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Article published on August 26, 2026

Since August 2026, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has revitalized its provincial nomination application streams with the introduction of the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream (OWPS). All former OINP immigration streams have been replaced by the OWPS, which consolidates the former job-offer-based, graduate and Express Entry streams into one framework. The OWPS offers new pathways towards provincial nomination for individuals with a full-time and permanent job offer from an eligible Canadian employer. Job offers may be in virtually any occupation, with eligibility criteria varying slightly depending on the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code that would classify the occupation of the position being offered. The OWPS also includes a pathway to provincial nomination for self-employed physicians, even if they do not have a job offer from a Canadian employer. The OINP has introduced these changes with the goal of streamlining the path to permanent residence for individuals with a job offer in Ontario, and also to recalibrate how individuals are evaluated and selected for provincial nomination in an effort to better meet the province’s labour needs, especially in hard-to-fill roles and rural communities.

Overview of the OWPS: Key Changes from the Previous OINP

Under the previous OINP, eligibility was primarily based either on candidates having an eligible job offer; being a recent graduate; or being eligible for the Express Entry system. The new OWPS replaces all of these programs with a single employer-driven model, and the same general eligibility criteria applies to all candidates, with slight variations based on the candidate’s specific occupation. The key changes include the following:

  1. Work experience: Depending on the candidate’s occupation, as well as on their status as a “recent graduate” (i.e. someone who has graduated from a qualifying institution in Canada within the past three years), the amount of work experience required may vary from 3 consecutive months, to two cumulative years.
  1. Language: Candidates must now demonstrate their language ability in order to pursue the OWPS. Candidates may have to take a language test in either English or French, and they must demonstrate a certain level of proficiency which varies depending on factors like their occupation (for example, most candidates whose job offer is classified by a high-skilled NOC code need to achieve Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 6 or higher in all four proficiencies).
  1. Education: A certain level of education is now required in order to be eligible for the OWPS. The specific level of education varies depending on a candidate’s occupation.
  1. Ontario Work Experience: Some of the eligibility scoring factors have changed, such as the introduction of Ontario work experience points, in which candidates may receive points for having gained work experience in Ontario prior to applying.
  1. Federal Permanent Residence Processing via Express Entry: It is now possible for OWPS applicants to indicate that they would like for their federal-stage permanent residence application to be processed via the Express Entry system. Previously, this was only available to a few limited OINP streams.

What Remains the Same from the Previous OINP

Some aspects of the OWPS are the same as the previous OINP system. For example, eligible self-employed physicians may still pursue provincial nomination under the OWPS without requiring a job offer from a Canadian employer. Self-employed physicians may reach out to the OINP directly and, if selected to apply, may submit a provincial nomination application independently. As a result of their exceptional application process, it follows that some of the eligibility criteria and scoring factors do not apply to self-employed physicians.

Also, the actual application process has not changed. The OINP Employer Portal system remains, and the OWPS continues to be largely employer-driven (aside from self-employed physicians). Generally speaking, employers are still responsible for submitting a formal Job Offer in support of any employees they wish to sponsor in obtaining provincial nomination under the OINP. Job Offers must still be submitted before a candidate can register an Expression of Interest (EOI) in the OINP. If/when a candidate receives an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for provincial nomination, the employer will still have 14 calendar days to prepare and submit their application, and the candidate will still have a concurrent 17 calendar days to submit their application.

Implementation and Transition

The OWPS officially opened on August 4, 2026. Since that date, employers have been able to submit Job Offers in support of their employees, and candidates (employees) have been able to submit EOIs and enter the OINP OWPS candidate pool. At the time of this article’s writing (August 26, 2026), there have not yet been any ITA selection draws. As the ITA selection draws begin to occur (most likely in the coming weeks), it will become more apparent who the OINP is targeting, what a strong points score may be, and how the OWPS may differ in practice from the OINP as we previously knew it.

These policy changes reflect the OINP’s commitment to addressing provincial labour market needs and provincial government priorities. For more detailed information on the new OWPS, please refer to the official OINP website, or reach out to our Canadian Immigration team for a consultation.

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Canada’s employment law landscape continues to evolve rapidly. From new AI disclosure requirements in hiring and expanding pay transparency obligations to increased scrutiny of independent contractors and proposed restrictions on noncompete agreements, employers face a growing web of compliance obligations across federal and provincial jurisdictions.

