Ontario PNP April 23: 2,102 Invitations to 4 Regions — and the GTA Locked Out

If you have a job offer in Ontario outside the Greater Toronto Area, the April 23 OINP draws were the most active single day for provincial nominations in 2026.

The Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) issued 2,102 invitations to apply (ITAs) across 12 regional draws on April 23, 2026 — split between the Foreign Worker, International Student, and In-Demand Skills streams. The draws were targeted at four Ontario regions: Eastern, Northern, Southwestern, and Central (excluding the GTA).

What happened

OINP ran 12 separate regional draws on the same day — three streams across four regions, totalling 2,102 ITAs. Here's the full breakdown:

Score cutoffs (Expression of Interest scores, not CRS):

• Foreign Worker: 60–63 depending on region
• International Student: 84–87 depending on region
• In-Demand Skills: 34–35 depending on region

To be considered, candidates needed an active OINP Expression of Interest profile created and attested to by April 21, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

Why this draw matters

The GTA is shut out. Every one of these draws explicitly excluded the Greater Toronto Area. If your employer is in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Vaughan, or Pickering, you weren't eligible — regardless of your EOI score or NOC code. This continues a clear pattern: Ontario is funnelling its nominations to regions that struggle to attract workers, not to its largest metro.

Southwestern Ontario absorbed almost 38% of all invitations — 797 ITAs, including a striking 430 In-Demand Skills invitations. Cities like London, Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo (the parts that count under OINP's regional definitions), Sarnia, and Chatham are getting the lion's share.

International Student invitations were evenly split across all four regions (167–173 each). That's deliberate: Ontario is signalling that recent graduates with regional job offers are valued no matter where in the province they land.

Score thresholds dropped on the lower end. In-Demand Skills cutoffs of 34–35 are very accessible — that stream targets workers in occupations like personal support workers, truck drivers, and construction labourers, where labour shortages are acute outside major cities.

How this fits the bigger Ontario picture

April 23 is the largest single-day OINP issuance of 2026. Earlier in the month:

• April 7–8: First OINP draws of April issued 759 ITAs combined
• April 22: 918 ITAs across multiple Employer Job Offer streams

Combined, OINP has now issued roughly 3,800 ITAs in April 2026 alone — making this Ontario's busiest nomination month so far this year. The pace is consistent with Ontario's stated target of 14,119 nominations for 2026.

But the program is on the clock. Ontario's nine existing OINP streams are scheduled to lose their legal basis on May 30, 2026, replaced by three new streams: Priority Healthcare, Exceptional Talent, and a redesigned Entrepreneur stream. Today's April 23 draws were under the current rules. If you've been sitting on an EOI profile, the next four weeks may be the last big window before the system changes.

What to do if you got invited

Move fast — Ontario's deadlines are short:

• 17 calendar days from invitation date to submit your application and payment
• 14 calendar days for your employer to submit their portion through the OINP Employer Portal

That gives you until roughly May 10, 2026 to file. Practical priorities:

• Confirm your job offer in writing — your employer's letter must match the NOC code, region, and wage referenced in your EOI exactly
• Get your reference letters reformatted if needed — Ontario wants employer letters with title, duties, salary, hours, and start date
• Verify the application fee — OINP processing fees are paid at submission and are non-refundable
• Tax documents — recent T4s and Notices of Assessment if you've already worked in Ontario
• Language test results — Ontario accepts IELTS, CELPIP, TEF, or TCF; results must be valid (within 2 years of test date)

Once nominated, you'll receive an Ontario nomination certificate — that's the key. From there, you have two routes:

1. Apply for PR directly to IRCC (Ontario's "base" stream): typical processing time 11–18 months
2. Receive an Express Entry NOI if you applied through Ontario's Express Entry-aligned streams: 600 CRS points, then wait for the next PNP-only Express Entry draw — currently closing around CRS 795

What to do if you weren't selected

If your EOI score was 1–5 points below the regional cutoff: You're close. Three quick wins:

• Strengthen your language scores — Ontario awards points for higher CLB levels in both English and French. Even a single CLB-level jump in one ability can add 4–6 EOI points.
• Add work experience — every additional year of relevant Canadian or NOC-matching foreign experience adds points.
• Verify your NOC code claim — wrong NOC selection is one of the most common reasons for missed points. The 2021 NOC system has tighter occupation definitions than the old 2016 list.

If you don't have a job offer yet: All three OINP streams in this draw required an employer attestation. If you don't have one, you can't apply through these streams. Your options:

• Provincial Nominee Programs in other provinces — BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have streams that don't always require a job offer.
• Express Entry — if your CRS is competitive, the federal route bypasses the job-offer requirement entirely.
• Get a job offer first — see our guide to landing a Canadian job offer from abroad. Ontario regional employers are actively hiring under all three streams.

If you live in the GTA and want to use OINP: You can't access the regional streams. Watch for the May 30, 2026 launch of the Priority Healthcare and Exceptional Talent streams — those are expected to allow GTA-based candidates in qualifying occupations.

Where to go from here

Curious where you'd score? Run your numbers: Ontario PNP Guide | PNP Guide (all provinces) | CRS Calculator | Latest Express Entry Draws