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This has been a hot topic for the past few years since COVID-19: LMIA’s. What are they about, what should you know about them, and key points and hacks to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Consider this as a crash course in LMIA’s for beginners. The raw truth and nothing but the truth….expect nothing less in our articles.
If you have an employer who is looking to hire you and either you or they need help going through the LMIA or Provincial Nomination process or any other work permit-based program, reach out to our specialized B2B team at our office in Canada. You can also apply for a FREE email assessment using this link.
Here are the Top 20 FAQ’s for the LMIA program in Canada:
Answer: An LMIA is the abbreviation for Labour Market Impact Assessment and it’s a fancy word for requesting permission from the Canadian government (specifically Service Canada) to hire a foreign worker because the employer in Canada could not hire qualified Canadians for the position which they have advertised. An LMIA can have multiple names or vacancies for the same position; for example, one LMIA can have 5 or 20 names or vacancies in the same position if the employer is eligible to hire that number of foreign workers.
Not everyone needs an LMIA for a work permit inside Canada, there are many LMIA exempt programs in Canada for international students, spouse or partners of students or foreign workers already with a work permit, LMIA exempt programs such as the International Mobility Program, and specific nationalities who are in specific occupations based on bilateral agreements with Canada are also LMIA exempt, in addition to temporary policies for specific nationalities such as Ukrainians, Syrians, Turkish nationals, Hong Kong nationals and Iranians.
Do you want to become a PR in Canada? At INGWE we could support you! Get a FREE email assessment with one of our licensed immigration consultants. We speak over +8 languages and we have helped applicants from +49 countries in their immigration path to Canada. Fill out our form, click here.
Answer: There is a high wage and low wage LMIA, and each province has their own wage requirements to determine this. There are also PR supported LMIA’s which can be either with a work permit or without. We can have a total of 4 different types of LMIAs. Within these 4 types of LMIA’s, you can also have an investor LMIA – which means a foreigner is planning to invest in a local business in Canada whether 1% or 100% after the LMIA is approved – or even before.
Answer: In BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba employers are required to register with the local government to be able to be eligible to apply for an LMIA through an employer registration portal. It can take anywhere from 2-3 weeks in Manitoba to 3 months in BC. You cannot apply for an LMIA in these 3 provinces until you have completed the process for this registration. Other provinces such as Ontario, Atlantic provinces and Alberta are exempt from this employer registration. Besides this point, for high wage LMIAs only, the employer also needs to also submit a transition plan on 3 main activities explaining how they will plan to become less dependent on foreign workers by the time the existing LMIA contract expires, or how they will transition the foreign worker to become a Canadian PR through Federal immigration programs.
If you have an employer who is looking to hire you and either you or they need help going through the LMIA or Provincial Nomination process or any other work permit-based program, reach out to our specialized B2B team at our office in Canada. You can also apply for a FREE email assessment using this link.
Answer: PR supported LMIA’s are the same across Canada and can take anywhere from 55 to 75 business days.
Low wage LMIA’s are typically faster especially in low skilled occupations compared to high wage LMIA application.
For Low wage and High wage LMIA applications, each province has their own processing time. Expect long processing times in BC – probably the longest, up to 3 months for high wage. For Ontario low wage is less than 30 days, and high wage can be much longer.
You can check the latest processing times on the Service Canada website although they don’t report each province separately – but each specific LMIA category.
Answer: Service Canada approves the LMIA, and IRCC makes the decision on the work permit. These 2 are completely independent, therefore if the TFW doesn’t meet the requirements of the job with their supporting documents, a work permit can be refused. However, the Canadian employer can re-link the LMIA to another foreign worker until either the LMIA expires or one of the TFW’s receives their work permit (depending on how many positions they had open on the LMIA).
Answer: It is a 3-year pilot program. It allows the approved employers to have access to 36-month validity LMIA’s, simplified LMIA application process for the high frequency positions they plan to hire TFW’s. The program is being rolled out by default for agricultural employers in September of 2023, and other employers can apply to enter the program by January 2024. To become eligible for non-agricultural stream under this new pilot, you need to have had 3 positive LMIA decisions for the same occupation over the past 5 years, with no prior compliance violations.
If you have an employer who is looking to hire you and either you or they need help going through the LMIA or Provincial Nomination process or any other work permit-based program, reach out to our specialized B2B team at our office in Canada. You can also apply for a FREE email assessment using this link.
