By the Immigration Pros editorial team · Reviewed by Galo Castillo, RCIC (CICC R408519) · Updated September 25, 2026 · Free assessment, no obligation

Labour Market Impact Assessment: How Canadian Employers Apply

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A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is the approval a Canadian employer needs before hiring a temporary foreign worker. An LMIA application is how you get one: Employment and Social Development Canada issues the decision, you apply through the LMIA Online portal, and you pay a processing fee for every position you request.

The order that matters: confirm which stream your job falls into — the category an application is filed under, set by the wage and the type of work — and check the wage against your province’s threshold, the median hourly wage there plus 20%. Confirm the work location is eligible, and get a provincial registration certificate first if you are hiring in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Nova Scotia. Advertise the job for 4 consecutive weeks if it is high-wage, 8 consecutive weeks if it is low-wage. Only then do you gather the documents, submit and pay.

What most employers get wrong: they treat the advertising as a step in the application. It is not — it is a condition that has to be finished before the application exists. Start it too late, or run it in the wrong places, and the file comes back incomplete, with the advertising period and the months behind it gone.

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The fee is not refunded if the application is withdrawn, cancelled or refused. Neither is the advertising period.

The short answers

How much does an LMIA cost an employer?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment costs $1,000 CAD for each position requested, paid by the employer to Employment and Social Development Canada. ESDC does not refund it if the application is withdrawn, cancelled or comes back negative, and it cannot be transferred to another application. By law it cannot be charged to the worker — not as a fee, a deduction or a deposit.

How early can I apply for an LMIA?

Up to six months before the job’s expected start date. But the job has to be advertised first, and that has to be finished before the application is filed: 4 consecutive weeks if the offered wage is at or above your province’s hourly threshold, 8 consecutive weeks if it is below. The real starting point is two to three months earlier than most employers plan for.

Can I still submit an LMIA application on paper?

In practice, no. Employment and Social Development Canada issues the Labour Market Impact Assessment, and you would have to email them explaining what stops you from using the LMIA Online portal. They decide whether the request is justified and reply within 5 business days. The program is built around the portal.

What do I need before I can sign in to LMIA Online?

LMIA Online is the portal where a Labour Market Impact Assessment is filed. Three things have to exist first: a payroll account number attached to your Canada Revenue Agency business number, your own Job Bank account, and the business registered on Job Bank. If a consultant applies for you, you both need accounts.

How long does an LMIA decision take?

It depends almost entirely on the stream — the category the application is filed under, which is set by the wage and the type of work. The averages published by Employment and Social Development Canada for September 2026 ran from 7 business days for seasonal agriculture to 90 for positions paid at or above the provincial wage threshold and 156 for the permanent residence stream. Those are averages of files already decided, not a commitment.

What happens once the LMIA is approved?

You give the worker the decision letter and Annex A – Employment details, keep Annex B for your own records, and make sure they apply for their work permit before the Labour Market Impact Assessment expires. A positive LMIA is valid for up to 6 months, and that date is the deadline to file, not to arrive. If they miss it, you generally have to submit a new LMIA application and pay the $1,000 CAD again.

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Who this guide is for.

Canadian employers who need to hire a foreign worker, and the consultants or HR teams filing on their behalf. It covers the employer’s side from the first decision to the decision letter. If you are the worker holding a job offer, your part starts after all of this: your employer hands you the LMIA letter and you apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for a work permit.

The LMIA in six steps

Steps 1 to 3 must be finished before the application exists. They can’t be fixed afterwards.

01Stream and wageWage vs your province’s threshold

02Work locationRefusal zones and provincial certificate

03Advertising4 or 8 weeks, before you file

04DocumentsCRA records prove the business

05Submit and pay$1,000 CAD per position, non-refundable

06Decision letterAbout 82–90 business days

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519

Read it as a calendar, not a checklist.

The first three steps take two to three months of real time, and all of them happen before the $1,000 CAD is ever paid.

Who is eligible to apply for an LMIA?

Almost any Canadian employer can apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment, the federal approval needed before hiring a temporary foreign worker. Employment and Social Development Canada does not judge your industry or your size. It checks four things: that your business really sells a good or a service, that the job is reasonable for a company like yours, that you can pay what you are offering, and that you follow the law.

Read them as a self-check before you spend anything.

You provide a good or a service. A business that exists on paper but trades in nothing does not qualify.
The employment need is reasonable. Judged against the size and activity of the company — a two-person firm asking for six positions invites the question.
You can fulfil the terms of the job offer. You can actually pay the wage you are offering, for the hours you are offering, from the day the worker starts.
You comply with federal, provincial and territorial law. Not a one-time check at the application: a standing condition, inspectable for six years.

The fourth is the one employers underestimate. Compliance covers provincial employment standards as much as federal immigration rules, and it outlives the application by years. Employers on the non-compliant employers list published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada cannot hire through the programme at all, and no work permit will be issued for their job offer.

If any of the four is uncertain — a young company, an unusual role, a business that has changed shape recently — that is the moment to ask, not after the advertising has run. Ask before you advertise

When do you not need an LMIA?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment is not needed when the hire falls under the International Mobility Program, the parallel route for workers Canada admits without testing the local labour market: no assessment, no advertising, no fee. It covers workers under a free trade agreement, International Experience Canada participants, post-graduation work permit holders, the spouses of certain workers and students, and short stays under the Global Skills Strategy.

Checking this before you advertise is not a formality. An employer who runs eight weeks of recruitment for a position that was exempt all along has spent two months buying nothing. Anyone who already holds an open work permit needs no LMIA from you at all — they can work for almost any employer in Canada.

One name causes more trouble than the rest of the list combined. The Global Talent Stream also sits inside the Global Skills Strategy, and it is not an exemption: it is an LMIA stream, with its own fee per position and its own Labour Market Benefits Plan. An employer who hears “Global Skills Strategy” and assumes the LMIA is skipped can be two months into the wrong plan before anyone notices.

The error runs both ways, and the second direction is worse. Advertising for a position that was exempt wastes two months. Treating a position as exempt when it is not means the work permit is refused — after the worker has already resigned from their old job.

Whether a hire is exempt usually comes down to three facts you already have: the worker’s citizenship, their current status in Canada and the exact role. Find out if you need an LMIA

What is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program?

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is the federal programme that lets a Canadian employer hire a foreign worker when no Canadian or permanent resident is available to do the job. The Labour Market Impact Assessment is the test that proves it, and every hire under this programme needs one. Its counterpart, the International Mobility Program, covers the hires that need no assessment at all.

