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The employee you trained is on a permit that expires next year. An Ontario nomination converts a temporary hire into a permanent one, but it is the employer, not the worker, that has to meet the revenue, staffing and wage thresholds.
Arrange a Call →Under the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program the provincial nominee programme, the employer must meet revenue, staffing and operating-history thresholds and the position must be permanent, full-time and paid at or above the applicable wage level for the occupation and region.
They are three Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program streams through which an Ontario employer supports a candidate for provincial nomination toward permanent residence: the Foreign Worker stream for candidates with qualifying experience, the International Student stream for graduates of eligible Canadian institutions, and the the provincial nominee programme for specified occupations. The employer must meet revenue, staffing and operating-history thresholds and the job must be permanent and full-time.
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The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program operates under an agreement between Canada and Ontario made under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which allows a province to nominate individuals for permanent residence. The nomination is not permanent residence: it is a provincial endorsement that the nominee then uses in a federal application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which decides admissibility and issues the status. Ontario administers its side under the Ontario Immigration Act, 2015 and its regulations.
Three OINP streams are employer-driven. The Workforce Priority stream is for candidates with a qualifying job offer and work experience. Graduates of eligible Canadian institutions may qualify where they hold a qualifying job offer. The stream accepts work experience in any National Occupational Classification occupation, which is a change from the former streams that were limited to specified occupations and training levels. All three require an eligible Ontario employer, an eligible position, and a candidate who meets the stream criteria.
Nomination has become more valuable rather than less. IRCC removed additional Comprehensive Ranking System points for arranged employment in 2025, so a job offer no longer lifts an Express Entry score by itself. A provincial nomination, by contrast, remains the single largest score enhancement available in the Express Entry system where the candidate is in that pool, and the base streams provide a route for candidates who are not.
The employer is assessed before the candidate. The business must have been in active operation for at least three years, must have premises in Ontario where the person will work, and must meet revenue and staffing thresholds that differ depending on whether the position is inside or outside the Greater Toronto Area. Employers must also be in compliance with Ontario employment and health and safety legislation, which is verified rather than assumed.
| Requirement | Position inside the GTA | Position outside the GTA |
|---|---|---|
| Time in active business | At least three years | At least three years |
| Gross annual revenue | At least $1,000,000 | At least $500,000 |
| Permanent full-time employees at the location | At least five | At least three |
| Premises | Ontario premises where the work will be performed | Ontario premises where the work will be performed |
| Employment law compliance | Required and verified | Required and verified |
| Position type | Permanent and full-time | Permanent and full-time |
The position itself must be full-time and permanent, must be a genuine business need rather than a role created for the applicant, and must be paid at or above the applicable wage level for that occupation in the region, measured against published wage data. The offer cannot displace a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and the employer must be able to demonstrate a legitimate operating need for the role. Employers whose revenue sits close to the threshold, or who have recently restructured, should confirm their eligibility before promising anything to an employee.
The Foreign Worker stream requires the applicant to have qualifying work experience in the occupation, generally at least nine months of paid full-time experience, or the part-time equivalent, within the three years before the application, and the experience must be in the same occupation as the job offer. The work may have been performed inside or outside Canada, and the applicant does not need to be in Canada at the time of application, although many are already working for the employer on a work permit.
The International Student stream applies to graduates of eligible Canadian institutions who apply within a defined period after completing their credential. It does not require prior work experience, which makes it the natural route for an employer converting a co-op student or a recent hire on a post-graduation work permit. Requirements are set out by the province for the Workforce Priority stream and should be checked against the current OINP guidance before an application is prepared.
Ontario administers the Workforce Priority stream through an expression of interest system in which registered profiles are invited to apply in periodic rounds, with 17 calendar days to submit after an invitation is issued. Employers should not treat an invitation as guaranteed or plan a start date around one, and should confirm the current stream openings, scoring factors and any occupation targeting before committing to a candidate.
Confirm revenue, staffing, premises, operating history and employment law compliance, and confirm that the position is genuinely permanent and full-time and priced at or above the applicable wage level.
Match the employee to the correct stream, verify occupational classification, experience, education and language, and identify any gap that must be closed before registration.
Issue a written job offer consistent with the position as it will be described to the province, and complete the employer forms describing the business, the position and the recruitment context.
