eligible institutions, and a separate applicant document checklist. The stream remains the only fully specified pathway under the 2026 OINP overhaul after the province retired its legacy streams on May 30 and launched OWPS criteria on June 26.

OWPS covers three pathways today:

• TEER 0. 3. Higher-skilled occupations with a qualifying job offer
• TEER 4. 5. Intermediate and entry-level occupations with a qualifying job offer
• Self-employed physicians. Practice-based pathway without a conventional job offer

Employers initiate job-offer EOIs through the employer portal. Candidates cannot self-nominate on the worker pathways. The EOI system remains closed pending reopening.

How the 130-point grid is built

Each factor is documented on the official scoring section. Advisors should treat these as invitation ranking inputs, not as a substitute for stream eligibility.

Work region (up to 15)

• Northern Ontario. 15
• Eastern, Central outside GTA, Southwestern. 10 each
• GTA outside Toronto. 5
• Toronto. 0

Region is tied to the job-offer work location (or OHIP practice address for physicians). Census-division lists are published on the provincial page.

Occupation skill level / TEER (up to 9)

• TEER 0 or 1. 9
• TEER 2 or 3. 6
• TEER 4 or 5. 0

Compensation (up to 15)

• $40+/hour. 15; $35. $39.99. 12; $30. $34.99. 10; $25. $29.99. 8; $20. $24.99. 5; under $20. 0

Not applied to self-employed physicians.

Broad occupational category (up to 10)

• Category 3 (Health). 10
• Category 7 (Trades, transport, equipment). 8
• Category 2 (Natural and applied sciences). 6
• Categories 0, 1, 4, 8, 9. 4
• Categories 5 or 6. 2

Ontario work experience (up to 18)

Job-offer candidates working in the offered position: over 24 months (18), 13. 24 months (15), 6. 12 months (12). Other Ontario experience scales lower (12 / 9 / 6). Physicians use cumulative medical practice in Ontario on the same 18 / 15 / 12 scale.

Canadian income history (up to 8)

Highest annual income on a CRA Notice of Assessment in the past five years: $70k+ (8), $50k. $69,999 (6), $30k. $49,999 (4), under $30k (0).

Education (up to 10 + Canadian credentials up to 10)

Doctorate or professional medical degrees score 10; master's 8; bachelor's and several college/trade credentials 5. 6. Separate points for one or two-plus eligible Canadian post-secondary credentials of at least one full-time year.

Language (up to 15 + bilingualism up to 10)

CLB 9+ across all four abilities scores 15; CLB 8 scores 12; CLB 7 scores 8; CLB 6 scores 4. A second official language at CLB 6+ across all four abilities can add up to 10.

Temporary resident status (up to 10)

• Valid work permit. 10
• Valid study permit. 5
• Neither. 0 (legal status still required to qualify)

What this means for business immigration advisors

Three practical implications stand out for files that touch Ontario employers or future entrepreneur positioning.

1. Location and wage are no longer soft narrative points. A Toronto job offer at a modest wage starts behind a Northern or Eastern offer at $40+/hour before language or education is even counted. Employer location strategy and compensation design now move the invitation queue directly.

2. Time-in-role documentation becomes ranking evidence. Six to twelve months in the offered position is the floor for meaningful Ontario-experience points. Payroll, T4s, and role continuity evidence need to be audit-ready before EOI, not assembled after an invitation.

3. The Entrepreneur stream is confirmed but not yet scored. Ontario listed Entrepreneur alongside Priority Healthcare and Exceptional Talent with no launch date. Advisors building Ontario-bound business cases should not wait for a scoring grid to start viability work. Job-creation logic, regional market fit, capital credibility, and performance-agreement readiness remain the same business-side standards GenesisLink already applies on PNP entrepreneur files in other provinces. When Ontario publishes entrepreneur criteria, files with defensible operating plans will move faster than those built only after the announcement.

What to do before the EOI reopens

1. Map every active Ontario employer file against the published factors. Flag region, TEER, wage band, and months in role.
2. Align NOC selection with both eligibility and category scoring. Health and trades categories carry a structural advantage.
3. For physician pathways, separate the practice-arrangement track from worker-pathway documentation.
4. For clients who will eventually need the Entrepreneur stream, keep building the business case now: market analysis, hiring plan, financial model, and regional rationale that an officer can verify.

Primary sources: Ontario Workforce Priority stream (updated July 20, 2026) and 2026 OINP updates.

GenesisLink supports the business side of employer-driven and entrepreneur PNP files. If this scoring update changes how you are positioning Ontario clients, book a working session or start with the pathway assessment.