Knowing which of the two you are in decides everything that follows. Inside the Temporary Foreign Worker Program you advertise, you apply, you pay and you wait. Inside the International Mobility Program you do none of it.

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is itself divided into streams — high-wage, low-wage, primary agriculture, the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, the Global Talent Stream and the permanent residence stream. Which one your job falls into is decided by the offered wage and the type of work, not by preference, and it sets the advertising period, the documents you file and how long the decision takes.

Which LMIA stream does your job fall into?

A stream is the category a Labour Market Impact Assessment is filed under, and the wage you offer decides it. Every province has an hourly wage threshold — its median wage plus 20%. Offer at or above it and the position is high-wage; offer below it and it is low-wage. That single placement sets how long you advertise, what you file and how long the decision takes. It is not a choice you make.

The stream you file your Labour Market Impact Assessment under decides nearly everything that follows: how long you advertise, how long you can employ the worker, what you owe them, and how long the decision takes. One number sets it — the hourly wage threshold for the province or territory where the work will happen.

What a wage threshold is

The median hourly wage for that province or territory — the midpoint, where half of workers earn more and half earn less — plus 20%. Offer at or above it and the position is high-wage; offer below it and it is low-wage. Every province has its own number, which is why the same wage can sit on either side of the line depending on where the job is.

Your wage decides the stream

Each province sets an hourly threshold: the median wage + 20%. Thresholds in effect since July 17, 2026.

At or above the thresholdHigh-wage4 consecutive weeks of advertisingUp to 3 years of employmentTransition plan required

Below the thresholdLow-wage8 consecutive weeks of advertising1 year of employmentTransportation and housing

British Columbia$38.40

Alberta$37.50

Ontario$36.92

Quebec$36.00

Raising the wage to fit a stream can lead to a refusal. Changing stream later costs a second $1,000 CAD.

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519

The four provinces shown are only examples.

All thirteen provinces and territories have their own number, and the one that counts is where the work will physically happen — not where the company is registered.

Find your province below, compare it with the hourly wage you are offering, and you have your stream.

Thresholds in effect since July 17, 2026

Province or territory	Threshold	Province or territory	Threshold
Alberta	$37.50	Nova Scotia	$31.96
British Columbia	$38.40	Nunavut	$45.00
Manitoba	$31.33	Ontario	$36.92
New Brunswick	$31.73	Prince Edward Island	$31.20
Newfoundland and Labrador	$33.60	Quebec	$36.00
Northwest Territories	$48.00	Saskatchewan	$34.62
Yukon	$45.60

Province or territory	Threshold
Alberta	$37.50
British Columbia	$38.40
Manitoba	$31.33
New Brunswick	$31.73
Newfoundland and Labrador	$33.60
Northwest Territories	$48.00
Nova Scotia	$31.96
Nunavut	$45.00
Ontario	$36.92
Prince Edward Island	$31.20
Quebec	$36.00
Saskatchewan	$34.62
Yukon	$45.60

One warning from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is worth reading twice, because it catches employers who think they are being generous. Raising the offered wage to land in a particular stream, or to dodge a program requirement, can itself produce a negative decision. The wage still has to match the prevailing wage, which is what that occupation actually pays in that region. The thresholds are also revised periodically, so an offer drafted months ago can sit on the other side of the line today.

Stream	Application form · Maximum employment duration
High-wage positions	Application form: EMP5626 Maximum employment duration: Up to 3 years
Low-wage positions	Application form: EMP5627 Maximum employment duration: 1 year
Global Talent Stream	Application form: EMP5624 Maximum employment duration: Per the Labour Market Benefits Plan
Agricultural stream	Application form: EMP5519 Maximum employment duration: Per the stream’s own rules
Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program	Application form: EMP5389 Maximum employment duration: Seasonal
In-home caregiver	Application form: EMP5628 Maximum employment duration: Per the stream’s own rules
Permanent resident stream	Application form: EMP5593 Maximum employment duration: Supports a PR application

In LMIA Online you complete this content as an online application rather than a downloaded form. The numbers matter mainly if you end up on the paper exception route, and ESDC asks employers to check the version number in the lower left corner of any form before submitting, because they are updated regularly.

Of the four decisions that decide a Labour Market Impact Assessment, this is the one employers get wrong most often. The wage you write down is assessed three or four months later, against the threshold in force on the day you applied — and by the time the answer arrives, the advertising period has been spent on the wrong stream.

Check your wage threshold

Is the work location eligible, and does your province need a certificate?

Two checks decide whether a Labour Market Impact Assessment can proceed, and both come before you advertise. Some work locations sit in a refusal zone — a city where Employment and Social Development Canada will not process a low-wage application at all. And British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia require the employer to hold a provincial registration certificate first, each with its own fee and its own wait.

Two separate checks, and either one can stop a Labour Market Impact Assessment before it is ever assessed.

Four location checks before you advertise

6%Refusal zonesNo low-wage LMIAs in cities with unemployment of 6% or more. The list changes every 3 months.

10%Low-wage capPer work location. 20% in construction, food manufacturing and healthcare.

British Columbia · Manitoba · Saskatchewan · Nova ScotiaProvincial certificate firstWithout it, the application is incomplete.

QuebecFile twice, in FrenchJobs over 30 days go to Service Canada and the MIFI at the same time.

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519

Three of the four are decided by a map, not by your business.

The same job, at the same wage, from the same company, can be eligible in one city and refused in the next one over.

Is the work location in a refusal zone?

Since September 26, 2024, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) refuses to process low-wage LMIA applications — those where the offered wage is below the provincial hourly threshold — in cities where unemployment is 6% or higher. “City” here means a census metropolitan area: a large city plus the towns around it, as Statistics Canada draws the boundary. The list is refreshed every three months, and it covers most large Canadian cities.

Some positions are exempt from that refusal even in an affected city:

Primary agriculture occupations.

Construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities. Employment and Social Development Canada identifies them by their codes in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): 23, 311, 622 and 623.

Certain caregiver occupations.

Applications that only support permanent residence.

Short positions of 120 days or less that are genuinely temporary or highly mobile.

A second restriction applies wherever the job is. There is a 10% cap on the proportion of temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions at any one work location, rising to 20% in construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing and residential care, and specific in-home caregiver positions. Four kinds of position do not count towards that cap at all: caregiving inside a healthcare institution, on-farm primary agriculture, positions of 120 days or less, and seasonal positions of 270 days or less.

