LMIA and Work Permits for Canadian Employers

An LMIA application starts before the paperwork does: the recruitment has to run first, and the wage you offer decides which stream you are in, what you have to advertise, and whether the application will be processed at all.

Canada Shaws Consulting Inc. · Richmond, BC · Practising since 2015 · Regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC)

Send us the position, the wage, the work location and your current headcount. We check at no charge whether the role is exempt, which stream it falls in, and whether the refusal-to-process rule applies to your location before you spend anything on advertising.

Do you actually need an LMIA application?

Not every foreign hire does. Before quoting on an LMIA we check whether the position is exempt, because an exemption is faster, cheaper and less exposed to a compliance review than an assessment you did not need.

• The candidate may already hold an open work permit, such as a post-graduation permit, a spousal open permit or a bridging permit, in which case no employer application is needed at all.
• The role may fall under an international agreement such as CUSMA, or under a federal-provincial agreement covering a significant investment project.
• It may qualify on Canadian interests grounds, which is the basis for intra-company transferees with specialized knowledge, certain self-employed engineering, arts and technical professionals, and the Francophone Mobility programme.
• It may fall under reciprocal employment, a Minister-designated category such as academic research posts, or charitable and religious work.
• If none of those applies, the position needs an assessment, and the recruitment has to be completed before the application is filed, not alongside it.

High-wage or low-wage: the wage decides everything downstream

The wage you offer sets the stream, and the stream sets the advertising, the obligations and whether a cap applies. Since 17 July 2026 the dividing line is the provincial or territorial median hourly wage plus 20 per cent.

Province or territory	Hourly wage threshold from 17 July 2026
British Columbia	CAD 38.40
Alberta	CAD 37.50
Ontario	CAD 36.92
Quebec	CAD 36.00
Saskatchewan	CAD 34.62
Newfoundland and Labrador	CAD 33.60
Nova Scotia	CAD 31.96
New Brunswick	CAD 31.73
Manitoba	CAD 31.33
Prince Edward Island	CAD 31.20
Yukon	CAD 45.60
Nunavut	CAD 45.00
Northwest Territories	CAD 48.00

What the recruitment requirement really asks

The assessment is not about your candidate. It is about whether a Canadian or permanent resident could have taken the role, and the evidence for that is the recruitment you completed before you applied. The two streams have different requirements and different durations.

	High-wage position	Low-wage position
Number of methods	At least 3 recruitment activities. Job Bank is mandatory unless you submit a written rationale for an alternative. At least 2 further methods, one of them national in scope, each with unique value and reaching a different audience.	Job Bank, plus recruitment targeting youth aged 15 to 30, plus 2 further methods each targeting a different under-represented group: vulnerable youth, Indigenous peoples, newcomers, persons with disabilities or asylum claimants.
How long the advertising must run	At least 4 consecutive weeks within the 3 months before the application is submitted.	At least 8 consecutive weeks within the 3 months before the application is submitted.
While the file is open	At least one recruitment activity must stay live until the LMIA decision is issued.	At least one method must stay live until the LMIA decision is issued.
Job Match	You must use Job Bank’s Job Match service and invite every job seeker matched in the first 30 days at 4 stars or above to apply.	You must use Job Match and invite matches at 2 stars or above in the first 30 days.
Transition plan	Required, setting out how you will recruit, retain and train Canadians and permanent residents and reduce your reliance on the programme. Exemptions apply to caregiving, primary agriculture, Quebec facilitated occupations, limited-duration and unique-skill positions, and permanent-residence-support applications.	Not required.
Records	Kept for inspection.	Recruitment records must be kept for 6 years.

The occupation classification you choose drives all of it: the wage benchmark, the stream, the advertising and what the worker can later apply for. Getting it wrong at the start is the single most expensive error in this process, because recruitment run against the wrong classification cannot be repaired after the fact. The job description in the advertisement, in the offer and in the application must describe the same role; officers read all three. Applicants who responded have to be assessed and the outcome documented. “Nobody applied” is a finding that has to be shown, not asserted.

The two rules that stop an LMIA application before it is assessed

A well-prepared low-wage application can still be refused processing for reasons that have nothing to do with the role. Both are worth checking before you spend anything on advertising.

