Last verified: August 29, 2026 · Official source: canada.ca — Hire a temporary foreign worker
General information, not legal or immigration advice. For advice on your situation, consult a licensed RCIC or immigration lawyer.
What an LMIA is
A LMIALMIA: Labour Market Impact Assessment — a document an employer gets from ESDC showing that hiring a foreign worker won't negatively affect the Canadian labour market (i.e. no qualified Canadian or PR is available). is a document a Canadian employer obtains from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) before hiring many temporary foreign workers. A positive LMIA says: hiring this foreign worker is justified because no Canadian citizen or permanent resident was available to do the job.
The worker then uses the positive LMIA to apply for an employer-specific (closed) work permit. See work permits explained for how closed vs. open permits differ.
Who applies and who pays
- The employer applies for the LMIA and must meet recruitment, advertising, and wage requirements.
- The employer pays the processing fee of CAD $1,000 per position (non-refundable — it's owed even if the LMIA is later refused). Confirm the current amount on the official ESDC page before relying on it, since fees can change.
- The employer must also meet specific advertising and recruitment requirements, which also change — check the official page for the current rules rather than relying on a summary.
- It is illegal for an employer to charge the LMIA fee back to the worker; doing so can lead to a ban from the program.
TFWP vs. IMP — the key distinction
Not every foreign worker needs an LMIA. Canada has two streams:
| Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) | International Mobility Program (IMP) | |
|---|---|---|
| LMIA needed? | Yes — an LMIA is required | No — LMIA-exempt |
| Based on | Proving no Canadian was available | Broader interests: trade deals (e.g. CUSMA), intra-company transfers, reciprocal/youth exchanges |
| Permit type | Employer-specific (closed) | Often employer-specific, sometimes open |
| Examples | Many skilled and lower-wage hires | CUSMA professionals, intra-company transferees, IEC participants |
If you can qualify under the IMP, you skip the LMIA entirely — which is usually faster and simpler for both you and the employer.
💡 In the 2026–2028 plan, Canada is shifting away from the TFWP and toward the IMP. If you have an LMIA-exempt route available (CUSMA, intra-company transfer, IEC, a PGWP), it's often the smoother path.
High-wage vs. low-wage — where LMIAs split
An LMIA runs down one of two tracks depending on whether the offered wage sits at or above the provincial threshold, and the rules attached to each differ a fair amount. Thresholds vary by province, and the figures below apply to applications received as of July 17, 2026.
| Province/territory | Hourly wage threshold |
|---|---|
| British Columbia | $38.40 |
| Alberta | $37.50 |
| Ontario | $36.92 |
| Quebec | $36.00 |
| Saskatchewan | $34.62 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $33.60 |
| Nova Scotia | $31.96 |
| New Brunswick | $31.73 |
| Manitoba | $31.33 |
| Prince Edward Island | $31.20 |
| Yukon | $45.60 |
| Nunavut | $45.00 |
| Northwest Territories | $48.00 |
At or above the line is high-wage; below it is low-wage. A high-wage application can request an employment duration of up to 3 years, while a low-wage one is capped at 1 year.
Restrictions that apply only to low-wage positions
- Headcount cap: temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions cannot exceed 10 percent of a given work location. Construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing and residential care, and certain in-home caregiver roles go up to 20 percent, and some positions, such as on-farm primary agriculture, have no cap at all.
- Temporary rural measure: from April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027, eligible rural employers get a 15 percent cap instead. Participation varies by province.
- Advertising: the position has to be advertised for 8 consecutive weeks before applying.
Cities with high unemployment are refused outright
If the position is low-wage and the work location sits in a census metropolitan area (CMA) with an unemployment rate of 6 percent or higher, the LMIA application is not processed at all. This has applied to applications submitted as of September 26, 2024.
The list of affected cities changes quarterly. The current list applies from July 10, 2026 through October 8, 2026, and the next update lands on October 9, 2026. Primary agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing and residential care, in-home caregiving, and positions supporting permanent residence are exempt from this rule.
⚠️ The wage thresholds and the CMA list are both items where a single work location decides the outcome. Always confirm current values on the ESDC threshold page before applying.
After an LMIA is issued
For applications received as of May 1, 2024, a positive LMIA is valid for 6 months. The worker has to apply for a work permit within that window.
LMIA and permanent residence
A positive LMIA used to add points to your CRS score — but job-offer/arranged-employment CRS points were removed in 2025. An LMIA can still be essential for getting a work permit and building the Canadian experience that counts toward the Canadian Experience Class and some PNP streams — but don't expect it to boost your CRS directly anymore. See how to improve your CRS.
Common points of confusion
- "I need an LMIA to work in Canada." Not always — the PGWP, IEC, and many IMP categories are LMIA-exempt.
- "The LMIA is my work permit." No — it's a step your employer takes; you still apply for the permit.
- "I can pay for my own LMIA to speed things up." No — the employer applies and pays; charging you is illegal.
Where this fits
LMIA sits inside the broader Work in Canada picture — alongside open vs. employer-specific permits, the PGWP, and the Bridging Open Work Permit. Building toward PR? See the Study → PR pathway map.