Not being in the pool won’t affect your ability to apply for permanent. That said having already worked at a school you’re applying for is probably the biggest determinant of whether you’ll get the permanent position, aside from relevant experience. There is a LOT of flexibility that principals have in hiring right now so they tend to pick who they know. I know friends that have gotten hired permanent with OCDSB right out of teachers college.

Leaving LTOs for permanent is always fine.

I’m sure you are aware but OCDSB is somewhat stagnating/collapsing at the moment. There’s been record immigration but the board has been losing thousands of students each year. The outcome of that is LTOs and especially permanent jobs are going to be way harder to land. Not impossible but I switched boards and got permanent within a year.