A Labour Market Impact Assessment is Service Canada’s decision on one job. A positive result says the employer may hire a foreign worker for that job because the hire will be neutral or positive for the Canadian labour market. It is not a work permit. The worker still applies to IRCC, and IRCC can still refuse. A negative result stops the file.
- The assessment is tied to the employer, the occupation, the wage, the location, and a number of positions.
- It expires. It cannot be reused for a different job because the worker is the same person.
How we can help
- Split the file into the employer’s assessment and the worker’s permit, and say which one is blocking the other.
- Check wage, advertising, and any refusal-to-process rule before the fee is paid.
Employer’s Requirements
- A genuine business, actively operating in Canada, able to meet the terms it offers. The job has to be real.
- The wage has to meet the prevailing wage for that occupation in that region. Service Canada publishes it and updates it.
- The employer generally advertises to Canadians and permanent residents first, in the way the stream requires, and keeps a record.
- High-wage and low-wage streams are different. Low-wage files face caps on the share of foreign workers at a worksite.
- Refusal-to-process rules apply in regions and occupations where unemployment is already high. Those caps and lists change. A file that was possible last quarter can be refused this quarter for a reason that has nothing to do with the worker.
- The employer files in the LMIA Online portal and pays the processing fee. Some provinces also require a provincial registration certificate before the federal assessment is accepted.
- After a positive result the employer must keep the approved wage and conditions, meet provincial employment standards, and keep records an inspector can ask for. Breaking those conditions can mean a fine, a ban, and a public name.
- The Recognized Employer Pilot, under Other Program, gave a simpler path and validity up to 36 months to employers already known for compliance. New entry closed on 16 September 2024. The pilot is scheduled to end on 31 December 2026. It does not remove the duties.
How we can help
- Confirm the stream, the wage, the advertising, and whether the region is refusing files, before the portal application.
- If the employer is already recognized, use the simplified assessment while it still exists. A new employer cannot join.
Employee Requirements
- You have to be able to do the job that was assessed. Education, licences, and experience should match the occupation code on the assessment, not a neighbouring code.
- The work-permit application names that employer and that assessment. From outside Canada, you apply through a visa office. From inside Canada, you apply from inside if your status allows it.
- Admissibility is separate from the job: a medical exam when the job or the country requires one, police certificates when asked, and biometrics for most ages.
- A person out of status generally cannot get a work permit from inside Canada until status is restored. Restoration is not available for every set of facts.
- The permit is closed. You do the named job, for the named employer, in the named location, at the named wage. A promotion, a second job, or a move to another city needs a new assessment or a different category.
- You are also protected by the approved terms. An employer who pays less, or who takes your passport, is breaching the program. The vulnerable-worker open permit exists for abuse of that kind.
- This is not permanent residence. Months of full-time skilled work can later count for the Canadian Experience Class or a provincial stream. Months in an occupation those programs do not count will not, however long you stay.
How we can help
- Match your credentials to the code on the assessment, then file the closed permit.
- If the conditions are being broken, look at the vulnerable-worker permit. If the work is skilled, say later which permanent program can count it.
