LMIA-Based Work Permits - What Foreign Workers Need to Know
A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is one pathway to a Canadian work permit, but it comes with conditions, risks, and compliance requirements that every foreign worker needs to understand before accepting an LMIA-based job offer. The MyVisa Team helps workers navigate the LMIA work permit process and protect their rights along the way.
What Is an LMIA and What Does It Mean for You as a Worker
A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a document issued by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to a Canadian employer. It confirms that the employer conducted a genuine effort to hire a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for the position, and that hiring a foreign worker will not have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market.
As a foreign worker, you do not apply for an LMIA. Your employer applies for it on your behalf, or for a position they want to fill. The LMIA is the employer's document, not yours. Once a positive LMIA is issued, we use it as the basis for your work permit application to IRCC.
This distinction matters. The LMIA process is driven entirely by your employer: their application, their documentation, their advertising efforts. As the worker, you are largely dependent on your employer doing everything correctly. If the employer's LMIA application contains errors, misrepresentations, or fails to meet ESDC's requirements, the consequences can fall on you as well as on them.
Did You Know: An LMIA is specific to you and to the job.
A positive LMIA names a specific employer, a specific position, a specific location, and a specific wage. Your work permit is issued based on that LMIA and is tied to those specifics. If you want to change employers, change roles, or move to a different location with the same employer, you generally need a new LMIA and a new work permit application.
The LMIA Work Permit: What You Receive and What It Authorizes
Your work permit is a closed permit, and that has real implications for your life in Canada.
An LMIA-based work permit is a closed work permit, also known as an employer-specific work permit. Unlike an open work permit, which allows you to work for any employer in Canada, a closed work permit restricts you to the specific employer, position, and location named on the permit. This restriction has significant practical consequences.
You cannot change employers without a new work permit.
If you leave the employer named on your permit, whether voluntarily or because the employment ends, you are no longer authorized to work. Working for a different employer without a new valid work permit is a status violation that can affect your immigration record and your ability to remain in Canada.
You cannot change roles without a new work permit.
If your employer promotes you, changes your job title, or substantially changes your duties, particularly if the change moves you to a different NOC occupation, your current work permit may no longer authorize the work you are performing. A new LMIA and a new work permit may be required.
You cannot change locations without a new work permit.
In most cases, working at a different location than the one named on your work permit is not authorized. This includes working remotely from a different province.
Your permit has a fixed expiry date.
An LMIA-based work permit is issued for a specific duration, up to three years for high-wage positions. You must apply to extend your work permit before it expires if you want to continue working legally in Canada.
Working outside the conditions of your work permit is a serious violation.
Working for a different employer, in a different role, or at a different location than authorized by your work permit is a violation of your permit conditions — even if the change seems minor. Violations can result in loss of status, removal from Canada, and a lasting impact on your immigration record that affects future applications including permanent residence.
What Your Employer Must Do And Why It Matters to You
Your employer's obligations under the LMIA work permit program directly affect your rights and your status.
When an employer receives a positive LMIA and hires a foreign worker through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, they take on significant legal obligations. These obligations are not optional, they are legally enforceable conditions of the LMIA. And when employers fail to meet them, workers bear the consequences.
The employer must pay the prevailing wage.
The wage paid to you must meet the prevailing wage for the occupation and region, defined as the highest of the regional median wage for the position or the wage paid to comparable Canadian or permanent resident employees doing the same work. The wage must be reviewed and updated annually. Only guaranteed base wages count, bonuses and tips do not.
The employer must provide the working conditions stated in the LMIA.
The working conditions, including hours of work, overtime, duties, and benefits, must be substantially the same as what was described in the LMIA application. Employers cannot reduce your hours, change your duties, or alter your conditions of employment without consequence.
The employer must not recover recruitment costs from you.
The costs of the LMIA application, including legal fees for preparing the LMIA, cannot be charged to or recovered from you. If your employer is asking you to pay for any part of the LMIA process, this is a violation of the program rules.
The employer must provide health insurance.
For any period during which you are not covered by provincial or territorial health insurance, your employer must arrange and pay for private health insurance covering emergency medical care.
The employer must maintain records.
Employers are required to keep records demonstrating compliance with all of the above obligations throughout your employment. These records must be made available if ESDC conducts a compliance inspection.
Using an LMIA to Support Permanent Residence
An LMIA work permit can be a step toward permanent residence, but it requires planning.
For many foreign workers, an LMIA-based work permit is not just a means of working in Canada, it is a stepping stone toward permanent residence. Canadian work experience gained on a valid work permit can support Express Entry applications under the Canadian Experience Class or federal skilled worker streams, and can contribute to eligibility for provincial nominee programs.
Maximizing the permanent residence value of LMIA-based employment requires planning, understanding which NOC occupation your position falls under, confirming that your employment is genuinely qualifying you for the immigration pathways you are targeting, and ensuring your employer's compliance with the LMIA conditions does not create issues in future applications.
The MyVisa Team advises LMIA work permit holders on how to position their current employment for the best possible permanent residence outcomes, including which Express Entry or PNP streams best match their profile and how to build toward those streams during their time on the work permit.
How MyVisa can assist you with your LMIA work permit application
The MyVisa Team assists employers to apply for LMIAs and the required LMIA work permits:
- Employer: If you are an employer seeking assistance in applying for a LMIA for a temporary foreign worker to meet a specific labour market need, we can assist you in preparing and submitting your LMIA application. Learn more about the Employer requirements for a LMIA.
- Workers: If you have a valid LMIA, we can assist you in preparing and submitting your LMIA based work permit application.
Working in Canada on an LMIA based work permit or considering an LMIA job offer? Start here.
Whether you are applying for your first LMIA work permit, navigating a change in employment, or planning your path to permanent residence, the MyVisa Team can help. Start with a free assessment and we will review your situation and advise on the strongest next step.
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