Status: no Workforce Priority draws have been held
Last checked: August 19, 2026
Ontario has not issued a single Invitation to Apply under the Ontario Workforce Priority stream. The EOI portal opened on August 4, 2026, and the pool is still filling. The last OINP invitation round of any kind was held on April 30, 2026, under the old streams that no longer exist.
We check Ontario’s program updates page and record any draw here on the day it is announced.
If someone has quoted you an OWPS cutoff score, it is not real. We explain why below.
Ontario Workforce Priority draw results
| Draw date | Pathway | Invitations | Score cutoff | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No draws held yet | Pending | Pending | Pending | Checked August 19, 2026 |
This table stays empty until Ontario issues its first round. When that happens we will record the date, the pathway targeted, the number of invitations, the minimum score, and any occupation restrictions.
Why there are no draws yet
The timeline explains it better than anything else:
- June 25, 2026. Ontario amended Regulation 422/17. Eight OINP streams closed permanently. The Workforce Priority stream replaced them. The EOI system shut down and every uninvited profile was withdrawn.
- April 30, 2026. This was the final OINP invitation round under the old system, held before the shutdown.
- July 20, 2026. Ontario published the scoring grid, but with no portal, nobody could register.
- August 4, 2026. The EOI portal reopened. Only from this date could candidates begin entering the pool.
A draw needs a pool. The pool has existed for roughly two weeks. Ontario also needs employers to work through the Employer Portal first, because no candidate can register an EOI until an employer submits a job offer and generates a job offer ID.
About the cutoff scores circulating online
Several sites are publishing OWPS cutoff ranges, with claims of competitive TEER 0-3 scores in the mid eighties to mid nineties and TEER 4-5 scores in the mid sixties to mid seventies, attributed to draws supposedly held between late June and mid July 2026.
Those draws did not happen. The EOI system was closed for that entire period. Ontario’s own program updates page shows no invitation rounds after April 30.
Where these numbers come from is easy enough to guess. They are either estimates presented as fact, or cutoffs from the retired Employer Job Offer streams, which used a different scoring grid out of a different maximum. Either way, planning around them is planning around fiction.
The honest position: nobody knows what the first OWPS cutoff will be, including us. We will publish it the day it exists.
How OWPS draws will work
Ontario has published enough about the mechanics to say this much with confidence.
Ranking is by total EOI score. Job offer candidates are scored out of 130. Self employed physicians are scored out of 115. Ontario invites from the top down.
Draws can be targeted. Ontario has said early rounds will follow labour market priorities, which historically has meant health, skilled trades, and specific in-demand roles. A targeted draw can have a lower cutoff than a general one, because it is drawing from a smaller pool.
There is no schedule and no advance notice. Ontario does not announce draws before it holds them. This is the single most important operational fact on this page.
Your EOI sits in the pool for 12 months. No invitation in that window means registering again from scratch.
Because there is no warning, the only workable strategy is to have your documents assembled before a draw, not after. If you are invited, you have 17 calendar days to submit and pay, and your employer has 14 calendar days to get the position approved. Neither deadline can be reinstated.
Work out where you sit with our OINP Points Calculator, built on the July 2026 grid.
The allocation question nobody is asking
Ontario’s federal nomination allocation for 2026 is 14,119 across the entire OINP.
Here is the part that matters. Reporting on the pre-shutdown draws suggests Ontario had already issued somewhere close to 13,000 nominations by April 30, 2026, under the former streams. If that figure holds, the remaining room for Workforce Priority draws in calendar year 2026 could be quite small.
We flag this as a reported figure rather than a confirmed one, because Ontario has not published a running total since the redesign. But it is worth factoring into your expectations. A first draw in 2026 may be modest in size, with the larger rounds arriving once the 2027 allocation is set.
Historical OINP draws before the redesign
These rounds were held under streams that no longer exist. Their cutoff scores used the old grid and do not transfer to OWPS. We keep them here for reference only.
| Draw date | Stream | Invitations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 30, 2026 | Former streams | Not published in detail | Final OINP round before the shutdown |
| April 15, 2026 | Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills | 1,334 | Split into two rounds, agriculture occupations and other priority occupations, covering 39 NOCs in total |
If you were invited under one of these rounds and have already submitted an application, it continues to be assessed under the rules that applied when you filed. The redesign does not reach back to applications already in the system.
How to be ready before the first draw
Get your employer moving. Nothing starts until your employer registers the job offer in the OINP Employer Portal. Your own 30 day EOI window does not begin until they file.
Register your EOI as soon as you have the job offer ID. You cannot be invited from outside the pool, and there is no benefit to waiting.
Assemble documents now. ECA report, CRA Notices of Assessment for the last five years, reference letters, language results. A 17 day clock is not enough time to chase an employer for a reference letter.
Know your score. If you are 10 points off where you could be, the fix might be a language retake or a few more months in your current role. Both take time you will not have after an invitation.
Check your federal position too. A Workforce Priority nomination through the Express Entry route adds roughly 600 CRS points. See where that puts you with the CRS Score Calculator and the current Express Entry draw results.
For the full breakdown of how the new grid scores you, read our guide to the new OINP scoring factors for 2026.
Update log
| Date | Update |
|---|---|
| August 19, 2026 | Page published. No OWPS draws held as of this date. |
OINP draw results: common questions
When will the first OWPS draw happen?
Ontario has not said, and it does not give advance notice. The portal opened August 4, 2026, so a first round is plausible in the coming weeks or months. Anyone giving you a specific date is guessing.
What score do I need for an OINP draw?
There is no answer to this yet, because no draw has been held. Once one is, the cutoff will appear in the table at the top of this page. In the meantime, focus on the factors that move the most points: Ontario work experience in the job offer role, wage, language, and a job location outside Toronto.
Why do other sites list OWPS cutoff scores?
Because estimates get clicks. The EOI system was closed from June 25 to August 4, so no invitations could have been issued in that window. Check any cutoff you are quoted against Ontario’s official program updates page.
Can I be invited without registering an EOI?
No. Ontario draws from the EOI pool only. If you are not registered, you cannot be selected regardless of your score.
How often will Ontario hold draws?
Unknown under the new system. Under the former streams, Ontario held rounds periodically through the year, with frequency driven by labour market needs and remaining nomination allocation. There is no reason yet to assume the new stream will follow the same rhythm.
Do old OINP draw cutoffs tell me anything useful?
Very little. The old streams used different scoring grids with different maximums and different factors, including field of study and Ontario study location, both of which OWPS removed entirely. A score of 80 under the old system and a score of 80 under OWPS are not the same thing.
This page is updated the day Ontario announces a draw. It is not legal advice. Confirm all details on Ontario’s OINP program updates page.