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A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a certificate provided by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to evaluate the effect of employing a foreign individual in Canada. A favourable LMIA confirms a lack of available Canadian citizens or permanent residents to fulfill a specific job, allowing an employer to hire a foreign national. Conversely, a negative LMIA suggests that a Canadian citizen or permanent resident should fill the position.
The procedures for LMIA applications differ based on the wage offered to the prospective employee and the applicable stream. To determine if a position is classified as high-wage or low-wage, employers should refer to the median hourly wages in their province or territory. Meeting additional criteria is necessary for low-wage positions. Furthermore, specific streams are available for employers seeking LMIAs in particular employment sectors.
Your application should include evidence demonstrating that you have met the following requirements:
All LMIA applications require a non-refundable processing fee of $1000 CAD. Even if the result is negative, this fee will not be returned. However, certain applicants under the LMIAs for in-home caregivers may be exempt from this fee.
Your application should include information about the wages you intend to offer the TFWs. This is necessary to differentiate between high-wage and low-wage positions and to ensure that TFWs are paid on par with their Canadian counterparts for similar work.
Employers must demonstrate that they have made substantial efforts to recruit Canadian citizens and permanent residents for the position before considering hiring a TFW.
You must provide documents that establish your status as a legitimate Canadian business.
TFWs are entitled to the same workplace health and safety standards as Canadian workers in equivalent positions. Therefore, employers must provide evidence that TFWs will have insurance coverage that is at least equivalent to the health coverage offered by the province or territory where the business is located.
Employers applying for an LMIA in the high-wage category are required to submit a plan outlining how they intend to address the need for hiring foreign nationals. The ultimate goal is for employers to prioritize the hiring of Canadian citizens and permanent residents instead of temporary foreign workers (TFWs).
Effective from April 30, 2022, and continuing until additional updates are issued, employers must adhere to a 20% cap limit on the hiring of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) for low-wage positions at a particular work location. The purpose of this cap is to prioritize the consideration of Canadian citizens or permanent residents for available job opportunities.
The employer must submit an LMIA application for low-wage occupations when the offered wages to foreign nationals are below the provincial/territorial median hourly wage. Employers who wish to hire foreign workers for low-wage positions are exempt from submitting transition plans along with their LMIA application.
Employers aiming to hire skilled foreign workers and assist in their permanent resident visa application can obtain an LMIA and extend a job offer through the EE system, provided the offer meets the criteria of one of the following economic programs:
For the LMIA-based job offer, the foreign worker receives 50-200 CRS points, depending on their NOC code.
This LMIA serves as a backing for the permanent residency application of a foreign national. The employer hires the skilled foreign national only after their immigration application has been processed and their permanent residency status has been approved. The work permit is not granted to the applicant and there is no processing fee.
Employers seeking to employ skilled foreign nationals on a temporary basis while their application for permanent residence is being processed by IRCC can opt for a dual intent LMIA. Applying for this option entails paying the processing fee. These dual intent LMIAs serve the purpose of supporting the foreign nationals’ applications to IRCC for both a permanent resident status and a temporary work permit.
We offer assistance for both PR-supporting LMIA and Dual Intent LMIA
“Migration is an expression of the human aspiration for dignity, safety and a better future. It is part of the social fabric, part of our very make-up as a human family.”
— Ban Ki-Moon