• The unemployment rule. Since 26 September 2024, an LMIA application for a low-wage position will not be processed where the work location is in a census metropolitan area with an unemployment rate of 6 per cent or higher. ESDC refreshes that table every three months; the next update is 9 October 2026. Some exemptions apply, and the work location is what matters, not your head office.
• The cap on low-wage workers. No more than 10 per cent of your workforce at a given work location may be temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions. The cap is 20 per cent for construction (NAICS 23), food manufacturing (NAICS 311), hospitals (NAICS 622), nursing and residential care facilities (NAICS 623) and listed in-home caregiver occupations (NOC 31301, 32101, 44100, 44101). An employer with fewer than 10 employees at a work location may have 1 such worker under the 10 per cent cap, or 2 under the 20 per cent cap.
• Outside the cap: on-farm primary agriculture positions, caregiving roles in health-care institutions, positions of 120 days or fewer, and seasonal positions of 270 days or fewer.

Both rules are ESDC’s, not IRCC’s. Current wording is at refusal to process an LMIA application and program requirements for low-wage positions.

What you take on as an employer

An approved LMIA is a set of commitments, and an inspection asks you to show that the job, the wage and the conditions match what was approved. These obligations apply to low-wage positions and several apply more broadly.

• Transportation. You pay round-trip transportation for the worker to reach the Canadian work location and to return home, and you may not recover it from them.
• Housing. You must provide or ensure suitable and affordable housing, meaning housing that requires no major repairs and costs less than 30 per cent of the worker’s before-tax income.
• Health coverage. You obtain and pay for private emergency medical insurance for any period before provincial or territorial coverage applies.
• Workplace safety. Coverage under the provincial or territorial workplace safety scheme or an equivalent private plan, at your cost.
• An employment agreement in English or French, given to the worker before their first day.
• Full-time hours, meaning at least 30 hours a week.
• Costs you may never charge the worker: the CAD 1,000 processing fee and your recruitment costs.

The prevailing wage has to be reviewed annually and may never fall below the wage stated on the LMIA. Employers who kept the recruitment and payroll evidence pass an inspection; employers who reconstruct it afterwards usually do not. We leave that file with you at the end of the engagement.

What an LMIA application costs in government fees

These are the government’s own fees for the employer side and the worker side.

Government fee	Amount
LMIA processing fee (ESDC), per position requested	CAD 1,000
Work permit processing fee (IRCC), per worker	CAD 155
Biometrics (IRCC), one person	CAD 85
Biometrics (IRCC), family of two or more applying together	CAD 170 maximum

The CAD 1,000 fee is not charged where ESDC refuses to process the application or where the employer is ineligible, and it may not be recovered from the worker. Fees taken from ESDC’s high-wage and low-wage program requirement pages and the IRCC fee list on 5 September 2026.

What an LMIA application and work permit cost

These are our professional fees, on top of the government fees above. The employer side and the worker side are separate pieces of work and are quoted separately.

Service	What it covers	Professional fee
Assessment of the position	We check whether the role is exempt, which stream it falls in, whether the cap or the unemployment rule applies, and what the recruitment would have to look like.	Free
LMIA, employer side	Occupation classification, wage benchmarking, the recruitment plan and its documentation, the transition plan where required, the application and the response to any request from ESDC.	CAD 3,500
Work permit, worker side	The worker’s application on the approved LMIA, with family members where applicable. The range reflects how many people are on the file and whether they are inside or outside Canada.	CAD 1,600 to CAD 6,000
Paid consultation	20, 40 or 60 minutes with a senior RCIC, for hiring decisions that need advice before the recruitment starts.	from CAD 120

Fees are professional fees only. They do not include IRCC or ESDC government fees, biometrics, medical examinations, translations, or applicable taxes.

Your journey with Canada Shaws

The same seven steps apply to every matter we take, whichever programme it is. The first two cost nothing, and the third is optional.

