LMIA

Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), formerly known as a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) is a document issued from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada that gives the employer permission to hire a temporary foreign worker. It shows that there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job and no Canadian worker is available to do the job.

It depends on several factors and situations. Employer can apply for many LMIA’s indeed they can demonstrate that there is a genuine need for their business.  For lower skilled positions, there is a CAP on the number of foreign workers that any one business can employ and there may be certain restrictions in place due to regional unemployment levels.

The LMIA process serves as proof that no Canadian citizen and/or permanent resident is ready, willing, and able to fill a specific position in Canada. The process is difficult, and onus is on the employer/company to demonstrate that there is a genuine labour shortage. However, there are sectors where Canadian workers are not available to fill the labour shortage, and a foreign worker is the only option.

No! The job must be for a full-time (at least 30 hours/week).

If you decide after the foreign worker starts to work for your company that he/she is not a good fit, you can terminate their employment according to the provincial/federal labour laws and employment contract (if any). Make sure you notify Service Canada that foreign worker is no longer working with you. If you decide that you can no longer offer the position before the foreign worker starts to work for your business, you need to notify both the worker and Service Canada as soon as possible. Cancelling a job offer can have serious/negative immigration consequences for the foreign worker, so it is a decision that should not be taken lightly.

Provincial Labour standards always override the LMIA approval. If the minimum provincial wage is now higher than the LMIA approved wage rate, you need to adjust the worker’s wage rate to match the current provincial minimum wage.

Positive LMIA and the work permit specify the name of the employer, the position, and the location of work. None of these criteria can change unless a new LMIA and a new work permit is first obtained. The exception is that the name of the employer can change if the business is sold and the worker remains in the same position and same location.
If you want to give your foreign worker a promotion, you first need to go through the LMIA process in order to demonstrate a labour shortage for the new position, obtain an approved LMIA, and then have the foreign worker obtain a new work permit for the new position.

Wage/Salary and working hours are specified in a positive LMIA. Increase in wages/salary (once the foreign worker has started his/job) can have issues/problems during the compliance audit. If employer had advertised a higher wage/salary in the first place, they may have had Canadians or Permanent Residents who were interested in the position, and then you would not have required to hire a temporary foreign worker.
However, an employer can increase salary/wages if the prevailing wage rate changes during the employment. The prevailing wage rate is the government acceptable wage rate for each position and location. If a scheduled pay increase is part of your business, you may specify in LMIA application in order to give yourself the option to provide the same pay raises to a foreign worker that you provide to your Canadian employees.

You can submit LMIA application up to six months prior to the expected job start date.