Is there a list of employers in Canada who have applied and been approved for an LMIA? Answer: Yes, there is a positive LMIA and negative LMIA list that is issued every quarter (from 2 quarters ago) – and we have included the links here:
Hint: Don’t approach these employers applying for jobs, as your success rate will be less than 0.1% - they usually have recruitment agencies working for them or already have a worker designed to be hired.
Answer: It’s emailed to the employer, not the worker, and has the following info on it and is valid for 18 months as per the current public policies valid during 2023. It contains all information on the position and company such as the employer’s name, the address of where the foreign worker will work, the wage, term of the contract, the occupation title and NOC code, and full contact info of the employer who has been approved.
Of course, the names of the workers will be stated if it was a named LMIA or a blank table for unnamed LMIAs. And in case you are wondering, yes you can have the foreign worker work at multiple locations as long as you have stated all these on your job posts, and the contract and LMIA application – if you need to have them work at multiple locations after they arrive, then you can make the request to Service Canada and each case is decided on case by case basis (after the LMIA is approved).
Answer: For every position and vacancy on the same LMIA or multiple LMIA’s, the employer must pay a non-refundable processing fee of $1,000 to Service Canada. Only the employer can pay for this and the exemptions for this fee are for caregiver applications.
Answer: A non-name LMIA means the employer has not found an eligible foreign worker yet or decided on one and is processing the LMIA without a name until it has been approved, after which they can link a specific name of a foreign worker who wishes to apply for their work permit using this positive LMIA. An LMIA with a name stated on it, goes through the LMIA application process with the name included and the employer cannot change the name unless the foreign worker is not approved for a work permit. The only LMIA’s which are not possible to apply as a non-name are PR supported LMIA’s, which require a name by default.
Answer: High wage LMIA applications do not have a cap or limit. The only criteria that Service Canada looks at is the recruitment efforts completed by the employer and whether they can financially support these positions & wages. For low wage LMIA applications, there is a low wage cap which limits the number of foreign workers an employer can hire based on their industry and the number of Canadians and foreigners they have on payroll. It’s a bit of a tricky calculation but the LMIA online application form helps you calculate it by plugging in all the numbers for your existing payroll. We conduct this assessment for our employer clients before we sign up with them. Even if you don’t have anyone on payroll, it’s still possible due to a special temporary exemption for the low wage cap. The low wage cap is exempt for the following positions:
* On-farm agricultural positions
* Caregivers for healthcare companies
* PR supported LMIA’s
* Short term or highly mobile workers (max 120 days – with special exceptions)
* Seasonal agricultural workers (max 270 days)
If you have an employer who is looking to hire you and either you or they need help going through the LMIA or Provincial Nomination process or any other work permit-based program, reach out to our specialized B2B team at our office in Canada. You can also apply for a FREE email assessment using this link.
Answer: There is no minimum time required for an employer to be registered and operational to be eligible to apply for an LMIA or number of staff. If you are applying under low wage, a specific low wage cap must be calculated. Service Canada checks the genuine requirement of the employer and their financial capacity – it’s not about how long they have been in business. Use your common sense, if it makes sense then it’s possible, if it doesn’t then most likely Service Canada won’t be convinced either.
Remember that we’re always posting about these key details about Canadian business programs and other similar programs for professionals and entrepreneurs– and if that’s what you are interested in, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel for more deep dive videos.
Answer: If you have repeatedly applied and had previously approved LMIA’s, the chances of an interview are low. If it’s your first time applying for an LMIA, it’s very likely (above 75%) that Service Canada will schedule a quick interview call with you to go over the application details. We’ve noticed that in BC, the interviews are significantly less compared to Ontario and other provinces.
Answer: The same provincial and federal employment regulations apply when hiring a foreigner as it is when hiring a Canadian employee. The only differences are as follows:
* For low wage LMIA applications, the employer needs to cover round-fare ticket fees to the home country for their low wage foreign worker.
* For low wage LMIA applications, the employer needs to make sure that the foreign worker won’t pay more than 30% of their total monthly gross income on accommodations within the region where business is operating.
* For all low wage and high wage LMIA’s, if provincial health care coverage doesn’t kick in immediately upon the arrival of the foreign worker the employer needs to cover this gap with private insurance.
