July 30, 2026

For Ontario Employees:

The Karis Human Resource department has been tracking publicly available information on the changing immigration processes in Ontario. As we have previously shared, the Provincial Government in Ontario has made sweeping changes to the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) which is an important immigration pathway that we have been proud to support at Karis.

Recently, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development made amendments to Ontario Regulation 422/17. The changes that came into place included removing the existing eight OINP streams and introducing the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream. This represents the first of a two-phase program redesign. The Ontario Workforce Priority (OWP) stream is a pathway which targets skilled internationally trained workers in Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibility (TEER) 0, 1, 2, or 3 occupations with a full-time and permanent job offer. The Direct Support Professional (DSP) role aligns with NOC 42201 – Social and Community Service Workers, which is TEER 2.

Although this new OWP stream has been announced, the OINP portal is currently closed, and we eagerly wait for it to be reopened for sending submissions. This means that although the announcement of a new immigration stream has arrived, we cannot submit information on behalf of Karis employees yet. Based on information that the Ontario Government has released, it is widely anticipated that the portal will re-open by the end of summer 2026. We will share this news as soon as it is available.

Some early information about the Ontario Workforce Priority (OWP) stream has been published. The minimum eligibility requirements for the OWP include work experience that demonstrates one of the following:

  • 6 months consecutive in the last 12 months in the job offer position with the job offer employer or
  • 2 years cumulative in the last 5 years in the NOC occupation or
  • a recent Ontario graduate, 3 months consecutive in the last 12 months in the job offer position with the job offer employer.

The new OWP Stream also includes a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 6, CLB 5 for certain occupations. Additionally, it includes a minimum education of post-secondary degree or diploma as part of the eligibility criteria.

This transition effects Karis employees in Ontario who are exploring immigration pathways following the closure of previous OINP options. The Ontario government also released new information stating that those who had existing ‘Job Offers’ and ‘Expressions of Interest (EOI)’ in the previous OINP system, will have to re-submit their information when the portal re-opens. This is contrary to earlier information that had been announced.

Human Resources will continue to monitor these changes very closely and will share updates with employees as more information becomes available. Questions should be directed to immigration@karis.org.

Karolina Fahel, Human Resource Associate