Ontario Sends 1,243 PR Invitations in Latest 6 OINP Draws

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program invited 1,243 invitations to apply on 6 OINP draws on March 18, 2026.

However, the biggest news of all is the one that thousands of masters and PhD graduates had been anticipating over a year to hear: the Masters Graduate and PhD Graduate streams are officially returning.

It is the first draw under these two streams carried out in Ontario since 2024.

The year 2025 in its entire calendar year elapsed without a single invite under either the Masters Graduate or PhD Graduate stream and this put thousands of international graduates in a difficult position.

These OINP pulls are an indication that Ontario is already using these pathways again before the foresighted OINP program redesign does away with them later this year.

Canada, in particular, provided 25,722 PR invitations in February 2026 alone and Ontario was the most prolific province with more than 3,200 OINP invitations.

Summary of All OINP Draws on March 18, 2026

On March 18, 2026, Ontario held 6 focused draws, with a total of 1,243 invitations to apply.

The draws were Masters Graduate stream, PhD Graduate stream, Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream to physicians and three streams in the Regional Economic Development through Immigration pilot.

This is an extension of aggressive draw activity observed during the early 2026 after 1,825 invitations had been made on February 2 and 1,404 skilled trades invitations had been made on February 18.

A detailed breakdown of all draws is as listed in the table below.

Stream	Date Issued	Invitations	Score	Profile Dates	Notes
Masters Graduate	March 18, 2026	582	30+	Jul 2, 2025 – Mar 16, 2026	Targeted draw
PhD Graduate	March 18, 2026	525	49+	Jul 2, 2025 – Mar 16, 2026	Targeted draw
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker (Physicians)	March 18, 2026	97	36+	Jul 2, 2025 – Mar 16, 2026	Targeted – Physicians
Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker (REDI)	March 18, 2026	11	47+	Jul 2, 2025 – Mar 16, 2026	REDI Pilot
Employer Job Offer: International Student (REDI)	March 18, 2026	17	61+	Jul 2, 2025 – Mar 16, 2026	REDI Pilot
Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills (REDI)	March 18, 2026	11	30+	Jul 2, 2025 – Mar 16, 2026	REDI Pilot

All qualifying profiles should be constructed and authenticated through March 16, 2026, at 11: 59 p.m. The period of profile eligibility is between July 2, 2025, and March 16, 2026.

This date coincides with the introduction of OINP changes to the intake system that will be implemented in July 2025, returning the Expression of Interest registration process to a starting point with the introduction of a new Employer Portal.

Invited candidates are able to use the portal of OINP e-Filing Portal to apply within the stipulated deadlines.

Full List Of Targeted Occupations for Masters Graduate Stream

To be eligible in this targeted draw, the candidates must possess Canadian work experience in one of the following NOC codes:

