LMIA Work Permit Confirmation

A foreign national usually needs his/her Employer to obtain an LMIA (Labour Market Impact Assessment) from ESDC (Employment and Social Development Canada) in order to work in Canada unless they are work permit exempted or are eligible for an open work permit.

ESDC/Service Canada ensures that job opportunities are protected for Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents. Canadian employers can hire foreign workers when it will not negatively affect employment of Canadians and Permanent Residents, or when there are significant benefits to the recruitment of a foreign worker.

There are certain guidelines that ESDC follow in the process of approving Canadian employer to hire a foreign worker. The employer must demonstrate that:

• A job offer itself is bonafide and not designed to be inaccessible to Canadians/permanent residents
• Wages and a working condition offered are sufficient to attract and retain Canadians or permanent residents in employment
• An employer has made reasonable efforts to hire or train Canadians or permanent residents for an employment in request. Usually an employer can extend a job offer to a foreign worker after establishing that Canadians and permanent residents are not readily available. An employer can provide evidence to support either one of the two following conditions:
• Reasonable efforts were made to recruit and train qualified Canadians or permanent residents for employment
• Foreign worker possesses a combination of skills and experience not readily available in Canada.
• The employment of the foreign worker is unskilled jobs & critical for the company to maximize its human resources in creating or maintaining jobs and/or transferring specialized knowledge and skills to the company's labor force.

ESDC and CIC have developed a facilitated processing for IT specialists in high demand occupations. Under the facilitated processing, ESDC has issued national confirmations for various IT occupations. Contact our office if you an IT specialist.

Regional List of Occupations Under Pressure

Employers wishing to hire foreign workers for occupations that appear on a Regional Occupation List will only be required to conduct minimum advertising efforts. Employers are only required to advertise on the Government of Canada's national Job Bank (or the equivalent in Saskatchewan, Quebec or Northwest Territories) for 7 calendar days or demonstrate that they have on-going, recruitment mechanisms in place (using recognized job internet sites, unions, professional associations, corporate web site, professional journals, newspapers, newsletters). For low skilled positions (skill level C or D under the National Classification System), employers need to advertise on Job Bank and demonstrate they have on-going, recruitment mechanisms in place.

Ontario Occupations under Pressure List Alberta Occupations under Pressure List British Columbia Occupations under Pressure List

Expedited LMIA Process

ESDC has implemented an expedited LMIA process for 12 specific occupations. The LMIA is in effect in Ontario,Alberta and British Columbia. Eligible employers who agree to meet the program requirements will receive LMIA's requested within three to five working days.

The LMIA will effect the following occupations:

• Retail Sales Persons and Sales Clerks
• Snowboard and Ski Instructors
• Pharmasists and Dental Technicians
• Registered Nurses & Doctors
• Seafood workers
• Food Counter Attendants
• Food and Beverage Servers workers
• Hotel Front Desk Clerks,Drivers,waiters/waitress
• Hotel and Hospitality Room Attendants
• Crane Operators
• Carpenters

The E-LMIA is a two way process.1) Employer applies to service Canada to become eligible 2) If approved, Service Canada expedites all regular requests from that employer for LMIA applications.

To become eligible to participate in the pilot project, employers will be required to confirm that:

• They have made reasonable efforts to hire or train Canadian citizen or PR;
• There is not a labour dispute in progress at the employers workplace; and
• The working conditions, including the wages to be paid, meet the minimum acceptable working conditions for the occupation.