Rural employers: a temporary loosening that runs to March 31, 2027

Announced on March 13, 2026, a temporary measure lets participating provinces and territories raise the low-wage cap from 10% to 15% in eligible rural regions. It also lets eligible employers keep their current proportion of low-wage positions even where it already exceeds their cap. It runs from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, and only where the province or territory has asked for it. If the job is rural, the province is the thing to check before assuming anything.

Do you need a provincial registration certificate?

If you are hiring in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Nova Scotia, you must obtain the provincial employer registration certificate first, and include a copy — or proof of exemption — with the LMIA application. ESDC’s wording leaves no room: the application “will be considered incomplete if submitted without the required documentation.”

Provincial processing runs on its own clock and is not deducted from the federal wait. In those four provinces, this is where the project starts.

A refusal for a restricted city and a return for a missing provincial certificate look identical from where you sit: the advertising period and the months behind it are gone either way. The money is the part you do get back: ESDC states that it does not charge the $1,000 CAD when it has to refuse to process an application. It is also the least useful part, because the position is still unfilled and the recruitment restarts from zero. The list of restricted cities is redrawn every three months, so a location that was fine for your last hire may not be fine for this one. Talk to a licensed RCIC

How long do you have to advertise the job?

Before filing a Labour Market Impact Assessment you must advertise the job: 4 consecutive weeks for a high-wage position and 8 consecutive weeks for a low-wage one, within the three months before you apply. The advertising has to be finished when the application is filed, not still running alongside it. High-wage positions need at least three recruitment activities in total, low-wage at least four, including targeted outreach to youth.

The advertising is the labour market test itself, and the part employers start too late. Job Bank, the national job site, is required in both streams. At least one activity has to stay live until Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) issues its decision. Direct Apply — the button that lets a job seeker apply through Job Bank — must stay enabled, and those applications considered. Job Match scores how well each job seeker fits your posting, from one to five stars; you must invite those above a set rating. Records are kept for six years.

What ESDC accepts as proof is where applications fail. It asks for a copy of the advertisement showing where, when and for how long the position ran; evidence that the channels reach an audience with the education and experience the occupation requires; and an invoice for any other recruitment activity. “We posted it on our own website” is the version that fails. You must also explain why each Canadian applicant was unsuitable.

This is the step ESDC examines most closely, and the one you can no longer touch by the time it does. The wage placement, the wording of the job description and the choice of channels are all settled before the first posting goes up, and all three are assessed months later.

Make your job ads compliant

What documents does an LMIA application need?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment application needs four things: proof that the business is real and actively trading, the signed employment agreement, the evidence of your recruitment, and — for high-wage positions — a transition plan. That plan is your written commitment to recruit and train Canadians for the role over time. Employment and Social Development Canada decides what counts as proof of each. A file missing one is not assessed slowly; it is returned as incomplete.

The LMIA requirements for employers are largely documentary, and they fall into three groups: proof that the business is real, documents specific to your sector, and the commitments you make about the job itself. Which documents apply depends on how your business is set up and on what you have filed before. But none of the ones that do apply is optional. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) returns a Labour Market Impact Assessment application missing any one of them as incomplete, and the recruitment behind it has to be done again.

Prove the business is real

Missing any one of these makes the file incomplete, with the fee already spent.

Business licenceThe most recent municipal licence

T4 SummaryPay and deductions reported

T2SCH100 + T2SCH125Balance sheet and income statement

PD7APayroll deductions statement

Since Oct 28, 2024Letters from accountants or lawyers are no longer accepted.

Employment agreementSigned by both, on or before day one.

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519

Every document in this list already exists.

The work is finding the most recent version of each and checking it matches what the Canada Revenue Agency has on file; a mismatch reads as a business that is not what it claims.

LMIA business legitimacy documents

Every employer must show that the business and the job offer are real. Almost nothing here is new paperwork — it is what you already file with the Canada Revenue Agency each year:

Your most recent municipal business licence.

T4 Summary — the total pay and deductions you reported for your employees.

T2SCH100 and T2SCH125 — your balance sheet and your income statement.

PD7A — the statement of account for the deductions you send the CRA from each payroll.

One more form, depending on how the business is set up: T2042 for a farm, T2125 for a sole proprietorship or partnership, T3010 for a registered charity, or T5013SCH1 for a partnership that files its own return.

Some sectors have mandatory additions. Trucking applications always require the current carrier or public profile report, the National Safety Code certificate and current fleet insurance. Foreign vessel applications require the letter of authority issued under the Coasting Trade Act, the law that governs foreign ships working in Canadian waters. Private households hiring a caregiver do not file corporate records. They provide proof of address and their most recent notice of assessment — the summary the Canada Revenue Agency sends back after a personal tax return.

A change that catches repeat applicants

Since October 28, 2024, ESDC no longer accepts attestations from professional accountants or lawyers as proof of business legitimacy. If your last LMIA was built on one, the file you plan to reuse will not work this time.

A file assembled on the old rules risks being treated as incomplete rather than partial — and that answer tends to arrive after the advertising window has already closed.

The employment agreement

You do not submit a copy with the LMIA. What you commit to is giving the worker a completed, signed agreement on or before their first day of work. It has to cover the same occupation, wages and working conditions as the offer, be drafted in English or French according to the worker’s preference, and be signed by both of you.

ESDC publishes templates by stream — EMP5711 for high-wage, ESDC-EMP5712 for low-wage, EMP5710 for primary agriculture, EMP5713 for the Global Talent Stream and EMP5715 for in-home caregivers. You can use your own document as long as it contains everything required.

The transition plan — high-wage only

A transition plan is your written commitment to reduce your reliance on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program: the activities you agree to undertake to recruit, retain and train Canadians and permanent residents for that role. A position is high-wage when the offered wage is at or above the hourly threshold for that province, and low-wage when it is below. For high-wage positions a transition plan is mandatory, and it has to stay valid for the whole time the worker is employed. If you have never submitted one, you complete it inside the high-wage application form. If you have submitted one before for the same position, you report on what came of those earlier commitments. A limited set of exemptions exists, among them in-home caregivers and health care providers, seasonal agricultural positions, and certain time-limited roles. Low-wage applications have no transition plan requirement at all.

Which of these documents apply depends on how your business is set up and on what you filed last time, and a file reused from a previous LMIA is the one most likely to come back incomplete.

Get help with your paperwork

How do you submit an LMIA application and pay?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment is submitted through the LMIA Online portal, signed in with your employer account on Job Bank, the Government of Canada’s national job site. Three things must exist first: a payroll account number attached to your Canada Revenue Agency business number, your own Job Bank account, and the business registered on Job Bank. The processing fee is paid per position at the moment you submit.

