Ontario: 10 OINP Points for Earnings of $80,000 or More

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) continues to adjust its selection criteria to better target the talent the province needs. Recently, Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development announced a significant change to its scoring system. This update is designed to further reward candidates with a history of high earnings in Canada.

What changes in the Expression of Interest system

Under the Expression of Interest (EOI) system, candidates are evaluated based on several human capital and experience factors. One of these key factors is "Canadian work experience: earnings history."

Until recently, the maximum score for this specific criterion was capped at 8 points, awarded to candidates who had earned $70,000 CAD or more in a single tax year. With the new update, Ontario has introduced a higher tier. The system now awards a maximum of 10 points to candidates who can demonstrate they have earned at least $80,000 CAD during a single tax year in Canada.

This two-point increase may seem modest, but in a highly competitive candidate pool, it can be the deciding factor between remaining in the pool or receiving an invitation to apply for provincial permanent residence.

Who is affected by this update?

This modification applies exclusively to candidates who are registered, or planning to register, in the Expression of Interest pool for the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream.

This stream is primarily aimed at two groups of people:

• Skilled foreign workers who hold an eligible job offer in Ontario, across all National Occupational Classification (TEER) categories.
• Eligible independent physicians who are already practicing in the province.

To benefit from these points, candidates must have a Canadian employment tax history.

Key dates and figures: The new points grid

Technically, this modification came into effect on October 5, 2026. The official notice confirming this change was subsequently published by the provincial government on October 7, 2026.

Here is how the points grid for the Canadian earnings history factor is now structured. Immigration consultants and candidates should refer to this to calculate their potential score:

What to do and required proof

The good news for candidates who have already submitted their profile is that no action is required on their part. The points adjustment is applied entirely automatically to all Expressions of Interest already registered in the OINP e-Filing Portal. If you earn $80,000 or more, your score has already been updated.

However, claiming this income comes with strict documentary evidence obligations. If you receive an invitation to apply, you will need to prove your claims:

• The Notice of Assessment is mandatory: The declared income must be validated by a Notice of Assessment (NOA) issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This document must be from within the last five years.
• T4 slips are insufficient: T4 slips alone are not accepted by the OINP to justify this criterion. The official CRA Notice of Assessment is strictly required.
• No combining years: The earnings threshold (e.g., $80,000) must be met in a single tax year, proven by a single Notice of Assessment. It is strictly forbidden to combine earnings from multiple different years to reach a higher tier.

Exceptions and special cases

The program has established clear guidelines for certain candidate profiles that do not fit the standard mold of a salaried worker with a long history in Canada.

Candidates outside Canada or without tax history Candidates who have never worked in Canada or who have never filed a tax return with the CRA automatically receive 0 points for this specific factor. It is important to note that this does not make them ineligible for the program. They remain perfectly eligible for the Workforce Priority Stream if they meet the other basic criteria, but they will need to offset this lack of points through other factors (education level, language skills, etc.).

The case of independent physicians Physicians practicing independently in Ontario receive special consideration. If they bill for their services under an Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) billing number and are duly licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), they can declare their tax history to obtain these points.

Furthermore, these physicians are exempt from the requirement to have a formal job offer and are not scored on the hourly wage criterion. However, a word of caution: physicians who only hold a postgraduate education licence are not eligible for this exemption and must meet the standard criteria.