NOC 00010 – Legislators
NOC 00012 – Senior managers – financial, communications and other business services
NOC 00015 – Senior managers – construction, transportation, production and utilities
NOC 10011 – Human resources managers
NOC 10012 – Purchasing managers
NOC 10019 – Other administrative services managers
NOC 10020 – Insurance, real estate and financial brokerage managers
NOC 10021 – Banking, credit and other investment managers
NOC 11200 – Human resources professionals
NOC 12010 – Supervisors, general office and administrative support workers
NOC 12011 – Supervisors, finance and insurance office workers
NOC 12013 – Supervisors, supply chain, tracking and scheduling coordination occupations
NOC 12100 – Executive assistants
NOC 12101 – Human resources and recruitment officers
NOC 12102 – Procurement and purchasing agents and officers
NOC 12103 – Conference and event planners
NOC 12104 – Employment insurance and revenue officers
NOC 12111 – Health information management occupations
NOC 12112 – Records management technicians
NOC 13 – Senior managers – health, education, social and community services and membership organizations
NOC 13100 – Administrative officers
NOC 13112 – Medical administrative assistants
NOC 14101 – Receptionists
NOC 20010 – Engineering managers
NOC 20011 – Architecture and science managers
NOC 20012 – Computer and information systems managers
NOC 21100 – Physicists and astronomers
NOC 21111 – Forestry professionals
NOC 21200 – Architects
NOC 21201 – Landscape architects
NOC 21222 – Information systems specialists
NOC 21311 – Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
NOC 30010 – Managers in health care
NOC 31112 – Audiologists and speech-language pathologists
NOC 31120 – Pharmacists
NOC 31121 – Dietitians and nutritionists
NOC 31202 – Physiotherapists
NOC 31203 – Occupational therapists
NOC 31300 – Nursing co-ordinators and supervisors
NOC 31301 – Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
NOC 32103 – Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists
NOC 32109 – Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
NOC 32129 – Other medical technologists and technicians
NOC 33101 – Medical laboratory assistants
NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
NOC 33109 – Other assisting occupations in support of health services
NOC 40020 – Administrators – post-secondary education and vocational training
NOC 40030 – Managers in social, community and correctional services
NOC 41301 – Therapists in counselling and related specialized therapies
NOC 41302 – Ecclesiastical occupations
NOC 50011 – Managers – publishing, motion pictures, broadcasting and performing arts
NOC 51110 – Editors
NOC 51113 – Journalists
NOC 51122 – Musicians and singers
NOC 52110 – Film and video camera operators
NOC 52112 – Broadcast technicians
NOC 52113 – Audio and video recording technicians
NOC 70010 – Construction managers
NOC 70011 – Home building and renovation managers
NOC 70012 – Facility operation and maintenance managers
NOC 72010 – Contractors and supervisors, machining, metal forming, shaping and erecting trades and related occupations
NOC 72012 – Contractors and supervisors, pipefitting trades
NOC 72014 – Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
NOC 72020 – Contractors and supervisors, mechanic trades
NOC 72023 – Supervisors, railway transport operations
NOC 72025 – Supervisors, mail and message distribution occupations
NOC 73112 – Painters and decorators (except interior decorators)
NOC 73201 – General maintenance workers and building superintendents
NOC 92010 – Supervisors, mineral and metal processing
NOC 92011 – Supervisors, petroleum, gas and chemical processing and utilities
NOC 92013 – Supervisors, plastic and rubber products manufacturing
NOC 92014 – Supervisors, forest products processing

To have full stream requirements, you must visit the official Masters Graduate stream page of the Ontario government site.

Full List Of Targeted Occupations for PhD Graduate Stream

The applicants are required to have Canadian work experience in any of the following NOC codes:

NOC 10021 – Banking, credit and other investment managers
NOC 11101 – Financial and investment analysts
NOC 11200 – Human resources professionals
NOC 11201 – Professional occupations in business management consulting
NOC 13110 – Administrative assistants
NOC 20011 – Architecture and science managers
NOC 20012 – Computer and information systems managers
NOC 21100 – Physicists and astronomers
NOC 21101 – Chemists
NOC 21102 – Geoscientists and oceanographers
NOC 21109 – Other professional occupations in physical sciences
NOC 21110 – Biologists and related scientists
NOC 21120 – Public and environmental health and safety professionals
NOC 21202 – Urban and land use planners
NOC 21210 – Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries
NOC 21211 – Data scientists
NOC 21220 – Cybersecurity specialists
NOC 21222 – Information systems specialists
NOC 21223 – Database analysts and data administrators
NOC 21230 – Computer systems developers and programmers
NOC 21231 – Software engineers and designers
NOC 21232 – Software developers and programmers
NOC 21233 – Web designers
NOC 21300 – Civil engineers
NOC 21301 – Mechanical engineers
NOC 21310 – Electrical and electronics engineers
NOC 21311 – Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
NOC 21322 – Metallurgical and materials engineers
NOC 21331 – Geological engineers
NOC 21399 – Other professional engineers, n.e.c.
NOC 22214 – Technical occupations in geomatics and meteorology
NOC 22300 – Civil engineering technologists and technicians
NOC 22310 – Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
NOC 31100 – Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
NOC 31301 – Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
NOC 40020 – Administrators – post-secondary education and vocational training
NOC 41200 – University professors and lecturers
NOC 41201 – Post-secondary teaching and research assistants
NOC 41210 – College and other vocational instructors
NOC 41400 – Natural and applied science policy researchers, consultants and program officers
NOC 41401 – Economists and economic policy researchers and analysts
NOC 41402 – Business development officers and marketing researchers and consultants
NOC 41403 – Social policy researchers, consultants and program officers
NOC 41404 – Health policy researchers, consultants and program officers
NOC 41405 – Education policy researchers, consultants and program officers
NOC 41409 – Other professional occupations in social science
NOC 42201 – Social and community service workers
NOC 43109 – Other instructors
NOC 44101 – Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations
NOC 51110 – Editors
NOC 52120 – Graphic designers and illustrators
NOC 74102 – Couriers and messengers

