Hire a temporary foreign worker through the Agricultural stream: Overview

Disruption of Canada Post services

Due to the labour disruption at Canada Post, mail correspondence from some programs and services may be impacted. Consult the measures in place during the disruption of Canada Post services.

1. Overview

The agricultural stream allows employers to hire temporary foreign workers (TFWs) when Canadians and permanent residents are not available.

To qualify for this stream, employers must meet 2 criteria:

  1. production must be in specific commodity sectors, and
  2. the activity must be related to on-farm primary agriculture

Note: Employers hiring TFWs under the agricultural stream in Quebec must consult the information provided by the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (French only). There are some variations to the requirements and the process that must be followed in this province.

Employers submitting an LMIA application for a low-wage position may request an employment duration of up to 2 years.

Employers submitting an LMIA application for a high-wage position may request an employment duration of up to 3 years. The employment duration must align with the employer’s reasonable employment needs.

National commodity list

  • Apiary products
  • Bovine
  • Dairy
  • Duck
  • Flowers
  • Fruits, vegetables (including canning/processing of these products if grown on the farm)
  • Grains, oil seeds and seed corn
  • Horse
  • Maple syrup
  • Mink
  • Mushrooms
  • Nursery-grown trees including Christmas trees, greenhouses/nurseries
  • Pedigreed canola seed
  • Poultry
  • Sheep
  • Sod
  • Swine
  • Tobacco

Page details

2025-09-29