October 5, 2026: OINP Adds a 10-Point Bracket for $80,000 Earnings
Ontario has quietly changed one of the scoring factors that decides who gets invited through the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP). Under the update posted on the 2026 OINP program updates page, dated October 7, 2026, the Ontario Workforce Priority (OWP) stream now awards 10 points to registrants who earned $80,000 or more in a single year within the past 5 years, as verified by a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Notice of Assessment. The program implemented the change on October 5, 2026.
Before this update, the top bracket of the "Canadian work experience: earnings history" factor was $70,000 or more, worth 8 points. Ontario added a new highest tier above it. The 8-point bracket still exists, but it now stops at $79,999.
The date that matters is the implementation date, not the posting date. The change took effect October 5, 2026, and the program has applied it automatically to all existing expressions of interest. Existing registrants do not need to log into the OINP e-Filing portal or file anything for their score to be recalculated.
The new earnings-history table
The Ontario Workforce Priority stream page sets out the earnings-history factor as follows. Earnings are read from a CRA Notice of Assessment issued in the last 5 years.
| Annual earnings (CRA Notice of Assessment) | Points |
|---|---|
| $80,000 or more | 10 |
| $70,000 to $79,999 | 8 |
| $50,000 to $69,999 | 6 |
| $30,000 to $49,999 | 4 |
| Under $30,000 | 0 |
The factor asks about earnings in a single year within the past 5 years, not average earnings across all 5 years. One strong tax year can carry the full 10 points.
What this means for your EOI score
The OWP stream is the employer-led pathway that replaced Ontario's former job offer streams after the June 2026 redesign. Its expression-of-interest (EOI) portal opened on August 4, 2026, and candidates are ranked on factors that include job offer wage, Ontario work experience, earnings history, education, language, and regionalization. Our August 4 portal-opening post explains how registration works.
If you earned $80,000 or more in any of the last 5 tax years, the recalculation has already happened. Three practical points follow:
- Check the attestation, not just the score. If an invitation issues, you must document every scoring factor you attested to, including the Notice of Assessment behind the earnings claim.
- A higher score is not an invitation. Ontario decides when and how many invitations to issue. No OWP invitation rounds have a published schedule, so an accurate, current EOI is your position in the queue.
- Your wage and your earnings history are different factors. The wage-level factor looks at the hourly rate on the job offer. The earnings-history factor looks at past CRA-verified income. A high wage today does not automatically produce 10 earnings points.
Why Ontario made the change
Ontario framed the update as a scoring adjustment, not a new requirement. The program updates page states only what changed: a new top bracket, a CRA-verified threshold, and automatic recalculation of existing EOIs. The stream's core requirements, including the qualifying job offer, language, education, and work experience tests, are unchanged.
For employers, the message is that Ontario is signalling interest in retaining proven, higher-earning workers already contributing to the provincial economy. For workers, the practical step is a paper one: find the Notice of Assessment for your best-earning year in the past 5 years and keep it with your EOI records.
What to do this week
- Log into the OINP e-Filing portal and confirm your recalculated score reflects the new bracket.
- Match your EOI attestation to the Notice of Assessment you would actually submit.
- Confirm the job offer and employer-side position approval are still valid on the Ontario Workforce Priority stream page.
- Track invitation rounds through the program updates page. Rounds can open without advance notice.
For a review of your OWP eligibility, your EOI score, or an employer-side position approval, contact JSR Immigration & Legals through the consultation page, the Ontario PNP service page, or the work permit page.
This article is general information current to October 23, 2026, and is not legal or immigration advice. Confirm the live OINP program updates page and the Workforce Priority stream page on Ontario.ca before you file.
Immigration & paralegal practitioner at JSR Immigration & Legals, helping newcomers and Ontario residents with their cases.
This post is general information about Canadian immigration and Ontario paralegal matters and is not legal advice. Rules change and every case is different — confirm current requirements for your own situation.