To access all the requirements of streams of the PhD, go to the official PhD Graduate stream on the Ontario government website.

Application deadline: The invitees should receive the invitation and submit the application and payment within 14 calendar days under Masters and Phd Graduate Streams.

Log into OINP e-Filing Portal, and select the newly generated file number of prefix NPHD.

The lack of Masters and Phillarial stream through 2025 posed a great uncertainty on thousands of international graduate students in Ontario.

The avenue to permanent residence via these streams through Ontario graduate degree had become so well established that many had entered Ontario to undertake graduate degrees, specifically because of the availability of this route.

At the time when the draws were halted, these students were deprived of the PR pathway that they had been planning around.

Other OINP streams were also affected by the 2025 disruptions, with the most noticeable being when Ontario returned all Skilled Trades Stream applications in November 2025, in a decision that premier Doug Ford said was a result of federal allocation cuts.

The draws of March 18, 2026 have a number of reasons, which are interconnected.

The OINP nomination quota in Ontario has increased by 31 percent to 14,119 (compared to 10,750 nominations in 2025).

The province has already been operational and has issued 1,825 invitations on February 2 to healthcare and REDI applicants and 1,404 skilled trades invitations on February 18.

Nevertheless, the candidates are expected to realize that this repayment can be short-term.

On March 16, 2026, Ontario announced changes in the regulations, giving the Minister power to establish or eliminate OINP selection streams.

The province has attested that 9 groups of applicants who are currently qualified as provincial nomination will be officially revoked by May 30, 2026.

The redesign of the OINP program will see the complete elimination of the Masters and PhD Graduate streams, and new streams such as a Priority Healthcare Stream, an Exceptional Talent Stream, and a stream combining the Employer Job Offer Stream.

Full List Of Targeted Occupations Under Foreign Worker Stream

Ontario remained preoccupied with physician recruiting as 97 invitations were made under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream where the physicians had a score of 36 and above.

This is the continuation of the trend that occurred in the February 2 draw where 129 physician-specific invitations were made.

The new Express Entry physician group opened on February 19, 2026, and is inviting 391 doctors at a historic low CRS cutoff of only 169 points.

The physician draw is aimed at three codes NOC:

NOC 31100 – Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine
NOC 31101 – Specialists in surgery
NOC 31102 – General practitioners and family physicians

The active interest of Ontario in physicians is an indication of critical shortage of healthcare staffing in Ontario.

The employment of internationally trained physicians through immigration is a workforce priority that goes way beyond the immigration policy considering that the recent provincial data shows that more than 2.3 million Ontarians do not have a family doctor.

Canada has also notably brought in Express Entry exemptions of self-employed doctors and has provided a specific Express Entry category of returning physicians with Canadian work experience, so 2026 is the physician-oriented immigration year in Canadian history.

REDI Pilot Draws Across 3 Streams

The Regional Economic Development through Immigration pilot went on with 39 invitations in three Employer Job Offer streams.