LMIA Online is where a Labour Market Impact Assessment is actually filed. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) describes it as “a reliable and secure online portal” that lets Canadian employers and their representatives send LMIA applications to Service Canada electronically. Inside it you can build an application before submitting, upload documents, pay, follow the status in real time, read Service Canada’s correspondence and decision letters, and copy an earlier application into a new one.

What you need before signing in

A payroll account number tied to the business number issued by the Canada Revenue Agency — the same number the business already uses for payroll deductions.

Your own Job Bank user account, plus the business registered on Job Bank.

If a third-party representative is applying for you: you both need a personal Job Bank account, and you both must be added to the “Users” section of the employer file. Whoever manages the file can add users directly.

Submit on LMIA Online

Before signing in you need a CRA payroll account and the business registered on Job Bank.

01Sign inWith your Job Bank employer log-in

02Fill out the formFrom the Employer Dashboard

03Upload documentsPDF, RTF, TXT or JPG, 6 MB each

04Pay $1,000 CADPer position. Not refunded if refused

There is no edit button. After you submit, every correction goes through Service Canada.

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519

The account setup is the part that surprises people.

Registering the business on Job Bank is not instant, and it has to be finished before the application can even be started.

The four submission steps

Step 1

Sign in

Use the same log-in information as your Job Bank for employers account.

Step 2

Create, fill out and submit the application

From the Employer Dashboard.

Step 3

Upload the supporting documents

PDF, RTF, TXT or JPG, up to 6 MB each — split anything larger. There is no limit on the number of documents. Do not upload social insurance numbers, banking information or passport numbers.

Step 4

Pay the processing fee

$1,000 CAD for each position requested. Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or a certified cheque, money order or bank draft payable to the Receiver General for Canada.

If you genuinely cannot use LMIA Online

Employment and Social Development Canada recognises that some employers cannot create a Job Bank account, or need technical support. You can ask for the paper LMIA application form by writing to the forms team at EDSC.DEMANDE.FORMULAIRE.PTET-TFWP.FORM.REQUEST.ESDC@servicecanada.gc.ca. The email has to say four things:

What you have already tried, to solve the problem.
Your company name.
Your business number.
Which streams you want to apply to.

A third-party representative can make the request on a client’s behalf.

ESDC reviews whether a form is justified in your case and replies by email within 5 business days. If it is justified, they send the forms and instructions for submitting to the right processing centre. This is an exception route, not a choice between two equal options.

What happens after you apply?

Once a Labour Market Impact Assessment is filed, it goes to an officer at Employment and Social Development Canada, and at least one of your recruitment activities has to stay live until the decision arrives. Expect a phone interview. Answer it from the same records you filed: the officer is checking the application against what you submitted, not against a new account of it.

Service Canada checks whether you have met every requirement of the Labour Market Impact Assessment program. Then, in the words of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), “you will receive a negative or positive LMIA in the form of a letter.”

Five things are examined:

Whether you are eligible to take part in the program at all.

Whether the job offer is consistent with federal, provincial or territorial agreements.

Whether the offer is genuine. That is four checks in one: you are actively running the business, the job fits what the business needs, you can deliver what the offer promises, and you follow employment law.

Whether the language requirement lists only English or French.

What effect the hire would have on the labour market — judged on the wages and working conditions offered, and on the recruitment actually carried out.

By this point there is little left to change. All five checks look backwards, at decisions made weeks or months before the file was submitted — which is why the assessment is not the moment to start getting advice.

The department also holds a power that surprises employers meeting it for the first time. It can temporarily suspend processing where there is reason to suspect non-compliance that would put a worker’s health or safety at serious risk. The suspension lifts once the concern is shown to be unfounded or is resolved.

What does an LMIA cost beyond the fee?

The Labour Market Impact Assessment processing fee is charged for each position requested, and it is the smallest part of the cost. Four others attach to the same application: the advertising, across at least three channels; provincial registration, in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia; transportation and housing, for low-wage positions; and a professional fee, if you use a representative. None of it can be charged to the worker.

None of it can be charged to the worker. The wording from Employment and Social Development Canada is short and absolute: the processing fee “can’t be paid by nor be recovered from temporary foreign workers”. It goes further than the fee itself. Neither you nor anybody recruiting on your behalf may charge or recover any recruitment fees, directly or indirectly, and you cannot pass on the cost of your own paid representative.

“Directly or indirectly” is drafted to cover the creative versions: a deposit, a deduction from the first paycheques, a payment routed through a relative’s company, a “training fee”, a “documentation fee”. Renaming a fee does not make it something else, and this is one of the conditions you can be inspected against for six years.

Of every number on this page, the fee is the small one. The expensive part of a failed LMIA is the four months, and the start date that moves with them.

The fee is the one fixed number. The rest depends on the stream, the province and how many positions you are filling, and all of it can be worked out before you commit to any of it. See how we handle your LMIA

How long does an LMIA take?

How long a Labour Market Impact Assessment takes depends almost entirely on its stream — the category it is filed under, set by the wage and the type of work. Employment and Social Development Canada published these averages for September 2026: 7 business days for the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, 10 for the Global Talent Stream, 82 for low-wage, 90 for high-wage and 156 for the permanent residence stream.

ESDC figures for September 2026, published September 10, 2026

ESDC figures for September 2026

The stream decides the wait

Average processing time in business days — averages of files already decided, not maximums.

Seasonal agriculturalSAWP6 about 1 week

Global Talent Stream10 about 2 weeks

Agricultural stream25 about 5 weeks

Low-wagebelow the threshold82 about 4 months

High-wageat or above it90 about 4½ months

Permanent residence156 about 8 months

Most employers are in the low-wage or high-wage stream. Your province’s hourly wage threshold decides which of the two applies.

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Reviewed by Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519
General information, not legal advice.

The spread is the point.

Between the fastest stream and the slowest there is a factor of twenty-six. An employer does not get to choose which one applies: the wage and the type of work decide it.

Stream	Average · Roughly, in calendar time
Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program	Average, business days: 6 Roughly, in calendar time: Just over a week
Global Talent Stream	Average, business days: 10 Roughly, in calendar time: Two weeks
Agricultural stream	Average, business days: 25 Roughly, in calendar time: About five weeks
Low-wage	Average, business days: 82 Roughly, in calendar time: About four months
High-wage	Average, business days: 90 Roughly, in calendar time: About four and a half months
Permanent residence stream	Average, business days: 156 Roughly, in calendar time: About eight months

Read those numbers with two caveats. They are averages for complete applications, and missing information or documents can push a file well past them. And the clock stops when the letter is issued, which is the moment the worker’s own wait begins, measured against the 60-day service standard of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for applications made outside Canada.

