Ontario’s First Round of PNP Invitations for 2026

These invitations were issued under Ontario’s Employer Job Offer programs and were targeted. Interestingly, the round of invitations targeting healthcare occupations and early childhood educators was huge, with over 1,600 of the total invitations going to this category alone.  

Summary of First Ontario PNP draw in 2026

• Date: February 2, 2026 

• Invitations: 1,825 

• Programs: Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student, and In-Demand Skills 

• Targeted Round: Yes 

OINP Invitation Breakdown by Stream 

Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker – Physicians 

Ontario issued 129 targeted invitations under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream to candidates working as physicians. This round focused only on candidates who had a valid job offer in a physician role and met the minimum score requirement. 

Invitations were limited to candidates working in the following occupations with a minimum score of at least 33: 

• NOC 31100 – Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine 

• NOC 31101 – Specialists in surgery 

• NOC 31102 – General practitioners and family physicians 

Employer Job Offer Streams – Regional Economic Development through Immigration (REDI) Pilot 

Ontario also issued 47 targeted invitations under the Regional Economic Development through Immigration pilot. This round focused on candidates who were already living in Canada and working in specific regional communities. 

The targeted communities were Lanark and Leeds and Grenville. 

Invitations were issued across three Employer Job Offer streams.  

Under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream, candidates needed a score of at least 44 and a job offer in one of the following occupations: 

• NOC 12200 – Accounting technicians and bookkeepers 

• NOC 21222 – Information systems specialists 

• NOC 21231 – Software engineers and designers 

• NOC 31301 – Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses 

• NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates 

• NOC 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants 

Under the Employer Job Offer: International Student stream, candidates needed a score of at least 69 and a job offer in one of the following occupations: 

• NOC 12111 – Health information management occupations 

• NOC 12200 – Accounting technicians and bookkeepers 

• NOC 13111 – Legal administrative assistants 

• NOC 22232 – Occupational health and safety specialists 

• NOC 22310 – Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians 

• NOC 32101 – Licensed practical nurses 

• NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates 

• NOC 33103 – Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants 

• NOC 42201 – Social and community service workers 

• NOC 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants 

• NOC 52120 – Graphic designers and illustrators 

Under the Employer Job Offer: In-Demand Skills stream, candidates needed a score of at least 34 and a job offer in one of the following occupations: 

• NOC 44101 – Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations 

• NOC 75101 – Material handlers 

• 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 

Employer Job Offer Streams – Healthcare Occupations and Early Childhood Educators 

Ontario issued the largest number of invitations on February 2, 2026, through a targeted round for healthcare workers and early childhood educators with a valid job offer. In total, 1,649 invitations were issued under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker and International Student streams. 

This round targeted candidates living in Canada only. Those outside Canada were not eligible for this invitation round. 

Candidates in the following occupations were considered: 

• NOC 31300 – Nursing co-ordinators and supervisors 

• NOC 31301 – Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses 

• NOC 31302 – Nurse practitioners 

• NOC 31303 – Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals 

• NOC 32101 – Licensed practical nurses 

• NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates 

• NOC 42202 – Early childhood educators and assistants 

Candidates needed a minimum score of 36 under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream or 56 under the Employer Job Offer: International Student stream. 

How the first OINP round for 2026 fits into recent Employer Job Offer invitation rounds 

Ontario’s February 2, 2026 invitation round followed a series of targeted Employer Job Offer draws held in December 2025.  

Across all invitation rounds — December 10, December 11, and February 2 — Ontario used the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker, International Student, and In-Demand Skills streams. In some cases, the In-Demand Skills stream appeared through regional or REDI pilot rounds rather than province-wide invitations. 

Overall size of the rounds 

When looking at total invitations, the February 2, 2026 round was larger than either of the December rounds. 

Early childhood educators across multiple rounds 

Early childhood educators appeared consistently across Ontario’s December draws and the first round for 2026. Across these rounds, early childhood educators were included through both province-wide and regional rounds, and through more than one Employer Job Offer stream. 

Healthcare occupations as a recurring focus 

Healthcare occupations were central to invitation rounds on all three rounds, but the way they were grouped differed. 

On December 10, 2025, healthcare occupations formed the core of a large targeted round that included nurses, nurse practitioners, allied health professionals, and early childhood educators. Physicians were specifically excluded from this round. 

On December 11, 2025, healthcare occupations appeared again, but this time as part of regional rounds. Depending on the region, the occupation lists included roles such as physiotherapists, medical laboratory technologists, and other healthcare-related positions under both the Foreign Worker and International Student streams. 

On February 2, 2026, healthcare occupations returned as the main focus of the largest invitation round of the three dates. This round again included nurses, nurse practitioners, allied health professionals, and early childhood educators. 

Physicians invited in 2026 after exclusion in December 

Ontario issued a dedicated round of 129 invitations to physicians under the Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker stream. This was the first physician-specific invitation round among the dates provided. 

This specific targeted round may be in response to the 5,000 additional PNP spots allocated to foreign physicians announced by IRCC in 2025. 

Regional and REDI rounds alongside occupation-based draws 

Regional selection also played a strong role in December and in the first round of 2026. 

Together, these rounds show Ontario using a mix of occupation-based targeting, regional selection, and pilot programs across the Employer Job Offer streams over a short period of time, with February 2, 2026 combining several of these approaches into a single, larger invitation date. 

For more information about Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program draws, check out our PNP Live Tracker. You can also join our community to get updates when Express Entry and PNP draws take place. We regularly share immigration updates, career tips, and more with our 180k+ followers, so you’ll be in good company. Join here.