The REDI pilot is being applied to candidates in the job offerings in the two rural areas in Ontario Lanark or Leeds and Grenville where local employers cannot easily fill jobs by solely relying on domestic hiring.

REDI has continued to be a regular component of OINP draws in 2025 and 2026, featuring in the October 2025 draws, the December 2025 draws and all draw rounds in 2026 thus far.

The draws are also part of the larger plans by Ontario to spread the immigration benefits not only in the Greater Toronto Area but also in the small communities where there is acute labour shortages.

The legislation that preconditioned the use of more focused approaches to immigration was the Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025, and the REDI pilot is one of the tangible applications of the specified strategy.

OINP REDI Full List Of Targeted Occupations

REDI: Employer Job Offer – Foreign Worker Stream

11 invitations were issued to candidates with a score of 47 and above. Candidates must have a job offer in one of the following NOC codes:

NOC 11100 – Financial auditors and accountants
NOC 22302 – Industrial engineering and manufacturing technologists and technicians
NOC 32104 – Animal health technologists and veterinary technicians
NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
NOC 72302 – Gas fitters
NOC 72410 – Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers

REDI: Employer Job Offer – International Student Stream

17 invitations were issued to candidates with a score of 61 and above. Candidates must have a job offer in one of the following NOC codes:

NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
NOC 42201 – Social and community service workers
NOC 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants
NOC 70010 – Construction managers
NOC 72100 – Machinists and machining and tooling inspectors
NOC 73202 – Pest controllers and fumigators

REDI: Employer Job Offer – In-Demand Skills Stream

11 invitations were issued to candidates with a score of 30 and above. Candidates must have a job offer in one of the following NOC codes:

NOC 44101 – Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations
NOC 94100 – Machine operators, mineral and metal processing
NOC 94111 – Plastics processing machine operators
NOC 94140 – Process control and machine operators, food and beverage processing
NOC 94201 – Electronics assemblers, fabricators, inspectors and testers
NOC 95106 – Labourers in food and beverage processing

Ontario-OINP Application Deadlines and Next Steps

Applicants that get invitations will have to move fast on March 18, 2026. The application windows are narrow and inadaptable.

Stream	Application Deadline
Masters Graduate (prefix NMAS)	14 calendar days from invitation
PhD Graduate (prefix NPHD)	14 calendar days from invitation
Employer Job Offer streams (prefix JOXX)	17 calendar days from invitation (employer: 14 days)

Failure to meet these deadlines is a loss of invitation. There are no extensions. Applicants are expected to prepare their documents ahead of time and apply early enough.

In the case of Employer Job Offer streams, where the employer is the application process agent though OINP Employer Portal, employers must make an initial step within 14 days before the candidates could do their own submissions.

The applicants that intend to apply to federal immigration routes are to note that also, Express Entry now enforces the upfront medical examination prior to application.

The OINP Program Redesign and Why Time Is Running Out

Ontario OINP is going through the largest restructuring it has ever experienced.

The amendments to the Ontario regulation 421/17 by providing authority to the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development to establish or eliminate selection streams, which were subsequently amended on March 16, 2026, include the authority to create or eliminate streams of selection without the need to enact new legislation.

This power was initially brought up by the Working for Workers Seven Act, 2025.

The official list of dates would involve the cancellation of nine types of applicants on May 30, 2026.

The proposed OINP redesign of 2026 included the following phased approach: Phase 1 involves combining the three Employer Job Offer streams into one unified stream with TEER-based tracks, whereas Phase 2 involves removing the Masters Graduate, PhD Graduate, and possibly other streams.

Instead, Ontario will have a Priority Healthcare Stream, an Exceptional Talent Stream, and a new and improved Entrepreneur Stream.

To anyone in the present qualifications under Masters or PhD Graduate streams, the message would be clear that these March 18 draws may be the last window of opportunity.

Students who are not yet registered have to do it immediately via OINP e-Filing Portal.

Individuals with active profiles yet were not invited during this round do not need to withdraw their profiles, but should pay close attention to the OINP Program Updates page to be invited in the next round.