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OINP - Ontario PNP - Foreign Worker (FW) Stream
One of the 3 PNP streams of Ontario under the Employer Job Offer category
Home > Permanent Residence > Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) > Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) > OINP - Foreign Worker (FW) Stream
The guide below takes a deep look into one of the streams of Ontario's Provincial Nominee Program (OINP), the Foreign Worker (FW) stream. The guide will go through an overview of the stream, its eligibility requirements, how it works, the documentation needed, its cost and processing times.
Overview of the Foreign Worker (FW) stream
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The Foreign Worker (FW) stream is one of Ontario's PNP streams that requires the candidate to hold a job offer from an employer in Ontario to be eligible.
When receiving a nomination under the FW stream, candidates can then apply for Permanent Residence to the federal government of Canada. |
This stream is not aligned with Express Entry, which means that candidates cannot take advantage of the 6-month average processing times of Express Entry. Processing times of Provincial Nominee Programs (not aligned with Express Entry) are usually longer and take at least 1 year.
The FW stream does require a valid job offer as its main eligibility requirement, and candidates do not need to provide proof of funds. There are other requirements that must be fulfilled regarding the candidate, the employer, and the job offer.
The FW stream does require a valid job offer as its main eligibility requirement, and candidates do not need to provide proof of funds. There are other requirements that must be fulfilled regarding the candidate, the employer, and the job offer.
Eligibility Requirements
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.
1. Job offer requirements
To be eligible to the FW stream, the job offer must:
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.
2. Applicant requirements
To be eligible to the FW stream, you, the applicant, must have:
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. You can find more information on this in the Required Documents section of this guide.
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.
3. Employer requirements
To be eligible to the FW stream, the employer must:
For the most recent fiscal year, the employer must also satisfy the following requirements:
4. Receive an invitation to apply
In order to be considered for this FW stream, you must register an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the OINP e-Filing Portal. Based on your profile, the OINP will assign you a score under the FW stream.
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)
1. Job offer requirements
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 Skill Type/Level 0, A, or B. 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.
2. Applicant requirements
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. You can find more information on this in the Required Documents section of this guide.
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.
3. Employer requirements
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.
4. Receive an invitation to apply
In order to be considered for this FW stream, you must register an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the OINP e-Filing Portal. Based on your profile, the OINP will assign you a score under the FW stream.
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 Skill Level A – 10 points
- NOC Skill Level B – 8 points
- NOC Skill Level C – 0 points
- NOC Skill Level D – 0 points
- NOC Type 0, 1, 2, 3 or 9 – 10 points
- NOC Type 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 – 5 points
- CAD 40 per hour or more – 10 points
- CAD 20 to CAD 39.99 per hour – 5 points
- Less than CAD 20 per hour – 0 points
- 12 months or more – 4 points
- Less than 12 months – 0 points
- NOC Skill Level A – 3 points
- NOC Skill Level B – 0 points
- NOC Skill Level C – 0 points
- NOC Skill Level D – 0 points
- CAD 40,000 or more earnings in a year – 3 points
- Less than CAD 40,000 earnings in a year – 0 points
- Outside Greater Toronto Area (GTA) – 10 points
- Inside GTA – 6 points
- As determined by OINP – 10 points (if in use).
Application Process Summary
For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the Foreign Worker (FW) stream. Candidates must:
- Create a profile in the OINP e-Filing Portal.
- Register an expression of interest for the FW stream
- After receiving an invitation to apply, apply within 14 days to the FW stream by submitting their application through their OINP e-filing portal profile (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Apply for permanent residence to the federal government (IRCC) within 6 months of receiving the nomination (after OINP processes their application). Candidates need to apply on paper to IRCC, and include the Nomination Approval Letter and the Certificate of Nomination received from OINP.
Required Supporting Documents
All required documents must be uploaded online, and you will need to create a profile on the OINP e-Filing Portal to do so. Specific requirements for documents are explained in detail here.
For the intent to reside in Ontario, you need to list all ties that you have to the province, including family, friends, prior studies, prior or current work experience, prior visit, etc. Remember to add any document that could support the claims you are making.
If you do not have any of the ties listed above, we recommend talking about the following topics in your letter:
For the intent to reside in Ontario, you need to list all ties that you have to the province, including family, friends, prior studies, prior or current work experience, prior visit, etc. Remember to add any document that could support the claims you are making.
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.
Application Fees
The fee for this stream is quite expensive, the most expensive in all other Provincial Nominee Programs. It is set at:
It can only be paid by a credit or debit card (Visa or MasterCard).
Application fees can only be refunded if the processing of the application has not started, either (i) if the applicant withdraws his/her application before processing starts, or (ii) if the application is refused as being incomplete by the OINP.
- 1,500 CAD if the job offer is outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), or
- 2,000 CAD if the job offer is within the GTA.
It can only be paid by a credit or debit card (Visa or MasterCard).
Application fees can only be refunded if the processing of the application has not started, either (i) if the applicant withdraws his/her application before processing starts, or (ii) if the application is refused as being incomplete by the OINP.
Processing Times
As of April 8, 2021, the processing times for a Foreign Worker stream application are estimated to be between 60 to 90 days. However, some applications may need more time to be processed if more complex or necessitate more documents and/or information.
Stream Opening History
The Foreign Worker stream is usually always open. You can check out our awesome Live PNP Monitor to see if the stream is currently open and its latest news, as well as for all the other PNP streams.
Do I have to stay in the Province?
This is a tricky question and there are multiple situations that can happen. You can learn more about this subject on our dedicated article: Can I move to another province?
Does the Stream have In-Demand Jobs?
Some streams target specific NOC codes, meaning that if you have experience in those in-demand jobs, you either (i) have more chances to be invited or (ii) that you can be eligible to the stream. In the case of the Foreign Worker stream, there is no in-demand list. You can find out about the other provinces' in-demand jobs in our in-demand NOC codes article.
