How LMIA works for employers in 2026
A Labour Market Impact Assessment is a document Canadian employers obtain from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) — not IRCC — confirming that hiring a foreign worker won't displace available Canadians or permanent residents. The employer advertises, recruits, applies, and pays the fee; the worker then uses a positive LMIA to apply for an employer-specific work permit. An LMIA typically expires about six months after issue.
The 2026 changes that trip employers up
Since April 1, 2026, low-wage applications require eight consecutive weeks of advertising (up from four) plus documented recruitment targeting workers aged 15–30. A low-wage processing freeze runs in 26 census metropolitan areas with unemployment at or above 6%, for applications from July 10, 2026 to October 8, 2026 (next update October 9, 2026): St. John's, Moncton, Montréal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Belleville-Quinte West, Peterborough, Oshawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Brantford, Guelph, London, Windsor, Barrie, Greater Sudbury, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Kelowna, Abbotsford-Mission, Nanaimo, Saskatoon, Red Deer, Kamloops and Chilliwack. Winnipeg, Halifax, Saint John, Fredericton, Kingston, St. Catharines–Niagara, Drummondville and Regina came off the list this quarter. Quebec separately extended its Montréal and Laval low-wage moratorium to December 31, 2026, so Montréal is covered by both the federal freeze and the provincial moratorium. Several sectors are exempt from the freeze: primary agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, residential care, and in-home caregivers.
Fee, caps and timelines
The processing fee is $1,000 per position, non-refundable even on a negative decision, and it cannot be charged to or recovered from the worker. Low-wage hiring is capped at 10% of a worksite's workforce (20% in essential sectors). ESDC publishes current processing times on its own service-standards page; we state none here, because neither source linked below carries them.
When you may not need an LMIA at all
The International Mobility Program covers LMIA-exempt categories: intra-company transfers, CUSMA/CETA/CPTPP professionals, post-graduation work permit holders, spousal open work permits, and International Experience Canada. These still require a genuine job offer and, in many cases, an employer compliance fee and offer registration through the Employer Portal — exempt doesn't mean automatic.
High-wage vs low-wage: what's the difference?
The split is set by the hourly wage threshold that Employment and Social Development Canada publishes for each province and territory — the provincial or territorial median hourly wage plus 20%, from the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey. It is one figure per province, not a per-occupation number on Job Bank. Compare the wage you are offering against your province’s threshold: at or above it you file under the high-wage stream and submit a Transition Plan; below it you file under the low-wage stream, which carries the workforce cap, the 8-week advertising rule, youth-targeted recruitment and exposure to the regional freeze. The floor beneath the low-wage band is the minimum wage that applies to the job, which for most employers is the provincial or territorial rate rather than the federal one; we do not quote a figure for it because the federal labour-standards page did not return readable text to us on 22 August 2026.
| Province or territory | Hourly wage threshold, LMIAs received from 17 July 2026 |
|---|---|
| Alberta | $37.50 |
| British Columbia | $38.40 |
| Manitoba | $31.33 |
| New Brunswick | $31.73 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $33.60 |
| Northwest Territories | $48.00 |
| Nova Scotia | $31.96 |
| Nunavut | $45.00 |
| Ontario | $36.92 |
| Prince Edward Island | $31.20 |
| Quebec | $36.00 |
| Saskatchewan | $34.62 |
| Yukon | $45.60 |
Read from the Employment and Social Development Canada threshold table on 22 August 2026 (page updated 10 July 2026). A lower set of thresholds applies to LMIAs received between 27 June 2025 and 16 July 2026 — check the official table if your application predates the change.
Why do LMIAs get refused?
Common reasons: inflated or mismatched job titles versus NOC duties, weak recruitment evidence, wages below the prevailing wage, filing a low-wage role in a frozen CMA, or exceeding the low-wage cap. ESDC cross-checks business legitimacy through tax and payroll documents. A negative LMIA still costs the full $1,000.
A positive LMIA can add CRS points and support permanent residence through Express Entry or a PNP — check where you stand with the calculators above.