What is an LMIA?

The Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), a document released by the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), is needed by Canadian employers in order to justify hiring foreign workers. LMIAs go hand-in-hand with Work Permits. In order to get a Work Permit, temporary foreign workers who are interested in working in Canada need to have a temporary full-time job offer from a Canadian employer, supported by a LMIA. The LMIA is usually given for certain duration as per the prevailing guidelines and the work permit issued will match that period. If you want to renew your work permit beyond this period, you will likely need a new LMIA. Hiring foreign workers in Canada can be an overwhelming process with many requirements and steps in the process.

A LMIA, also known as a confirmation letter, will establish that there is a demand/need for a foreign worker to fill the job in question. A Positive LMIA shows that no Canadian worker is available to perform the job.

Once an employer obtains an LMIA, the foreign temporary worker can then apply for a work permit as per the time duration mentioned in the LMIA.

LMIA- based Work Permit Application Process:

It is a two-step standard process for foreign national to get an LMIA-based work permit:

Step 1: the employers apply to obtain LMIA for TFW

This progression decides if the occupation proposed to the TFW is a high-wage or a low wage position. To recognize this, one requirements to guarantee assuming that the pay offered is higher or lower than provincial median average rate.

Step 2: The TFW applies for the work permit visa

The recruitment is the piece of the second phase of the LMIA application. Here the business should execute and give proof of recruitment efforts to hire Canadian residents or permanent residents prior to offering the position to a TFW.

LMIA Application Requirements:

LMIA applications are submitted to the designated Service Canada Processing Centre. The applications must contain proof that the below-stated eligibility requirements have been met:

• Processing Fee:  All LMIA applications must include a non-refundable processing fee as per the prevailing fee at the time of submission of application. Certain applicants under the LMIAs are exempted from this fee.
• Business Authenticity Documents: Documents demonstrating the legitimate status of the employer in Canada.
• Transition Plan: the employers are required to give a  plan to how they propose to address the need to employ TFWs. Afterward, the businesses are supposed to recruit the citizens and permanent residents of Canada rather than TFWs (Temporary Foreign Worker).
• Recruitment Efforts: the employers need to give significant proof to exhibit that they have taken additional endeavors to enroll Canadian citizens and permanent residents for the proposed position prior to employing a foreign national.
• Wages: the offered wage rate should also be included in the LMIA application. This is to ensure that the wage rate offered to the TFW is equal to what is being offered to their Canadian equals.
• Workplace Safety: TFWs are entitled to the equal standards of workplace health and safety as Canadians working in the same capacity. To prove this, the employers must provide evidence that TFWs will be covered by insurance which is at minimum equivalent to the health coverage offered by the province or territory where the business is located.

 High-Wage Workers

Employers planning to hire high-wage workers are expected to incorporate transition plans in their LMIA application. This guarantees that they are putting forth every conceivable attempt to chop down their dependability on TFWs throughout some time. The workers acquiring more than the median hourly wage on a given occupation in a particular area are named as high-wage workers.

The transition plans are pointed toward guaranteeing that the employers searching for foreign workers are achieving the reason for the program. This implies that they are employing the program as the last resort to meet the immediate need of labor shortage temporarily when qualified Canadians fail to meet the requirement.

 Low-Wage Workers

Employers must comply with all the Temporary Foreign Worker Program requirements for the position they are requesting. They must also ensure that the employment they want to offer to a temporary foreign worker is for a full-time position which means that is has to be for a minimum of 30 hours of work/week. For the purpose of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, Employers must pay the prevailing wage which is defined as the highest of either:

• the median wage on Job Bank
• the wage that is within the wage range that you are paying your current employees hired for the same job and work location, and with the same skills and years of experience

Get Professional Assistance on your LMIA work permit applications

We at SMVD Immigration Consultants:

• Evaluate your eligibility to obtain a work permit and your probability of getting an LMIA.
• Coordinate with the employer or employee based upon the party consulting us can coordinate to ensure that the accurate information and documents are collected for the application.
• Help employers understand if you meet the recruitment requirements.
• We help employers advertise to a specific group of employees to enable them to meet the recruitment requirements.
• Submitting your LMIA and work permit application promptly.
• Monitor your application, post its submission. This is because there are times when the immigration officer asks for additional documents or calls for an interview. Moreover, based on your province of residence, you may also have additional provincial requirements to fulfill. We keep a tab on your application so you don’t miss any important deadlines.