A Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a permit necessary for an employer in Canada to hire individuals. At least 400 000 work permits are granted to foreign nationals to work in Canada. There are specific LMIA jobs in Canada, offering a whopping sum to employees.
If you can't obtain a work permit through the International Mobility Program (see below), you may have to take the LMIA route to Canada. This means you need to secure employment in Canada from a job provider with a positive LMIA document.
A copy of the LMIA document enables you to apply for a Canadian work permit to work legally in the country. Alternatively, you can apply for permanent residency through one of the 100 immigration or visa programs. Employers in Canada can increase your chances of success by providing you with a valid job offer.
Procedure for Labour Market Impact Assessment
How to get a Labour Market Impact Assessment?
If the employer requires more workforce, they can apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment to hire a foreign worker through one of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) streams. Alternatively, they can choose to support a candidate's permanent residency application and hire a full-time worker from overseas.
The TFWP stream you apply through depends on the type of worker you want to hire and how much you want to pay them. There are certain ineligible occupations that employers may not get an LMIA for. The LMIA application requirements vary depending on the stream you're hiring through. Each stream has different requirements and documents needed to submit a complete application.
Once you have submitted your application and received a positive LMIA from the ESDC, you may send a copy of the LMIA document to the temporary foreign worker you wish to employ so that they may apply for a Canada work permit. If you support a permanent resident application, you may send the candidate a valid job offer letter to include in their application.
Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is designed for employers in Canada who want to fill temporary labour shortages. The TFWP is divided into streams for high-wage workers and low-wage workers. In addition, there are specialized streams for employers that need to hire workers in specific areas of employment.
These include:
1. If an employer hires a temporary foreign worker to be paid at or above the median hourly wage for their province or territory, they must apply through the high-wage worker's stream for LMIAs.
2. If an employer hires a temporary foreign worker to be paid below the median hourly wage, they must apply through the low-wage worker's stream. Low-wage positions will require the employer to meet additional criteria.
Temporary Foreign Worker Programs:
High Wage Workers
Employers who plan to pay foreign workers at or above the median hourly wage of their province or territory must apply through the TFWP stream for high-wage workers.
Low-Wage Workers
Employers who plan to pay a foreign worker less than the median hourly wage of their province or territory must apply through the TFWP stream for low-wage workers.
Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP)
Agriculture employers in Canada that produce national commodities (see list below) can hire foreign agri-workers through the SAWP during peak farming periods for eight months.
Global Talent Stream
The position offered to the foreign worker must be for full-time employment - a minimum of 30 hours per week. Employers must pay the $1, 000 professing fee of the Labour Market Impact Assessment application.
Employers must provide supporting documents to verify the legitimacy of their business and job offers. There is no minimum recruitment requirement for the Global Talent Stream. However, employers are encouraged to recruit Canadians and permanent residents before offering a job to a temporary foreign worker.
Wages offered to temporary, highly skilled foreign workers should be the highest prevailing wage rate posted on the job bank.
In three simple steps, employers can determine the highest wage of the position they’re hiring for on Job Bank:
Step 1: Go to “Compare Wages” on Job Bank
Step 2: Enter the job title or the NOC code in the job search field
Step 3: The hourly highest wage will be listed in the right column by community or area. If the highest wage is unavailable, consult the provincial or territorial wage. If it is not available, consult the national salary.
Need for LMIA Work Visa Consultant
It is no secret that applying for a Canadian visa or work permit can be confusing with strict deadlines, requirements, and procedures. One needs to be patient and careful throughout the process. With proper guidance from a Canada Immigration Consultant and careful observation, one can easily avail of one of those jobs.
The visa process and application are more likely to be fast-tracked. Their goal is to approve successful applicants within weeks. A visa application is a very systematic process. Canada is experiencing a large volume of LMIA applications in 2022, resulting in longer processing times and possible delays, especially seen in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Consultants would guide applicants and help them in the various application stages. An experienced LMIA work visa consultant can help applicants through the process. Their goal is to approve successful applicants within weeks.
A Visa application is a very systematic process. Knowledge about the documents required to be filed is vital for a successful application. Visa consultants have expertise in processing these documents, as they would have done the same for several prior applicants.
Approximate Processing Time for LMIA
Processing times vary depending on the type of application you submit. Labour Market Impact Assessment is usually done because no Canadian citizens or permanent residents are available or willing to fill a job position advertised by their company or business. An LMIA is authorization from Canadian authorities to hire a foreign worker.
The Global Skills Strategy (GSS) can help you get to work in Canada faster by offering two-week processing times on eligible work permit applications.
To be eligible, they must apply online from outside Canada in one of these situations:
1. Your employer has a positive Global Talent Stream (GTS) toward Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for your position. In this situation, if you are eligible, you must tell us you are applying using a GTS LMIA. Otherwise, we won't recognize you as a GSS applicant.
2. You have an employment offer from an employer exempt from the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process. An occupation is a managerial, executive, or professional that comes under one category. This is when you are applying for an employer-specific work permit.
Some employers don't need to submit an offer of employment or pay the employer compliance fee.
The following categories will be processed within ten business days:
1. All LMIA applications for the highest-demand occupations (food processing workers), or
2.Highest-paid (top 10%) occupations, or
3. Short-duration work periods (120 days or less).
A processing fee of CAD $1,000 applies to each Labour Market Impact Assessment application unless the application is made strictly in support of permanent residency. Canada's record-high vacancies and record-low unemployment is good news for foreign nationals looking for a job in Canada as part of an immigration project.
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