LMIA Jobs and Hiring in Canada

How the LMIA process works

A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a document issued by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) that confirms an employer may hire a foreign worker for a specific job under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The employer, not the worker, applies, usually through the LMIA Online Portal, after advertising the position and showing that no Canadian citizen or permanent resident was available. A positive LMIA does not authorise work by itself: the worker then applies to IRCC for an employer-specific work permit.

Officers assess whether the offered wage matches the prevailing wage for the occupation and region, whether the job is classified correctly under the National Occupational Classification (NOC), and whether the recruitment effort was genuine. Positions are processed in a high-wage or low-wage stream depending on how the offered pay compares with the provincial median wage. ESDC also publishes lists of employers that received positive LMIAs on Canada's Open Government Portal, which job seekers use to find companies that already hire foreign workers.

Not every job requires an LMIA: positions under the International Mobility Program, identified by exemption codes, are handled by IRCC through its Employer Portal instead. Employers in both programs can face compliance inspections, and violations may lead to fines, bans from hiring foreign workers and public listing of the employer's name.