If you are studying in Canada and counting on your diploma to carry you toward permanent residence, two things happened this summer that pull in opposite directions. On June 26, 2026, Ontario deleted every stream it had built for students and graduates and replaced its entire nominee program with a single **Ontario Workforce Priority stream** anchored on a job offer. Six days later, Quebec reopened the graduate route it had closed in November 2025. The province you are in now changes your answer more than it has in years. ## What is the Ontario Workforce Priority stream? The **Ontario Workforce Priority stream** is the single employer-driven pathway that replaced all eight of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program's previous nomination streams on June 26, 2026. It runs three pathways: one for NOC TEER 0 to 3 occupations, one for TEER 4 and 5 occupations, and one for self-employed physicians. That is the entire program now. The **Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP)** used to spread candidates across employer streams, graduate streams and three streams linked to Express Entry. Ontario collapsed all of it into one structure and made a qualifying job offer the entry condition for everyone except physicians. The province has called this Phase 1 of a broader redesign, so more changes are expected. ## Which OINP streams closed in June 2026? Eight streams closed at once. Three of them existed specifically for students and recent graduates, which is why this change lands hardest on people finishing a Canadian credential. - Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker - Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills - **Employer Job Offer: International Student** - **Master's Graduate** - **PhD Graduate** - Express Entry Human Capital Priorities - Express Entry French-Speaking Skilled Worker - Express Entry Skilled Trades The Master's Graduate and PhD Graduate streams were among the clearest examples in Canada of a province nominating someone for the credential itself, with no employer attached. Both are gone. If you had an expression of interest or a registered job offer sitting in the old system without an invitation, it is being **withdrawn automatically**, and Ontario is notifying affected applicants, employers and representatives directly. If you already received an invitation and submitted your application, your file continues to be assessed against the rules that applied on the day you submitted it. The replacement expression of interest system is expected to open later in summer 2026. ## What does Ontario ask for now? Every pathway except the physicians route requires a full-time, permanent job offer from an Ontario employer. What changes between them is the experience, language and education attached to that offer. ### The TEER 0 to 3 pathway - A full-time, permanent job offer in a NOC TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 occupation - **CLB 6** language ability, or CLB 5 for certain occupations - A post-secondary degree or diploma - Work experience met one of three ways: six consecutive months in the last 12 with the employer making the offer, three consecutive months in the last 12 for recent Ontario graduates, or two cumulative years in the last five in the same NOC occupation - Applicants in licensed occupations are exempt from the experience requirement ### The TEER 4 and 5 pathway - A full-time, permanent job offer in a TEER 4 or 5 occupation - **CLB 4** language ability - A Canadian secondary school diploma or its equivalent - Nine cumulative months of experience in the last two years in the offered position - A wage that meets the applicable median for the occupation ### The self-employed physicians pathway - No job offer required - Membership in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario - Eligibility to bill through **OHIP** Employers carry real weight here as well. They must show the position is full-time and permanent, meet wage thresholds and pass provincial eligibility checks. Ontario applies **lower gross annual revenue requirements** to employers in rural communities, which it defines as a census division with a population under 150,000. ## Why did Ontario narrow its program? Because it has far fewer nominations to hand out than it did two years ago, and it wants to spend them on documented labour shortages. Ontario issued **21,500** nominations in 2024. The federal government cut that to **10,750** for 2025, roughly half. For 2026 the allocation recovered to **14,119**, part of a national Provincial Nominee Program target that rose to **91,500** from 55,000. Even after that rebound, Ontario is working with about two-thirds of its 2024 capacity. When a province loses that much room, it stops nominating broadly and starts nominating against specific gaps. A job offer is