The Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream gives foreign workers with a job offer in a skilled occupation the opportunity to apply to permanently live and work in Ontario.
Your job offer must be in a skilled occupation at TEER (Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities) category 0, 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupational Classification (NOC). This stream is open to foreign workers in and outside of Canada.
You must first register in the OINP’s Expression of Interest System and receive an invitation to apply before you can apply online to be nominated by the Ontario government for permanent residence.
Eligible NOC TEER Categories
Eligible occupations from TEER category 0, 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
Work Experience
- You must meet one of the following requirements depending on the position of the job offer:
- If your job offer is for an occupation that requires a mandatory licence or other authorization in Ontario, you must hold a valid licence or authorization from the appropriate regulatory body in Ontario at the time of application submission.
- If your job offer is not for an occupation that requires a mandatory licence or other authorization in Ontario, you must demonstrate work experience in the same occupation as the NOC code of your job offer.
- To meet the work experience requirement, you must have at least two years of cumulative paid full-time work experience (or the equivalent in paid part-time work) in the same occupation (same National Occupational Classification code) as your job offer.
- You must have gained this work experience within the five years prior to the date you submit your application, not the date you received the invitation to apply. If your work experience was gained in Canada, you must have been legally living and working in Canada.
- Cumulative means the work you’ve done must add up to two years – it does not have to be two years of continuous work.
- Full-time work experience means working in a job with at least 30 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 3,120 hours of paid work over a two-year period.
- working in one job for at least 15 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 3,120 hours of paid work over a four-year period
- working in more than one job for at least 30 hours of paid work in a week, for two years, that amounts to at least 3,120 hours of paid work in that two-year period
- Vacation periods, regular sick leave and other standard paid leave entitlements as provided for in collective agreements, workplace legislation and/or individual employer policies are not considered interruptions to full-time employment. Extended leaves are considered interruptions to full-time employment and are not to be included in the calculation of work experience.
- If you are using periods of self-employment, you will need to provide employment documentation that is independently verifiable through third parties. This can include client reference letters indicating your duties and periods of work, as well as evidence of ongoing payments to you personally, for the services provided (for example, invoices). Please also note that your hours of self-employed work must be quantifiable to ensure that you accumulated at least 3,120 hours over two years of employment. Reference letters from yourself, your business partners and/or a family member are not accepted by the program.
- If your job offer is for an occupation that requires a mandatory licence or other authorization in Ontario, you must hold a valid licence or authorization from the appropriate regulatory body in Ontario when you apply.
Part-time equivalent work experience means:
Wage or Salary
The pay of the job offered must meet or be higher than the median wage level, for that occupation, in the specific region of Ontario where you will be working.
- If you are already working in the position, the wage of the job offer must be equal to or greater than the wage level that the employer currently pays you in that position, in addition to meeting or exceeding the median wage level.
- These wage requirements do not apply if you have a collective agreement (a written contract between the employer and a union), in your workplace, that determines your wages.
- If you are paid an annual salary, your hourly wage can be calculated as follows:
- deduct any bonuses or other discretionary benefits from the annual salary
- divide the remaining amount by the number of weeks of work per year (this will generally be 52 weeks)
- divide this amount by the number of hours of work per week
- the remaining amount is the hourly wage
- The program does not consider remuneration by piece work, bonuses, commissions, vacation pay or non-financial compensation as comprising part of your hourly base wage to be included in the calculation of work experience.
Employer Eligibility
- To qualify under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream, your employer must:
- have been in active business for at least three years prior to submitting your application
- have business premises in Ontario where you will work
- have no outstanding orders made against them under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 or the Occupational Health and Safety Act
- demonstrate that enough effort was made to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident prior to offering the position to you (this only applies if you are currently living outside Canada or working outside of Ontario)
- Employers must demonstrate that reasonable efforts were made to recruit a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident prior to offering the position to the applicant, unless:
- the applicant already has a valid work permit to work in Ontario, or
- the employer has a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for the position
- Your employer’s business must meet the relevant revenue requirements for the most recently completed fiscal year (the year used for tax or accounting purposes):
- a minimum of $1,000,000 in total gross annual revenue if you will work or report to work at a location in the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto, Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions) or
- a minimum of $500,000 in total gross annual revenue if you will work or report to work at a location outside the Greater Toronto Area
- In cases where the applicant will work at more than one location, the location where the applicant will report to work means either:
- the location where the applicant’s immediate supervisor or manager works, or
- the location of the administrative office where the applicant will receive work assignments
- Your employer’s business must have at the time of application submission one of the following:
- at least five full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents who work at the location where you will work, or will report to work, if you will work or report to work at a location in the Greater Toronto Area (City of Toronto, Durham, Halton, York and Peel regions)
- at least three full-time employees who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents who work at the location where you will work, or will report to work, if you will work or report to work at a location outside the Greater Toronto Area
- A full-time employee is an employee who has worked a minimum of 30 hours per week.
- Your employer must make an application for approval of an employment position by filling out and signing an Employer Form.
- Your employer then must give you the form so you can scan and upload it with your application.
Intention to live in Province
You must intend to live in Ontario after you’ve been granted permanent residence. We determine this by examining your ties to Ontario, which can include doing things like:
- working or having worked in Ontario
- getting job offers, applying to or interviewing for jobs
- studying
- volunteering
- leasing or owning property
- visiting
- having professional networks and affiliations, family ties and personal relationships
Legal Status in Canada (if applicable)
- If you are applying from within Canada, you must have legal status (a visitor record, study permit, or work permit) at the time you apply and should maintain that status until the time of nomination.
- You may apply if you are in ‘implied status’ at the time of your OINP application submission.
Submission of Application
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).
- If approved, then 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.