What makes a job offer eligible for OINP's Ontario Workforce Priority stream?

For OINP's Ontario Workforce Priority stream (which replaced the former Employer Job Offer streams), a supporting job offer must meet a specific set of criteria — both at the employer level and the position level. At the employer level, the company must be registered and operating legally in Ontario, be in good standing with Ontario's employment standards and occupational health and safety laws, and generally not be a temporary staffing agency making placements for the foreign worker.

At the position level, the former EJO streams required the offer to be full-time, permanent (not seasonal, temporary, or contract), in an eligible NOC occupation, and to meet a minimum wage threshold, in the same occupation you were being nominated for. The Ontario Workforce Priority stream's own position-level criteria have not been fully published — confirm current requirements before relying on these figures.

OINP's former EJO streams typically required the position to be supported by a valid Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from the federal government, or that the applicant already be working in Canada in that role under an LMIA-exempt work permit — a similar link is expected under the Workforce Priority stream, though this has not been separately confirmed. The LMIA is a federal document — it is separate from the OINP application.

Because both the employer and the position must meet Ontario's requirements, it is worth having an immigration professional review the offer before you build an application around it.