Ontario Workforce Priority
Start with the pathway map, then review each applicant, pathway, employer, and position criterion separately.
Current program map
The Workforce Priority stream is phase one of the redesign. Ontario says the completed program is expected to have four streams; the other three stream names and requirements were not published in the verified baseline.
The Ministry says submitted former-stream applications continue under requirements in effect at submission. The consolidated regulation expressly preserves criteria for applications made before May 30, 2026. Any case near or after that date requires source-specific review rather than a mechanical conclusion.
Official rules, organized for applicants
Start with applicant requirements. The practical check stays visible; open a row only for route details and official sources. Application requirements and EOI scoring questions are shown separately.
Scan the applicant meaning below. Some checks apply only to a particular pathway or situation.
Applying and EOI points are separate checks.
These checks determine which Workforce Priority pathway and route can be assessed.
What Ontario has not clarified: The current page publishes 780 hours for the six-month and transport routes but does not publish when that replacement value took effect; those route results remain withheld.
Start with the pathway, NOC, recent-graduate status, and licence facts. Maple does not choose a route for an applicant.
For a TEER 0–3 job offer when this published same-position route applies.
The applicable official wording is unresolved, so Maple does not borrow a threshold from another route.
For an applicant who meets the published recent Ontario graduate definition.
If you are a recent Ontario graduate, meaning that you: graduated from an eligible Ontario institution within the last 3 years with one of the following credentials: post-secondary degree or diploma that took at least 2 years to complete on a full-time basis Ontario College Graduate Certificate Master’s degree PhD degree You must have: at least 3 months of consecutive, paid, full-time work experience in the employment position your employer is seeking approval for and which is set out in your job offer gained this experience within the 12 months before the date you submitted your application Full-time work experience means work experience in the employment position your employer is seeking approval for and which is set out in your job offer (meaning, the same occupation, employer and location, etc.), which must require at least 390 hours of paid work in a 12-month period and at least 30 hours of paid work per week in a 12-month period. Return to work experience requirements for job offer under TEER category 0, 1, 2 or 3 .
For a TEER 0–3 job offer when this longer same-or-permitted-NOC route applies.
You must have: at least 2 years of cumulative, paid, full-time work experience gained this work experience within the past 5 years before the date you submitted your application The experience must be in one or more of the following: The same NOC occupation as the job offer employment position. A NOC occupation in Sub-Major Group 213 (Professional occupations in engineering), if you have a job offer for an employment position in a NOC occupation in Sub-Major Group 223 (Technical occupations related to engineering). NOC occupation 31120 (Pharmacists), if you have a job offer for an employment position in NOC occupation 33103 (Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants). NOC occupation 32101 (Licensed Practical Nurses) or 31301 (Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses), if you have a job offer for an employment position in NOC occupation 33102 (Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates). In short, applicants whose job offer employment position is for a professional occupation in engineering, as a pharmacist, or a licensed practical nurse, can use experience in that occupation, or in one of the listed related NOC occupations, to meet the minimum work experience requirement. Full-time work experience Full-time work experience means working in a job with at least 30 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 3,120 hours of paid work over a two-year period. Part-time work experience Part-time equivalent work experience means working in: 1 job for at least 15 hours of paid work in a week that amounts to at least 3,120 hours of paid work over a 4-year period more than 1 job for at least 30 hours of paid work in a week, for 2 years, that amounts to at least 3,120 hours of paid work in that 2-year period Return to work experience requirements for job offer under TEER category 0, 1, 2 or 3 .
For a job offer in the TEER 4–5 Workforce Priority pathway.
If you have a job offer for a TEER category 4 or 5 employment position, you must have: at least 9 months of cumulative, paid, full-time work experience in the employment position your employer is seeking approval for and which is set out in your job offer gained this work experience within 2 years before the date you submitted your application Full-time work experience means work experience in the employment position your employer is seeking approval for and which is set out in your job offer (meaning, the same occupation, employer and location, etc.) which must require at least 1,170 hours of paid work in a 12-month period and at least 30 hours of paid work per week in a 12-month period.
Only for a job offer in NOC 73300 or 73301.
The applicable official wording is unresolved, so Maple does not borrow a threshold from another route.
Maple keeps only the affected checker result unresolved until the official-source issue is clear.
These are independent employer and position checks; applicant support alone does not satisfy them.
What to check: the position must provide at least 1,560 paid hours over 12 months and at least 30 paid hours per week under the current regulation definition.
(a) in respect of an employment position, a position that requires no fewer than 1,560 hours of paid work in a 12-month period and no fewer than 30 hours of paid work per week in a 12-month period,