Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)

The Temporary Foreign Worker Programme (TFWP) allows employers to hire foreign nationals to fill temporary labour and skill shortages in Canada when qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents are not available. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) share the responsibility of evaluating and issuing work permits under the TFWP, as well as ensuring employers remain compliant with its rules.

The process :
Under the TFWP, the prospective employer is required to test the Canadian labour market under section 203 of the IRPR and obtain a positive or neutral labour market impact assessment (LMIA) from ESDC. An LMIA is a written request to ESDC for an exception from hiring a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (known as a “local candidate”). The prospective employer must submit evidence that a genuine search for a local candidate was completed and that a qualified candidate was not found. An ESDC officer will consider the impact on the Canadian labour market and several other factors before determining whether to grant a positive, negative, or neutral LMIA. If a positive or neutral LMIA is issued to the employer, the foreign national will include a copy of the LMIA approval in the subsequent work permit application. Upon application for the work permit, IRCC or the CBSA will review all employment conditions listed in the LMIA, such as the name of the prospective employer, duration of employment, location of work, wage, benefits, and hours, and will assess whether the foreign national meets the basic criteria applicable to all temporary resident applicants under section 200 of the IRPR. An employer-specific work permit will be issued to the foreign national if the officer is satisfied per section 203 of the IRPR.

Note that an employer-specific work permit that is issued under the TFWP will match the name of the employer listed on the positive or neutral LMIA. Once the work permit is issued, the employer is obligated to meet all of the conditions and requirements of the TFWP as stated in the LMIA application, the LMIA decision letter, and annexes, for the validity of the work permit. The employer is also required to update ESDC of any changes or errors related to the LMIA, in addition to keeping records of their compliance for a period of six years.

These obligations are important for employers in light of the employer compliance regime, which allows ESDC and IRCC to inspect employers to ensure that they have met all of the conditions and requirements of the TFWP. Employers that are found to be non-compliant and who are unable to justify their non-compliance are subject to monetary penalties and other serious consequences.

Our Commitment :
Our commitment and goal are to represent only those clients that we judge based on our professional experience to have the highest chance of success in their application. We will not undertake cases which we believe unlikely to succeed a screening with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) aka Service Canada. An LMIA application process can vary from 2 to 3 months. This can vary depending on how long Job Bank takes to activate the employer’s account, how long the company takes to provide us with the necessary documentation, and the processing time itself (how long Service Canada takes to assess the application).

Call us for a consultation at +1 604 902 5240