How Work Experience Points Work in Ontario’s Workforce Priority Stream

Your work experience has a big impact on your score, although, only Canadian work experience, as Ontario doesn’t award any points for foreign experience.

There are two OWP scoring factors tied to your work history: your Ontario work experience and your Canadian earnings history. Together, these factors can account for up to 26 points (out of 130 total) under the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream points grid.

In this article, we break down exactly how those work experience points work.

Ontario Work Experience: Up to 18 Points

The biggest work experience factor is how long you have been working in Ontario.

In order to apply to OWP, all applicants need a job offer from an Ontario employer (the only exception is eligible self-employed physicians). Some points for work experience are directly related to that job offer.

Ontario first looks at how long you have been working full-time in your job offer position (this means working for the same employer in the same position as the job offer listed in your OWP application):

The longer you’ve been working in your job offer position, the more points you receive. Candidates with more than 24 months of experience can receive the maximum of 18 points.

Remember, this must be experience in the actual position tied to your job offer. You must be working in Ontario in the same occupation, with the same employer, and at the same work location included in your job offer.

What if You Have Less Than 6 Months in Your Job Offer Position?

If you have less than six months of experience in your job offer position, you won’t receive points based on that position. But, you may still be able to get points for other work experience you’ve gained in Ontario.

In this case, Ontario looks at your overall Ontario work experience:

This means someone with more than two years of Ontario work experience, but less than six months in their current job offer position, could still receive 12 points.

However, the maximum is lower than for candidates with significant experience in their job offer position. OWP effectively gives an extra advantage to candidates who have already spent time working for the employer and in the position tied to their application.

Pro-tip: You do not add these two work experience scores together. If you have at least six months in your job offer position, Ontario uses the first scoring grid.

Does Foreign Work Experience Get You OWP Points?

Unfortunately, no, OWP does not award work experience points for jobs you have held outside Ontario.

Canadian Earnings History: Up to 8 Points

Your previous earnings in Canada can land you another eight points toward your OWP score. Ontario uses your highest annual Canadian earnings from a single year, based on any Notice of Assessment issued by the Canada Revenue Agency within the last five years.

Here’s how the earnings history points break work:

Candidates who earned at least CAD $70,000 in a single year receive the maximum eight points. Those who earned between $50,000 and $69,999 receive six points, while earnings between $30,000 and $49,999 are worth four.

If your earnings were below $30,000, you receive zero points for Canadian earnings history.

Importantly, you can’t combine earnings from different years to reach one of these thresholds. Ontario looks at your earnings from one single calendar year with the highest earnings, as shown on your CRA Notice of Assessment.

How Does it Work for Self-Employed Physicians?

Eligible self-employed physicians can apply to the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream without a job offer, so their Ontario work experience points work a little bit differently.

Instead of looking at time spent in a job offer position, Ontario awards points based on cumulative medical practice in Ontario:

Self-employed physicians can therefore receive the same maximum of 18 Ontario work experience points. Physicians can also receive points for Canadian earnings history under the same scoring factor outlined above.

In Total, How Many Points Can Your Work Experience Get You?

Add together the points for Ontario work experience and Canadian earnings history and these factors can earn you as many as 26 points toward your total Ontario Workforce Priority score:

The entire Ontario Workforce Priority scoring system has 130 points available, so your previous experience and earnings can account for a significant percentage of your overall score.

Ontario also awards points based on your job offer, including its TEER category, broad occupational category, hourly wage, and location. We cover those factors separately in our guide to Job Offer points under the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream.

Other points are available for factors like legal status in Canada, education, language proficiency, and regionalization.

Note: A higher score does not automatically guarantee an invitation. Ontario has flexibility in how it can conduct draws, opting for general draws or more targeted rounds. As a relatively new stream, it remains unclear exactly how Ontario will leverage its selection system.

You can see the complete Ontario Workforce Priority scoring grid here, including all factors for employment, education, language and regionalization.