Register the profile in the expression of interest system and wait for an invitation in a selection round, then file the complete application within the deadline the invitation sets.
If approved, Ontario issues a nomination. Where the candidate needs to keep working while the federal application is processed, a work permit supported by the province may be available under section 204(b) of the Regulations, or a bridging open work permit may apply.
The nominee applies to IRCC for permanent residence. IRCC assesses admissibility, medical and security requirements and the genuineness of the nomination, and issues the status.
Timing is the practical challenge. A work permit expiring in the middle of this sequence can undo it, because an employee who loses status cannot continue working and may have to leave. The permit calendar and the nomination calendar have to be planned together, with renewal applications filed before expiry so that maintained status protects the employment while the file is pending.
The province assesses the business as carefully as it assesses the candidate, and the documentary burden falls on the employer. Expect to provide corporate registration documents, financial statements or notices of assessment demonstrating gross revenue for the required period, evidence of the number of permanent full-time employees at the location, proof of the Ontario premises such as a lease or ownership document, and confirmation of compliance with Ontario employment and health and safety legislation. Employers with multiple locations should be careful to prove revenue and staffing for the location where the person will actually work.
The position itself must be documented as a genuine business need. That means a written job description consistent with the occupational classification, an explanation of where the role sits in the organisation, and a wage supported by the published wage data for the occupation in that region. A role invented to fit a candidate, a title inflated to reach a higher classification, or a wage set at the applicable level on paper but not paid in practice will each undermine the file, and inconsistencies with payroll records are checked.
Employers should also be alive to the difference between the offer they make and the offer they can sustain. A nomination is granted on the basis of permanent full-time employment. If the business restructures, closes the location or eliminates the role while the file is pending, the basis for the nomination changes. That is a commercial reality rather than a legal trap, but it should be considered before a nomination is promised to a valued employee whose plans will be built around it.
Not every employer qualifies. Employer eligibility under the Workforce Priority stream is assessed by the province, and an employer that does not meet its requirements cannot support a nomination no matter how genuine the role is. That is not the end of the employee's prospects; it simply means the employer is not the vehicle. Many employees will qualify federally on their own record, through the Canadian Experience Class after a year of skilled Canadian work experience, or through category-based selection where their occupation, education or language profile is targeted.
In those cases the employer contribution is narrower but still material: keep the person lawfully working, provide an accurate reference letter that aligns duties and hours with the occupational classification, and time permit renewals so nothing lapses while the federal application is processed. Employers should also consider whether another province or a federal pilot better fits a particular employee, particularly where the work is performed outside the Greater Toronto Area.
Finally, be candid with the employee. Nomination programs open, close and change scoring without much notice, and an employer that promises a nomination it cannot deliver creates both a retention problem and, potentially, a claim. Describe what the company will support, on what conditions, and confirm it in writing.
Employers should also decide, in advance, what happens if the employee leaves after being nominated. A nomination is issued on the strength of a specific job offer with a specific employer, so a resignation shortly after nomination can undermine the file. Some employers respond by funding the process only for employees who have completed a defined period of service, others by simply accepting the risk as a cost of retention. What does not work is an aggressive repayment clause, which raises enforceability questions under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and reads badly to a regulator.
Conversely, plan for the upside. An employee who obtains permanent residence is no longer tied to an employer-specific permit, no longer generates a compliance obligation under sections 209.2 and 209.3 of the federal Regulations, and no longer needs the employer to manage renewal deadlines. From a workforce planning perspective, converting temporary staff to permanent residents removes ongoing regulatory exposure as well as securing the person, which is why the exercise is worth the administrative effort it costs.
We assess employer eligibility before anything is promised to an employee, draft the job offer so it matches what the province will be told, complete the employer forms, coordinate the registration and application, and align the work permit strategy so the employee remains lawfully employed throughout. Where the employer does not meet a threshold, we say so at the outset and look at alternatives, including federal routes the employee can pursue on their own record.
OINP employer support is quoted as a fixed fee for the employer-side work, separate from any representation of the employee, who may require independent counsel on their own application. Where an employer expects to nominate more than one person, the eligibility evidence about the business is assembled once and refreshed for each subsequent file rather than rebuilt. To discuss a nomination or an employer eligibility review, contact our business immigration group.
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55 University Ave, Suite 1100
Toronto, ON M5J 2H7
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