The advertising period sits in front of all of it and is counted in none of these figures. A low-wage position is eight weeks of recruitment plus roughly four months of processing before anyone can start.

Most of what sets your timeline is fixed before you file.

Stream, wage placement, work location and the shape of the advertising are all settled before anything is filed. They are what separates a ten-day file from a ten-month one.

By the time a file is slow, the decisions that made it slow are months behind you.

Start on the right stream

Which LMIA is decided in 10 business days?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment filed under the Global Talent Stream is decided in about 9 business days, against ninety for a high-wage application, and it asks for no advertising at all. In exchange you file a Labour Market Benefits Plan — a commitment to create jobs or invest in training for Canadians — which Employment and Social Development Canada reviews every year. Outside seasonal agriculture, it is the one genuinely fast route.

Read the table above again. One stream is decided in 9 business days where high-wage takes ninety. That is the Global Talent Stream, and outside seasonal agriculture it is the one genuinely fast route open to an ordinary employer. It is also narrow enough that most employers reading this will not qualify — which is worth finding out in an afternoon rather than in four months.

You will still find pages describing a “10-day speed of service” for skilled trades, for the top 10% of wage earners, or for jobs of 120 days or less. That was a commitment announced in 2014. It appears in no current ESDC guidance and in no current processing-time table. Treat it as history, not as a plan.

Global Talent Stream requirements as published by ESDC, page last modified September 16, 2026

Which category you would fall into

	Category A · Category B
How you get in	Category A: A designated referral partner has to refer you. Without the referral form, the application is treated as incomplete. Category B: No referral needed. The job has to appear on ESDC’s Global Talent Occupations List.
Who it is for	Category A: Firms operating in Canada, innovation-focused and able to scale, filling a role ESDC accepts as unique and specialized. Category B: Any employer hiring into a listed in-demand occupation — largely software, data, cybersecurity, engineering and specialized media design.
Wage floor	Category A: $38.46/hour or $80,000 a year for the first two positions; $72.11/hour or $150,000 beyond that. Category B: A set floor for some listed occupations, the prevailing wage for the rest.
How many positions	Category A: Generally one or two a year per company. Category B: No stated cap.

What you give up in exchange

There is no advertising requirement. This is the part that actually moves the timeline. ESDC sets no minimum recruitment for the Global Talent Stream, so the four or eight weeks that sit in front of every other application are simply not there. Put that together with a ten-day decision and a file that would have taken four months can take three weeks.

A Labour Market Benefits Plan takes its place. The advertising is replaced by a commitment. Category A employers commit to creating jobs for Canadians and permanent residents; Category B employers commit to increasing skills and training investment for them. On top of that mandatory benefit you choose at least two complementary benefits, each with at least one concrete activity behind it.

And ESDC checks it every year. Progress against the plan is reviewed annually. An employer who does not deliver receives a negative decision on future applications for two years — an obligation that outlasts the work permit it bought.

The Global Talent Stream trades an advertising campaign for a multi-year commitment. It is faster, not lighter.

Everything else works as it does anywhere else in the program. The wage is the highest of the regional median on Job Bank, what you already pay people doing that job, and any floor attached to the occupation — counting guaranteed wages only, not overtime, tips, bonuses or commissions. The fee is the same, and it is just as non-refundable.

Whether a role fits Category A, Category B or neither is usually clear from the job description and the wage.

See if Global Talent fits

What happens once the LMIA is approved?

Once a Labour Market Impact Assessment is approved, you receive a decision letter with two annexes attached. Annex A sets out the employment details and belongs to the worker; Annex B is your own copy for the file. You hand the worker the letter and Annex A, and they apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for the work permit. Nothing in the hire moves until they do.

Once you have an approved LMIA — a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment — the next step is not the job — it is handing the right documents to the worker so they can apply for their permit. Approval comes with obligations that start immediately, and one detail most guides get wrong.

Give the worker a copy of the LMIA letter and Annex A. Its full name is Annex A – Employment details, and the worker needs both documents for their work permit application.

Keep Annex B to yourself. Employment and Social Development Canada is explicit: Annex B is for the employer’s records only and is not to be shared with the worker, for privacy reasons.

Get the employment agreement signed and make sure the worker has a mutually signed copy, in their chosen official language, before or on their first day.

Tell the worker to apply before the LMIA expires. A positive LMIA is valid for up to 6 months, and that date is the deadline for the worker to file their work permit application, not to arrive. Miss it and you generally have to file a new LMIA application and pay the $1,000 CAD again — a deadline that passes quietly, because nothing warns you it is coming.

Report any error on the LMIA or its annexes to the Service Canada processing centre.

What your candidate does next: the LMIA-based work permit

Approval is a handover, not a finish line. A worker who arrives without Annex A cannot file their permit, and an employment agreement signed after the first day is a breach on record from that day — two errors that cost nothing to avoid and cannot be undone afterwards.

How long is a positive LMIA valid?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment that comes back positive — meaning approved — is valid for up to 6 months. That date is the deadline for the worker to file their work permit application, not to arrive in Canada. If they miss it, the assessment is no longer valid and you start again: new advertising period, new application, new fee.

A positive Labour Market Impact Assessment is valid for up to 6 months after it is issued. What that date means is narrower than it looks, and it is worth being precise because the money at risk is yours.

Six months to file, not to arrive

The worker must apply for the work permit before the LMIA expires. The job can start later.

RecordsTranslationsMedical exam, can add 3 monthsBiometrics

Letter issuedMonth 6 · expiry

Give the workerThe letter + Annex AIRCC requires both

Keep to yourselfAnnex BFor your records, for privacy

Miss the date and you start over: new ads, new application, new $1,000 CAD.

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519

The clock belongs to the worker; the money is yours.

Nothing in the process warns you when that date is approaching.

The expiry date is the date by which the worker must have applied for their work permit. It is not the date the job has to start — the job can begin after the LMIA has expired. What cannot happen after that date is the filing.

If the worker has not applied by then, the LMIA is no longer valid and you apply for a new one: new advertising period, new application, new $1,000 CAD. Six months sounds generous until you count what has to fit inside it on the worker’s side — ordering civil documents from abroad, certified translations, a medical exam that can add three months, and a biometrics appointment.

The single cheapest thing you can do after approval.

Put the expiry date in a calendar the day the letter arrives, and check in with the worker at the halfway mark. Most expired LMIAs are not caused by a problem — they are caused by both sides assuming the other one was watching the date.