1. Free preliminary assessment. You complete our client intake form with your background, your goals and your current circumstances. An RCIC reviews what you have provided and carries out a preliminary assessment to identify the immigration programmes or pathways that may be relevant to your situation on the information available at this stage.
2. Assessment follow-up and information review. Our client representative contacts you to introduce the pathways the RCIC identified, explain our service process and professional fees, and understand your circumstances better. They may also review what you submitted, clarify anything incomplete or unclear, and confirm whether more information is needed. You can ask questions and see the available next steps.
3. Optional paid RCIC consultation. After the assessment and follow-up, you decide whether you want to speak directly with an RCIC before proceeding. If your questions are complex, or you want a detailed professional discussion of the options identified, you may book a paid consultation. It is optional. You can also proceed straight to signing up if you are ready.
4. Sign up with your RCIC. If you decide to proceed, you enter into a formal service agreement directly with the RCIC who will be professionally responsible for your matter. Once it is in place, the file moves into formal case preparation.
5. Detailed information and document preparation. Our team collects and reviews the detailed information and supporting documents your matter requires, and guides you through preparing them.
6. Application preparation and RCIC final review. The case team prepares your application package under the supervision of your RCIC: forms, supporting documents, submission letters and any other required materials. Your RCIC carries out the final professional review before submission.
7. Submission, updates and next steps. After submission we keep you informed of material developments. If immigration authorities request further information or issue a decision, our team guides you through the response, the result, and what happens next.

Who will handle your file

Every file is prepared under a named licensed consultant, and you can verify either of us on the CICC public register before you pay anything.

Both consultants are listed as Entitled to Practise on the CICC public register. Verify any Canadian immigration consultant at register.college-ic.ca.

Questions employers ask before they start

How long before the worker can start?

Three stages run in sequence: recruitment, the assessment, then the worker’s permit. The advertising period is fixed at 4 consecutive weeks for a high-wage position and 8 for a low-wage one, and it cannot be compressed, which is why hiring plans that start with an available start date usually have to move it. How to hire foreign workers in Canada walks through the sequence.

What does an LMIA application cost the company?

ESDC charges CAD 1,000 for each position requested. It is not charged if ESDC refuses to process the application or the employer is ineligible, and it may never be recovered from the worker. Our fee for the employer side is CAD 3,500.

Our work location is in a city with high unemployment. Does that matter?

For a low-wage position, yes. Since 26 September 2024 ESDC will not process an LMIA for a low-wage position where the work location is in a census metropolitan area with an unemployment rate of 6 per cent or higher. The table is refreshed every three months. This is one of the first things we check.

Our worker’s permit expires before the new LMIA is issued. What happens?

This is common and it is manageable if it is handled before the expiry, not after. Work permit expirations caused by LMIA delays explains the options while an assessment is pending.

Can this lead to permanent residence for the worker?

Often, yes. Canadian work experience is what most permanent residence routes are built on. Note that since 25 March 2025 a job offer no longer adds points to a Comprehensive Ranking System score, so the value is the experience rather than the offer. LMIA to permanent residence sets out the path, and the occupation classification you choose now affects what the worker qualifies for later.

Is there a way to hire without an LMIA?

Several, depending on the candidate and the role: international agreements, Canadian interests grounds, reciprocal employment and Minister-designated categories. The francophone mobility stream is one employers routinely miss, covered in francophone mobility, C16 requirements, no LMIA needed. Intra-company transfer is one of the routes that needs no LMIA.

When should an LMIA application be started?

Before the advertising, not after it. An LMIA application filed on recruitment that ran too late, for too few weeks, on the wrong channels, or against the wrong occupation classification cannot be repaired afterwards.

Talk to us about an LMIA application

Send us the position, the wage, the work location and your headcount at that location. There is no charge for the assessment: you will get back whether the role is exempt, which stream applies, whether the cap or the unemployment rule blocks it, and what the whole sequence would cost.

Requirements described on this page are taken from the published criteria of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (and, where a page says so, Employment and Social Development Canada or the relevant province) and were checked on the date below. Immigration rules change, and the official criteria govern, so confirm the current requirement before you act on anything here.
No representative can guarantee an immigration outcome, and we do not promise one. What we commit to is a complete, correctly prepared application and a named licensed consultant responsible for it. Canada Shaws Consulting Inc. provides immigration consulting services as Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants; we are not a law firm and do not provide legal services.
Page last verified: 5 September 2026.