Ontario Foreign Worker

There are 4 main categories of eligibility requirements that we will summarize below. You can apply to the Foreign Worker (FW) stream if you, your employer, and your job offer satisfy to all the requirements below. Again, there is no settlement funds required for this stream.

Job offer

To be eligible to the FW stream, the job offer must:

• be full-time (min. 30h/week and 1,560h/year) and permanent (no end date in the contract),
• be in an NOC TEER Category 0, 1, 2 or 3. You can learn more about NOC codes here,
• have a salary level at or above the median wage level for that occupation in the region where you will be working (if you have a collective agreement, i.e. a written contract between the employer and a union, in your workplace that determines your wages, the wage level requirements do not apply),
• align with your employer’s existing business activities and the position must be needed to maintain or grow ongoing business activity, i.e. the position must be necessary to the employer’s business, and
• be for a position primarily based in Ontario.

You, and members of your family (combined), cannot hold more than 10% of the equity of the employer, and cannot hold any equity of the employer except if obtained as part of the remuneration package as an employee. 

Self-employed professionals, excluding physicians, are not eligible under this stream.

Physicians

Physicians (NOC codes 31100, 31101 and 31102) are eligible to apply under the FW stream without a job offer if they meet the following requirements:

1. They hold a certificate in one of the following classes and are a member in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario:
   • certificates of registration authorizing independent practice
   • certificates of registration authorizing academic practice
   • provisional certificates of registration
2. They are eligible to receive payment for publicly funded health services in accordance with the Health Insurance Act,1990, meaning they have an Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) billing number.

For postgraduate education license holders, they are not eligible to apply as self-employed but may be eligible to apply to the FW stream if they have a job offer from an Ontario employer.

Applicant

To be eligible to the FW stream, you, the applicant, must have:

• at least 2 years of full-time work experience in the same NOC code as in the one in the job offer, and in the last 5 years, or
• a licence or other authorization for the position in the job offer. 

You must also intend to live in Ontario. OINP will assess this through a series of factors, such as past studies, work, or tourism in the province, having family members or personal relationships residing in Ontario, etc. 
If you do not have any of the ties listed above, we recommend talking about the following topics in your letter:

• Talk about your current job offer and the industry in which you work, and then add information about the prospects of your line of work in Ontario.
• Talk about Ontario in general, what you like about it (weather, festivals, etc.), and how you can settle without any problem there.

In short, you need to prove that you did your research, and do not talk about other provinces or territories.

When applying from inside Canada, you need to have the appropriate legal documentation to prove you are in the country legally, either a Work Permit, a Study Permit, etc. You should keep your status until you are nominated.

Employer

To be eligible to the FW stream, the employer must:

• have been in active business in the least 3 years,
• have a location in Ontario where you are expected to perform your duties,
• have no outstanding orders made against them under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 or the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and
• demonstrate that enough effort was made to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident for the position being offered to you.

For the most recent fiscal year, the employer must also satisfy the following requirements:

• If you will work or report to work inside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the employer must have at least (i) 1,000,000 CAD in annual gross revenues, and (ii) 5 full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
• If you will work or report to work outside the GTA, the employer must have at least (i) 500,000 CAD in annual gross revenues, and (ii) 3 full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

The location where the applicant will report to work means (i) the location where the applicant’s immediate supervisor or manager works, or (ii) the administrative office where the applicant will receive work assignments.

Invitation to apply

The OINP will invite the highest ranking candidates to apply either on a general basis (rank all candidates who registered an expression of interest) or on a targeted basis (rank only those candidates who have one or more targeted labour market or human capital attributes).

The following are the scoring factors used in this FW stream:

Job offer – NOC skill level (NOC codes here)

• NOC TEER Category 0 or 1 – 10 points
• NOC TEER Category 2 or 3 – 8 points
• NOC TEER Category 4 – 0 points
• NOC TEER Category 5 – 0 points

 Job offer – NOC broad occupational category (first digit of the NOC code)

• Broad occupational Category 0, 2 or 3 – 10 points
• Broad occupational Category 7 – 7 points
• Broad occupational Category 1 or 9 – 5 points
• Broad occupational Category 4 or 8 – 4 points
• Broad occupational Category 5 or 6 – 3 points

Job offer – Wage

• CAD 40 per hour or more – 10 points
• CAD 35 to CAD 39.99 per hour or more – 8 points
• CAD 30 to CAD 34.99 per hour or more – 7 points
• CAD 25 to CAD 29.99 per hour or more – 6 points
• CAD 20 to CAD 24.99 per hour – 5 points
• Less than CAD 20 per hour – 0 points

Work permit status

• With valid work permit – 10 points
• Without valid work permit – 0 points

Canadian work experience with job offer employer

• 6 months or more working in job offer position – 3 points
• Less than 6 months working in job offer position or not currently working in position – 0 points

Canadian work experience – Earnings history

• CAD 40,000 or more earnings in a year – 3 points
• Less than CAD 40,000 earnings in a year – 0 points

Official language ability (Language tests here)

• CLB9 or higher – 10 points
• CLB8 – 6 points
• CLB7 – 4 points
• CLB6 or lower – 0 points

Knowledge of official languages

• 2 Official Languages – 10 points (min. CLB7 in one official language and a min. CLB6 in the second official language)
• 1 Official Language – 5 points

Regional immigration – Location of job Offer

• Northern Ontario – 10 points
  • Includes the following Census Divisions: Muskoka Haliburton, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Manitoulin, Sudbury, Greater Sudbury/Grand Sudbury, Timiskaming, Cochrane, Algoma, Thunder Bay, Rainy River and Kenora
• Other areas outside GTA (except Northern Ontario) – 8 points
  • Includes all Ontario regions except those listed as part of Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area and Northern Ontario
• Inside GTA (except Toronto) – 3 points
  • Includes the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel and York
• Toronto – 0 points
  • Includes the City of Toronto

Strategic priorities (To address immediate labour market needs)

• As determined by OINP – 10 points
• One of the OINP Strategic priorities is the Regional Immigration Pilot. To obtain the 10 points, the job offer must be from an employer located in one of the following pilot communities :
  • Chatham-Kent
  • Cities of Belleville and Quinte West
  • City of Cornwall