Six months is the whole window, and most of it belongs to the worker: civil documents ordered from abroad, certified translations, a medical exam that can add three months, a biometrics appointment. An employer who only checks at month five is checking too late.

Can you change or withdraw an LMIA application?

Some details of a filed Labour Market Impact Assessment can be amended; the stream it was filed under cannot. To change stream you withdraw and reapply, and the processing fee is neither refunded nor transferred. Naming the worker follows its own rules: an unnamed application — one filed before you have chosen the person — has to be completed with their details later.

A Labour Market Impact Assessment can be corrected, withdrawn or amended, but what is possible depends on where the file already is.

While the application is pending: contact the Service Canada processing centre or the Employer Contact Centre to modify it. There is no self-serve edit inside the portal, and an uncorrected error creates delay.

To change stream: you must withdraw and reapply under the new one. The fee is not refunded and cannot be transferred — a stream chosen wrongly at the start costs a second $1,000 CAD.

To add, remove or change names on an issued LMIA: send a completed Request to add or remove a name on an LMIA (ESDC-EMP5661) to the processing centre that handled the file. It must arrive at least 15 business days before the LMIA expiry date, and for ten names or fewer you can call the Employer Contact Centre instead.

Some files cannot be changed at all. That includes applications for permanent residence and those filed on a dual-intent basis, meaning the same application supports a permanent residence application and a work permit at once. Names also cannot be changed under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, once the work permit has been applied for or issued, or after the LMIA has expired.

If the terms of employment change after approval, act immediately. The position of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is that if they do not have a copy of the changes, you are held accountable for whatever is on file.

There is no published rule on re-applying after a negative LMIA — no waiting period, no appeal. The only stated consequence is that the fee is gone.

Choosing the wrong stream costs a second $1,000 CAD. If your file came back, we help with the resubmission.

Get resubmission support

What is different about hiring in Quebec?

Quebec runs a joint process for the Labour Market Impact Assessment. You file the same application twice — with the federal government and with Quebec’s own immigration ministry — and both have to agree before the hire proceeds. A file that reaches only one of them closes on its own: the two governments do not check each other’s submissions, and nothing warns you the other half is missing.

Quebec runs a parallel process for the Labour Market Impact Assessment, and getting it wrong does not slow the application down — it closes it.

For positions lasting more than 30 consecutive days, the application must be submitted at the same time to Service Canada and to Quebec’s immigration ministry, the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration — the MIFI. The warning from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is blunt: failure to do so “will prevent your application from being processed and will result in its closure. No refund of the processing fee will be made.”

Step 1

File with ESDC

Complete the application in LMIA Online with all required documents.

Step 2

File with the MIFI

Submit a French copy of the same application, with supporting documents, in the format the province requires. All Quebec applications must be in French.

Step 3

Receive the joint confirmation

Once both approve, you receive a joint ESDC/MIFI confirmation letter — not an ordinary LMIA letter — along with the Quebec Acceptance Certificate, the CAQ.

Step 4

Hand the documents over

Give the worker a copy of the CAQ with the confirmation letter, then tell them to apply for their work permit.

Nothing warns you that one half is missing. The two governments do not check each other’s submissions, so a file that reaches only Service Canada closes on its own, with the $1,000 CAD already spent.

One live restriction to check before committing: until December 31, 2026, applications are not processed for positions in Montréal and Laval paid below Quebec’s hourly wage threshold, with exemptions for agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, education, healthcare and designated in-home caregiver positions. Measures like this one are temporary and are worth re-checking on the day you file.

Two governments, two submissions, and no notice if either is missing. Employers filing in Quebec for the first time are the ones who tend to find out months later.

What are you committing to after the worker starts?

Everything you promised in the Labour Market Impact Assessment becomes a set of conditions you can be held to: the wage, the hours, the occupation and the workplace exactly as filed. Employment and Social Development Canada can inspect against them for six years after the worker’s first day, announced or unannounced, and your recruitment and payroll records have to be available for that whole period.

A Labour Market Impact Assessment is not a transaction that ends when the worker starts. It is a set of conditions you can be inspected against, and the inspection regime is real.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) may inspect on site or virtually, announced or unannounced, for up to six years after the worker’s first day, checking against 29 conditions set out in the immigration regulations. You must keep every supporting document for that same six years — including the recruitment and advertising records.

After the worker starts

ESDC can inspect on site or virtually, with or without notice.

6years of possible inspections

29conditions you’re checked on

$100Kmax. fine per violation

$1Mmax. per year

What gets checked mostThe offered wage and overtime, the signed agreement, no recruitment fees charged to the worker.

Beyond the fineLMIA revoked, name on the public list, ban from the programs.

Year to March 31, 2026: $10.2 million in penalties and 30 employers banned.

Immigration ProsSource: ESDC · Galo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519

Inspections are not triggered only by complaints.

They can arrive unannounced and reach back to the worker’s first day, which is why the six-year record rule is the real obligation.

Penalties run up to $100,000 per violation, to a maximum of $1 million a year. Money is not the only consequence. The LMIA can be suspended or revoked, the company name goes on the public list of non-compliant employers, and the business can be banned from both federal programs that bring in foreign workers. In the year ending March 31, 2026, ESDC issued $10.2 million in penalties and banned 30 employers.

The conditions themselves are not exotic. Pay what the offer says, including overtime. Provide the signed employment agreement on or before day one. Do not charge the worker recruitment fees. Provide private health insurance until provincial coverage begins, for low-wage positions — those paid below the provincial hourly threshold. Make reasonable efforts to provide a workplace free of abuse. Most non-compliance findings are paperwork drift, not bad faith — which is exactly why the six-year record rule matters.

What you are inspected against is the job offer you signed, not the job as it evolved. An employer who never intended to breach anything can still fail an inspection five years later, because the wage drifted or the agreement was never signed on day one.

The conditions you can be inspected against are written before you file: the wage, the hours, the duties and the occupation in the job offer. That is the stage where they can still be adjusted. Have your job offer reviewed

Which mistakes cost employers the most time?

A handful of mistakes cost the most time on a Labour Market Impact Assessment: advertising too late, placing the wage on the wrong side of the provincial threshold, missing a provincial registration certificate, and treating a position as exempt when it is not. Each one is decided in the first weeks and discovered months later, when the advertising period and the start date have already gone.

Five mistakes that cost months

“We’ll post the job once the candidate accepts.”

Ads must be done before filing.

“We chose the faster stream.”

The wage sets the stream, not you.

“The provincial certificate can come later.”