Our latest article (originally published in Chambers and Partners) examines the key legal and policy developments shaping Canadian workplaces and provides practical guidance for employers.

Click here to view the article.

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Most franchisors understand that franchisees are responsible for their own employees, and that a specific benefit of this arrangement is that it protects the franchisor from employment-related obligations to the franchisee’s employees. Many franchisors believe that the arrangement completely insulates them from such risk. However, under Canadian law, a franchisor can sometimes be treated as an employer of a franchisee’s workers.

This concept is known as the common employer doctrine. It does not just apply to the franchisor and franchisee relationship, but with any work arrangement involving multiple employers who may exercise control over the same  workers. When it applies, a worker may be able to pursue employment-related claims against both the franchisee and the franchisor.

While these cases are highly fact-specific, franchisors should understand the types of involvement that can increase legal risk.

What Is a Common Employer?

Canadian courts recognize that an employee may have more than one employer at the same time. In certain circumstances, related businesses can be treated as a single employer for employment law purposes. The analysis focuses less on corporate structure and more on the reality of the working relationship.

Courts will often examine whether multiple entities exercise significant control over a worker or operate in a way that suggests they jointly employ that worker.

Continue Reading How Much Control Is Too Much? Common Employer Risks for Franchisors
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In recent years, provincial legislatures across Canada have increasingly focused on compensation transparency as a tool to address pay disparities in the workplace. While the federal government requires that federally regulated private sector employers across Canada conduct pay equity exercises, no federal law currently requires them to publicly report compensation information. Nevertheless, the direction of travel appears clear as legislative activity in provinces such as New Brunswick, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Ontario suggests a growing expectation that employers prepare to provide greater visibility into compensation practices and to justify pay differences.

For multinational employers, the trend will feel familiar. Much like developments in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and many US states, Canadian lawmakers are increasingly using salary disclosures, restrictions on salary history inquiries, and compensation reporting requirements to promote pay fairness and accountability. For employers operating across multiple Canadian jurisdictions, the challenge is navigating a growing patchwork of requirements. Below is a summary of the current legal landscape in Canada.

New Brunswick: The Latest Province to Act

New Brunswick recently joined the growing list of provinces imposing pay transparency requirements.

As of June 12, 2026, employers must include the expected salary, hourly wage, or compensation range in both publicly advertised and internal job postings through the Pay Transparency Act. The legislation also prohibits employers from requesting, directly or indirectly, an applicant’s compensation history, subject to limited exceptions, or relying on voluntarily disclosed compensation history when making hiring or compensation decisions.

Continue Reading Canada’s Pay Transparency Momentum Continues: New Brunswick Signals the Direction of Travel
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Key Takeaways

Remote work arrangements may become binding terms of employment when they are applied consistently and relied on by employees. Changes to work location can therefore give rise to a constructive dismissal claim, similar to what can occur when an employer changes compensation or duties. While the outcome in any given case will depend on the specific facts, employers should assess whether flexibility has become part of the employment agreement and, if so, implement changes through agreement or reasonable notice rather than unilaterally to correct this situation.

In Cressey Construction Corporation v. Parolin, 2026 BCCA 199, the British Columbia Court of Appeal considered when a return‑to‑office requirement may cross the line into constructive dismissal. The decision underscores a familiar point for employers: changes to working conditions are often permissible, but greater care is required where those conditions have become established terms of the employment relationship.

Continue Reading From Flexibility to Employer Obligation: Remote Work and Constructive Dismissal
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Special thanks to our articling student Rana Aly for contributing to this update.

Key Takeaways

Employers often assume that bonus damages in a wrongful dismissal claim will be calculated by averaging the employee’s last three years of compensation. A recent Ontario Superior Court decision confirms that assumption can be wrong and very expensive depending on the circumstances.

Warren v. Canaccord Genuity Corp. is a reminder that courts will consider the context of a bonus entitlement, and will not mechanically apply a three-year averaging method. Where a terminated employee can point to what comparable employees actually earned during that same window, a court may use those real-world figures instead as a better indicator of what bonus the employee ought to receive. This could have a particular impact for employers in bonus-heavy, market-driven industries.