* All employers who go through the LMIA process and are approved need to keep all documentation for a minimum 6 years for compliance and audit purposes by Service Canada.
All employers and TFW’s should keep in mind that the closed work permit issued based on the approved LMIA means that the worker cannot switch employers unless the employer violates the employment agreement, or the foreign worker is terminated by the employer in which case they lose their status and need to find new employment or quits and goes back to their home country and re-starts again.
Do you want to become a PR in Canada? At INGWE we could support you! Get a FREE email assessment with one of our licensed immigration consultants. We speak over +8 languages and we have helped applicants from +49 countries in their immigration path to Canada. Fill out our form: https://bit.ly/InDirectEN
Answer: For short term or seasonal work within 120 days, LMIA’s are exempted.
Answer: Yes. There are specific countries with which Canada has bilateral agreements and allow specific occupations to enter and work for an employer based on an LMIA exempt code. In addition, the Francophone mobility program allows LMIA exempt work permits for foreign workers who have job offers from a Canadian employer – anywhere in Canada except Quebec. You can also use your provincial or regional programs such as the Provincial Nominee Program or regional programs such as the AIP (Atlantic Immigration Program) or the Rural Northern Immigration Pilot to sponsor foreign workers permanently without an LMIA application. Global Talent Stream is also possible which is still an LMIA but considered an LMBP – which means a Labour Market Benefit Plan for specific occupations in IT / Media / and engineering.
Answer: Of course, there are. You need to meet the terms & conditions on the employment contract. Keep all LMIA documentation for 6 years as there could be a random audit at anytime within 6 years – even if the foreign worker never showed up to work. They may interview the foreign worker if they are on site, and review payroll and other documents to make sure all conditions of wages, hours of work, overtime and work conditions are met. The foreign worker can be earning more or having better conditions than what you offered them originally, but not less. And employers have a duty to report to Service Canada if the foreign worker does not show up to work either from the beginning or even half-way through.
Answer: In the province in which the TFW will be working will be the basis of the LMIA application and where the LMIA will be locally processed by Service Canada unless it’s a PR supported LMIA.
Do you want to become a PR in Canada? At INGWE we could support you! Get a FREE email assessment with one of our licensed immigration consultants. We speak over +8 languages and we have helped applicants from +49 countries in their immigration path to Canada. Fill out our form: https://bit.ly/InDirectEN
Answer: It takes 30 days to advertise and go through the recruitment process. If no qualified Canadians can fill the position the employer will continue to apply for an LMIA after this recruitment stage. The processing time can range anywhere from 25 to 75 days depending on whether it’s low wage, high wage, PR supported and depending on the province. We typically state approx. 30 days processing time after the 30-day recruitment period as a general average for regular low and high wage LMIA’s – except in the province of BC this processing time is longer.
Answer: Yes. It is possible but the family member needs to qualify for the position with supporting documentation for their work permit. There are specific precautions you need to take when applying for an immediate family member, especially with IRCC, not so much with Service Canada. But at the end of the day, it is 100% legal and possible.
If you have an employer who is looking to hire you and either you or they need help going through the LMIA or Provincial Nomination process or any other work permit-based program, reach out to our specialized B2B team at our office in Canada. You can also apply for a FREE email assessment using this link: https://bit.ly/InDirectEN
Answer: The work permit processing times can range from 2 weeks in Europe and other visa exempt countries, to 2 months in other regions, and 4-6 months in higher volume and higher refusal regions such as the Middle East (besides Israel) and Africa. Remember that all LMIA’s are based on closed work permits and not open work permits. Spouses of foreign workers can be eligible for an open work permit if the LMIA is not under low wage and meeting certain other conditions including certain exceptions – but that’s a whole other video we’ll post next month (about SOWP’s).
And since you read this article til the end, we’ll leave you with a nice fact: If the foreign worker can obtain a French language exam score of CLB 5 only in Speaking and Listening, no LMIA is required, and you can bring them in under the Francophone mobility program, under LMIA exemption code C16. This means their score in the French language exams TEF or TCF can be lower in reading and writing and not necessarily a full CLB 5 equivalent in all 4 bands, but only need to meet the speaking and listening minimum score – and the employer does not have to be French speaking or operating in French or be able to communicate in French. It’s a very simple program and it is significantly underutilized by employers across Canada.
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