In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia the file is incomplete without it.

“Our accountant can vouch for the business.”

Not since Oct 28, 2024. ESDC wants CRA records.

“Six months is plenty of time.”

It’s the deadline to file the permit, not to arrive.

Immigration ProsGalo Castillo, RCIC · CICC R408519 · Not legal advice

None of these are exotic.

Three of the five are timing errors, and every one of them gets made by an employer who believed they were being careful.

Most of these are made in the first fortnight and discovered in the fifth month. None can be corrected once the advertising has run: the file is returned or refused, and the recruitment starts again from zero. A review before filing takes days.

Request a free file review

Do you need a consultant or a lawyer?

No representative is required: an employer may file a Labour Market Impact Assessment alone. What a consultant or a lawyer buys is a review of the decisions taken before filing — the stream, where the wage sits against the provincial threshold, the work location and the shape of the advertising. Those four are what cause negative decisions, and all four are already fixed by the time the application is assessed.

Five decisions settle an LMIA, and all five are made before the application exists. None of them can be repaired afterwards, and every one of them is where a licensed representative changes what reaches ESDC. The decision itself is ESDC’s, and no representative can promise it or speed it up. What a representative can do is make sure the file that lands on the officer’s desk is the strongest one your situation allows — which, on these five points, is the whole game.

Whether the job needs an LMIA at all. A significant share of hires are exempt. Eight weeks of advertising for a position that was exempt all along buys nothing.

Which stream the job belongs in. The wage against your province’s threshold decides it, not you. Get it wrong and you withdraw, refile and pay the $1,000 CAD a second time.

Whether the work location is clear this quarter. The refusal-zone list is redrawn every three months, so a city that worked for your last hire may not work for this one.

Whether the recruitment you ran will survive scrutiny. A posting cannot be backdated. If the advertising fails assessment, the four or eight weeks start again from zero.

Whether the business file meets the rules as they stand now. Since October 28, 2024 an accountant’s letter is no longer accepted, so a file built on the last application will come back incomplete.

The arithmetic is what decides it. A review before filing takes days. A negative decision costs the $1,000 CAD, the four or eight weeks of advertising and roughly four months of your hiring timeline — and then you do all of it again. By the time the negative decision arrives, the choices that caused it are three or four months behind you, and so is your start date.

Where a representative changes nothing: the speed of the queue at Employment and Social Development Canada. No one can move a file up it or shorten the advertising period. Anyone promising that is describing something the program does not allow — and that is worth knowing before you choose who to work with.

Nobody is required to hire anyone. You can file your own Labour Market Impact Assessment, and plenty of employers do. What decides it is whether you want those five judgement calls made by someone who makes them every week.

Two rules sit around the money. You cannot pass the cost of your representative on to the worker, and that representative cannot demand the LMIA fee or recruitment costs from them either. What a representative charges depends on the case — how many positions, which stream, whether a previous refusal has to be worked around. Any quote given before someone has read your situation is a number attached to nothing.

What the employer assumes	What actually happens
We will post the job once the candidate accepts.	Advertising has to be complete before the application is filed, within the previous three months. Posting afterwards does not count and cannot be backdated.
We chose the stream that processes faster.	The stream is set by the wage against your province’s threshold. Adjusting the wage to fit a stream can itself produce a negative decision, and changing stream later means withdrawing, reapplying and paying again.
The provincial certificate can come later.	In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia the application is incomplete without the provincial employer registration certificate, and provincial processing runs on its own clock.
The worker just needs the LMIA letter.	They need the Labour Market Impact Assessment letter and Annex A – Employment details, which Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada requires for the work permit. Annex B stays with you.
We have six months before the job starts, so there is time.	The six months is the worker’s deadline to file their permit application, not to arrive. Translations, medicals and biometrics all live inside that window.
Our accountant can attest that the business is legitimate.	Not since October 28, 2024. Employment and Social Development Canada no longer accepts attestations from accountants or lawyers for business legitimacy — it wants the Canada Revenue Agency records.
Once the worker starts, the file is closed.	You can be inspected for six years, against 29 conditions, with penalties up to $1 million a year.

Start by finding out what you are actually dealing with.

Immigration Pros is a licensed Canadian consultancy, and the first review costs nothing: which stream, whether your location is clear, what the advertising has to look like, and a realistic timeline. If the answer is that you do not need us, that is the answer you will get.

The cheapest moment to fix an LMIA file is before it is filed. After a negative decision, putting it right generally means another advertising period, another fee and another four months.

Explore our LMIA service

Frequently asked questions

How much does an LMIA cost an employer?

A Labour Market Impact Assessment costs $1,000 CAD for each position requested, paid to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). Four other costs attach to it. The advertising, which runs 4 consecutive weeks for a high-wage position and 8 consecutive weeks for a low-wage one — your province’s hourly threshold decides which — across at least three channels. A provincial registration fee, if you are hiring in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Nova Scotia. Transportation and housing, for low-wage positions. And a professional fee, if you use a representative. The $1,000 CAD is not refunded if the application is withdrawn, cancelled or comes back negative. ESDC does not charge it at all when it refuses to process an application.

Can the worker pay the LMIA fee?

No. Employment and Social Development Canada states that the Labour Market Impact Assessment processing fee cannot be paid by, nor recovered from, temporary foreign workers. Neither you nor anyone recruiting on your behalf may charge them recruitment fees, directly or indirectly, and you cannot pass on the cost of your own representative. It is one of the conditions attached to the assessment that you can be inspected against for six years.

How long before the start date can I apply?

Up to six months before the expected job start date. But a Labour Market Impact Assessment application can only be filed once the advertising period is complete: 4 consecutive weeks if the wage is at or above your province’s hourly threshold, 8 consecutive weeks if it is below. The project really starts two to three months before that.

Is there a faster LMIA?

The Global Talent Stream is decided in about 9 business days, against 90 for a high-wage application, and it carries no advertising requirement at all. It opens two ways. Category A: a designated referral partner refers an innovation-focused firm filling a role Employment and Social Development Canada accepts as unique and specialized, with a wage floor of $38.46 an hour or $80,000 a year for the first two positions. Category B: the job appears on the department’s Global Talent Occupations List — largely software, data, cybersecurity, engineering and specialized media design — with no referral needed. In exchange you file a Labour Market Benefits Plan, a written commitment to create jobs or invest in training for Canadians, and your progress against it is reviewed every year; an employer who does not deliver receives a negative decision on future applications for two years. A separate 10-day commitment announced in 2014, for skilled trades, the highest-paid occupations and jobs of 120 days or less, no longer appears in current guidance.