the cleanest evidence that a gap exists. ## How does Quebec compare right now? Quebec moved in the opposite direction, and the timing is almost comic. Six days after Ontario deleted its graduate streams, Quebec reopened the graduate route it had shut down eight months earlier. The **Programme de l'expérience québécoise (PEQ)** reopened on July 2, 2026 for a two-year period, with a first application window running to **October 31, 2026**. That window is open only to people who already met the program's conditions on or before November 19, 2025, and there is no cap on applications. Our [PEQ reopening explainer](/en/blog/quebec-peq-reopening-2026) covers both streams and the cutoff date in detail. Quebec's **Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés (PSTQ)** keeps running alongside the PEQ through the Arrima declaration of interest system, as our [PSTQ pathway breakdown](/en/blog/quebec-pstq-new-pathway-permanent-residence) explains. One vocabulary note worth carrying: Quebec says **FEER** where the rest of Canada says TEER. The categories line up; the acronym does not. The catch is that Quebec prices its openness in French. PSTQ Stream 1, covering FEER 0 to 2 occupations, asks for French at oral level 7 and written level 5 on the Échelle québécoise. Stream 2 asks for oral level 5. Since December 17, 2025, temporary foreign workers renewing a **CAQ** after three years in Quebec must also show spoken French at level 4, subject to a three-year transition. ## What it means if you are an international student Two things now decide provincial nomination in both provinces: an employer relationship and a language score. Your diploma still matters, but it has stopped being the thing that carries you. Ontario made that explicit by removing credential-only nomination entirely. Quebec kept a credential-based route alive through the PEQ but priced it in French rather than in employment. If your French is strong, Quebec is currently the more forgiving of the two and its deadline is close. If your French is not there and a job offer is, Ontario's TEER 0 to 3 pathway asks for CLB 6, which either official language can satisfy. A federal route also exists that depends on no province at all. If you have Canadian work experience, [Express Entry after working in Quebec](/en/blog/express-entry-after-working-in-quebec) walks through it, and our [permanent residence services](/en/services/permanent) page sets out how the provincial and federal routes fit together. ## Key steps to take now 1. **Check whether your OINP file was withdrawn.** If you had an expression of interest or a registered job offer without an invitation, assume it is gone and watch for Ontario's notice. 2. **Confirm your NOC code and TEER category first.** It determines which Ontario pathway applies to you and what language level you need. 3. **Book your language test now rather than later.** Ontario asks CLB 6 for TEER 0 to 3 and CLB 4 for TEER 4 and 5, and Quebec uses a separate French scale entirely. 4. **If Quebec is realistic for you, look at the October 31, 2026 window immediately.** The PEQ's first intake is open only to people who met its conditions on or before November 19, 2025. 5. **Talk to your employer about the job offer requirements**, including full-time permanent status and the wage threshold, because Ontario now examines the employer as closely as the applicant. 6. **Keep your status valid** while Ontario's replacement expression of interest system opens later in summer 2026. 7. **Keep a federal option open.** Express Entry does not depend on any provincial nomination. ## Key takeaways - Ontario replaced all eight OINP nomination streams with the single Ontario Workforce Priority stream on June 26, 2026. - The Employer Job Offer: International Student, Master's Graduate and PhD Graduate streams are permanently closed. - The new stream runs three pathways: NOC TEER 0 to 3, TEER 4 and 5, and self-employed physicians. - A full-time, permanent Ontario job offer is now required for every pathway except self-employed physicians. - TEER 0 to 3 applicants need CLB 6, or CLB 5 for certain occupations, while TEER 4 and 5 applicants need CLB 4. - Ontario's nomination allocation fell from 21,500 in 2024 to 10,750 in 2025, then recovered to 14,119 in 2026. - Quebec moved the other way and reopened the PEQ on July 2, 2026, with a first application window closing October 31, 2026. DOCERE works with international students and graduates across Canada on the administrative side of a move: tracking which documents each province expects, keeping language results and transcripts current against real deadlines, and coordinating with partner lawyers or a regulated consultant for the regulated steps. To map your own timeline while these two provinces move in different directions, start with a free [consultation](/en/assessment).