- $70,000 or more
- 8 points: the maximum
- $50,000 to $69,999
- 6 points
- $30,000 to $49,999
- 4 points
- Under $30,000 or no Canadian NOA
- 0 points
- Which year counts
- Your highest earning year in the last five
- Evidence required
- A CRA Notice of Assessment
- Foreign income
- Does not count
- Self employment income
- Counts, if assessed by the CRA
- Is it an eligibility requirement?
- No, scoring only
Enter the assessed income from each Notice of Assessment. Leave a year blank if you didn't file.
Enter at least one year to see which one to claim.
The points table
| Highest annual earnings on a CRA Notice of Assessment (last 5 years) | Points |
|---|---|
| $70,000 or more | 8 |
| $50,000 to $69,999 | 6 |
| $30,000 to $49,999 | 4 |
| Under $30,000, or no Canadian Notice of Assessment | 0 |
Eight points is modest against the 18 for Ontario experience or the 15 for region, but unlike those, this one is often free. The income already exists; the only question is whether you claim the right year and can produce the document.
Best year, not latest year
This is the single most valuable thing on the page. Ontario looks across the last five years and takes the highest, which means a career dip, a parental leave, a period of study or a job change does not have to cost you anything.
- Pull all five years from CRA My Account before you start. NOAs for prior years are downloadable in minutes.
- Identify the highest assessed income, then check which band it falls into: the bands are wide, so a $2,000 difference rarely matters but a $21,000 difference can be worth 2 points.
- File any missing returns. An unfiled year cannot be claimed even if it was your best. Late filing takes weeks.
- Keep the document. If invited, you have roughly 17 days to produce evidence for every factor you claimed.
What counts and what doesn't
- Employment income reported to the CRA
- Self employment income, if assessed
- Any year within the last five
- Income earned while on a work or study permit
- Income earned outside Canada
- A year you never filed a return for
- Projected or future earnings from your job offer
- Income more than five years old
Who this factor favours, and who it quietly penalises
The factor rewards people who have already worked in Canada at a reasonable salary, which is consistent with the rest of the grid. Read alongside the 18 points for Ontario experience and the 10 for legal status, it forms a 36-point block that only people already in Ontario can access.
If you are applying from outside Canada, there is no way to score here and no point planning around it. Your profile has to be built on the factors that are available: language, region, wage, occupation and education. How overseas profiles compare →
Self employed physicians frequently score the maximum here, because assessed self employment income counts. If you have been practising in Ontario for even a year or two, this is usually 8 straightforward points; check your NOAs rather than assuming. Physician calculator →
Income tax history FAQ
What applicants ask before pulling Notices of Assessment.
How many points is income tax history worth in the OINP?
Up to 8. Annual earnings of $70,000 or more score the maximum, $50,000 to $69,999 score 6, $30,000 to $49,999 score 4, and anything under $30,000 scores nothing.
Which tax year does the OINP use?
Your highest earning year on a CRA Notice of Assessment within the last five years, not your most recent year. If you earned $74,000 three years ago and $46,000 last year, you claim the $74,000 year and score 8 instead of 4.
What is a Notice of Assessment?
A Notice of Assessment (NOA) is the summary the Canada Revenue Agency issues after processing your tax return. It confirms the income you reported and the tax assessed. You can download NOAs for prior years from CRA My Account.
What if I have never filed taxes in Canada?
You score 0 on this factor. It is a scoring factor rather than an eligibility requirement, so you can still apply, but applicants outside Canada lose these 8 points along with the 18 for Ontario experience and 10 for legal status.
Does self employment income count?
Yes, provided it was reported to the CRA and appears on your Notice of Assessment. The factor looks at assessed income, not at whether you were an employee. This matters for self employed physicians in particular.
What if I have unfiled tax returns?
File them. An unfiled year cannot be claimed, and if your best earning year is the one you never filed, you are giving away up to 8 points. Filing late returns takes weeks, which is another reason to prepare before the 30 day EOI window opens.
Is this the same as the wage factor?
No. The wage factor looks forward at the hourly rate in your job offer and is worth up to 15 points. Income tax history looks backward at what you actually earned and were assessed on in Canada, and is worth up to 8. They are scored independently.
Does income earned outside Canada count?
No. The factor is based on a CRA Notice of Assessment, so only income reported to the Canada Revenue Agency counts. Foreign earnings, however high, score nothing here.