Which employers are eligible to apply?

Employment and Social Development Canada checks four things before issuing a Labour Market Impact Assessment. That you provide a good or a service. That the need for the job is reasonable for a business your size. That you can actually deliver what the job offer promises. And that you follow federal, provincial and territorial law. Employers on the non-compliant employers list published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada cannot hire through the program at all.

Can I still submit an LMIA on paper?

Only as an exception. LMIA Online is the portal where a Labour Market Impact Assessment is normally filed. To get a paper form instead, you email the forms team at Employment and Social Development Canada and explain what stops you from using it, giving your company name, your business number and which LMIA streams you want to apply under. They decide whether the request is justified and reply within 5 business days. Paper is not an ordinary alternative.

What do I need before I can sign in to LMIA Online?

LMIA Online is the portal where a Labour Market Impact Assessment is filed, and three things have to exist before you can sign in. A payroll account number attached to your Canada Revenue Agency business number — the payroll programme account, not the corporate income tax one. Your own Job Bank user account. And the business itself registered on Job Bank. If a representative applies for you, you both need personal Job Bank accounts, and both of you must be added to the Users section of the employer file.

What is Annex A, and what is Annex B?

Both arrive with a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment, and they go to different places. Annex A – Employment details goes to the worker, along with the decision letter: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada requires it for their work permit application. Annex B stays with you. Employment and Social Development Canada says plainly that it should not be shared with the worker, for privacy reasons.

Can I correct an application after submitting it?

Yes, but not inside LMIA Online. Contact the Service Canada processing centre handling your Labour Market Impact Assessment, or the Employer Contact Centre at 1-800-367-5693, before the decision is made. Changing the stream is different — the stream is the category the application is filed under, set by the wage — and it requires withdrawing and reapplying, with the fee neither refunded nor transferred.

What happens if the LMIA expires before the worker applies?

The Labour Market Impact Assessment is no longer valid and you must apply for a new one, including a new advertising period and a new $1,000 CAD fee. The expiry date is the deadline for the worker to submit their work permit application; the job itself may begin after that date.

What is different about hiring in Quebec?

For positions over 30 consecutive days, the Labour Market Impact Assessment application goes to two places at the same time: Service Canada, and Quebec’s immigration ministry. The Quebec copy has to be in French. Missing either submission closes the file with no refund. If both approve, you receive one joint confirmation letter from the two governments, plus a Quebec Acceptance Certificate, the provincial document the worker needs alongside the federal one. One more restriction: positions paid below Quebec’s hourly wage threshold are not being processed in Montréal or Laval until December 31, 2026, with exemptions for agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, education, healthcare and designated in-home caregiver positions. Measures like this one are temporary and are worth re-checking on the day you file.

How long do I have to keep the documents?

At least six years from the worker’s first day of work, covering both the Labour Market Impact Assessment application documents and the recruitment and advertising records. Employment and Social Development Canada may request them at any time, and inspections can happen on site or virtually, announced or unannounced, against the 29 conditions attached to your job offer.

Still not sure where your position sits? Most of what decides a Labour Market Impact Assessment — the stream, the wage placement, the work location and the shape of the advertising — is settled in the first two weeks and assessed four months later. A licensed consultant reads those four in an afternoon. Have yours read before the advertising starts

Free LMIA assessment for employers

Tell us about the position you need to fill. A licensed RCIC at Immigration Pros will tell you which of these applies:

Whether the position needs an LMIA at all, or falls under an exemption

Which stream it belongs in, and whether the wage sits on the right side of your province’s threshold

Whether your work location is currently in a refusal zone, and whether you need a provincial certificate first

What the advertising has to look like to survive assessment

A realistic timeline from today to the worker’s first day

Describe the position and you get an answer from a licensed consultant rather than a quote.

An incomplete application is not treated as a slower one. Where a file is returned, the advertising period, the fee and the months behind them go with it — and every one of those is decided before you file, not after.

No obligation. Immigration Pros Inc. is a licensed consultancy; the first review costs nothing.

Who reviewed this page

Galo Castillo is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, CICC licence R408519, practicing with Immigration Pros Inc. He reviewed every procedural part of this page: the stream rules, the wage thresholds, the recruitment requirements, the document lists, the Quebec process and the compliance regime. He is also the consultant who reviews the files that arrive through it.

You can verify that licence yourself on the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants’ public register. That is the same check we would ask you to run on anyone you are about to pay for immigration advice, us included. Nothing here is legal advice, and ESDC — not a consultant — decides LMIA applications.

Official sources

ESDC — Hire a temporary foreign worker through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

ESDC — LMIA Online Portal resources

LMIA Online Portal

ESDC — Hourly wage thresholds by province and territory

ESDC — Program requirements for high-wage positions

ESDC — Program requirements for low-wage positions

ESDC — After you apply

ESDC — Business legitimacy

ESDC — Refusal to process an LMIA application

ESDC — LMIA processing times

ESDC — LMIA valid for a maximum of 6 months

ESDC — Modification to a positive LMIA

ESDC — Quebec: regular LMIA process

ESDC — Employer compliance and inspections

ESDC — Temporary measures for rural employers

IRCC — Find out if you need an LMIA

IRCC — Who you can hire without an LMIA

IRCC — Service standards

This article provides general information for Canadian employers about the Labour Market Impact Assessment application process, and is not legal advice. Program requirements, forms, fees, wage thresholds, processing times and regional restrictions change, and they depend on individual facts and on the rules in force at the relevant time. ESDC decides LMIA applications and IRCC decides work permit applications. Last reviewed September 25, 2026 by Galo Castillo, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, CICC licence R408519, who practices with Immigration Pros Inc. Confirm current figures with ESDC before acting on them.

Table Of Contents

The short answers
Who is eligible to apply for an LMIA?
When do you not need an LMIA?
What is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program?
Which LMIA stream does your job fall into?
Is the work location eligible, and does your province need a certificate?
How long do you have to advertise the job?
What documents does an LMIA application need?
How do you submit an LMIA application and pay?
What happens after you apply?
What does an LMIA cost beyond the fee?
How long does an LMIA take?
Which LMIA is decided in 10 business days?
What happens once the LMIA is approved?
How long is a positive LMIA valid?
Can you change or withdraw an LMIA application?
What is different about hiring in Quebec?
What are you committing to after the worker starts?
Which mistakes cost employers the most time?
Do you need a consultant or a lawyer?
Frequently asked questions
Free LMIA assessment for employers
Official sources

Free LMIA assessment for employers

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