Background

Craig Warren was a Managing Director in Canaccord’s mining group, terminated without cause in September 2019 after 18 years of service. His compensation was heavily bonus-dependent, fluctuating based on Canaccord’s Canadian Capital Markets Pool and his individual performance. Justice Schabas awarded Mr. Warren 21 months’ notice. The central dispute was how to calculate the bonus component of that award.

Continue Reading When Averaging Is Not Enough: Ontario Court Rejects Three-Year Bonus Average in Favour of a Comparator Approach
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We are thrilled to announce that the latest edition of The Global Employer: Focus on Global Immigration & Mobility is now available! This handy, online reference guide is provided complimentary to our client HR and legal teams and includes:

  • An overview of key global immigration and mobility issues to consider related to immigration, employment, compensation and employee benefits, income taxes and social insurance, and global equity compensation.
      
  • 27 jurisdictional chapters identifying key government agencies, highlighting current compliance and enforcement trends, and describing short and long term visas appropriate for business travel, training and employment assignments. 

Click here to access now.

Baker McKenzie offers comprehensive legal advice related to global immigration – delivered locally around the world. We help employers plan and implement global transfers and provide on-site legal support to companies and employees in most major business communities around the globe. To learn more, visit our Global Immigration & Mobility page.

*Jurisdiction chapters available for Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, The Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

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From ergonomic complaints to fatalities, workplaces inevitably face accidents and other safety incidents. Employers rely on effective investigations to respond to these incidents. Occupational health and safety legislation often also requires employers to investigate, either explicitly or implicitly, as part of their legal obligation to take all reasonable steps to protect workers from harm.

Even when the law does not specifically require an investigation, employers have many good reasons to conduct one. An investigation often helps employers save time and resources, improve health and safety systems, prevent similar future incidents, enhance workplace morale, and ultimately improve work quality and productivity.

However, employers should conduct an effective investigation that fits the circumstances. Most employer investigations we see do not meet that standard.

Below are the most common mistakes we see employers across Canada make.

Choosing Not to Investigate at All

Many employers are reluctant to spend time and resources investigating an incident unless it is required by law. They may feel that an investigation is a waste of time and resources, or that they already know what caused the incident.

However, employers prevent costly repeat incidents when they identify and remedy root causes. When an employer fails to address the root cause, it misses an opportunity to improve safety systems, and workplace culture. That failure increases the risk that the same incident will occur again, potentially with more serious consequences. If the incident occurs again, the consequences can far outweigh the cost of one effective investigation.

Continue Reading Common Pitfalls When Performing Occupational Health and Safety Workplace Incident Investigations
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Employee monitoring tools — badge and access logs, video surveillance, productivity and activity tracking, and even biometrics — can strengthen security and operations, but they also create real privacy, employment, and (in some cases) criminal-law risk. In this installment of Baker McKenzie’s In Focus video chat series, our cross-border Employment and Data Privacy lawyers break down what employers need to know across key Canadian provinces and the United States, with practical steps to help you design monitoring programs that are transparent, proportionate, and defensible.

Click here to watch the video

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Special thanks to our articling student Rana Aly for contributing to this update.

Quebec’s multi‑year modernization of its occupational health and safety (OHS) system reached full implementation in late 2025. There are permanent prevention and participation mechanisms under the Act to Modernize the Occupational Health and Safety Regime (AMOHSR) and its accompanying regulation (Regulation Respecting Prevention and Participation Mechanisms in an Establishment) now in force. This represents a significant shift in Quebec occupational health and safety law.

Employers must now comply with the new requirements, if they have not already done so.

Below is an overview of the new requirements Quebec employers must be aware of:

1. Foundational Changes to Quebec’s Prevention Framework

The OHS overhaul stems from major reforms introduced by Bill 59 in 2021, with staggered implementation over several years. The permanent regime, effective October 1, 2025, replaces temporary interim mechanisms that applied during the transition period.

Key features of the new framework include:

  • A shift to mandatory prevention planning, scaled by workforce size;
  • Stronger worker participation structures;
  • An expectation of continuous improvement; and
  • New training obligations for worker representatives.

The result is a harmonized and prevention‑first model that applies across industries, regardless of risk profile.

Continue Reading Modernizing Quebec’s Occupational Health and Safety Regime: Key Employer Obligations in 2026