Jobs for Foreign Workers in Canada

A Canadian employer must receive a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to bring a temporary foreign worker to Canada. However, there are several cases, where the LMIA may be waived.

Below are the most common LMIA-exempt streams:

• Significant benefit
• Reciprocal employment
• Charitable and religious worker

Being exempt from obtaining a LMIA does not mean the applicant is exempt from obtaining a work permit. All streams on the LMIA exemption list require obtaining a work permit to work in Canada legally.

Average Labour Market Impact Assessment processing times for February 2023 are as follows:

Please note that the registration process will take approximately 10 minutes. Once your Job Bank account(s) is/are created, you will be able to complete an LMIA application via the LMIA Online Portal.

You may check your application status by contacting the Employer Contact Centre from Monday to Friday, between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm, Eastern time:

Canada and the United States:

• Toll-free: 1-800-367-5693
• TTY: 1-855-881-9874

You can find high wage LMIA application form here.

You can find low wage LMIA application form here.

For a more efficient LMIA application process, Service Canada strongly recommends that you submit your applications electronically using the LMIA Online portal.

To access LMIA Online, an employer and a third party (if applicable) must have a valid Job Bank user account for authentication purposes. If you have not yet completed the one-time registration in Job Bank for Employers, we invite you to do so by clicking on the link below and following the “Don’t have an account? Sign up now.” button.

The registration process will take approximately 10 minutes. Once your Job Bank account(s) is/are created, you will be able to complete an LMIA application via the LMIA Online Portal.

A student or any individual cannot go through the “LMIA” process. If an employer feels the need to hire a foreign worker, they must first complete an LMIA. A Labour Market Impact Assessment is required of any firm requesting approval to hire a temporary foreign worker. That LMIA must demonstrate that there is a lack of qualified and willing workers in Canada.

Once the positive LMIA letter is issued, the employer must: provide a copy of the letter shown in the government’s website and Annex A to to the foreign worker; and request that the foreign national apply to the relevant Canadian Visa Office for a permanent residence visa to come to Canada or/and a work permit.