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Business legitimacy

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

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COVID-19 restrictions

Effective June 10, 2020, and until further notice, for all pending and future LMIAs, the assessment of business legitimacy will consider restrictions placed on businesses due to COVID-19.

Information from the application, employer, provincial/territorial websites and media sources will be used to determine if the business is considered essential or subject to restrictions. Any restrictions that affect the operation of a business at the time of assessment will be reviewed. If these restrictions prevent the foreign worker from immediately performing their job duties, this could negatively affect the LMIA decision.

In addition to the above COVID considerations, Service Canada will also assess business legitimacy as described below.

What’s a business legitimacy assessment

As part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program’s (TFWP) Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), all job offers made by employers must be assessed to ensure that both the business and the job offer are genuine and legitimate.

We assess your LMIA application and any supporting documents to confirm that your business:

  • is providing a good or a service in Canada
  • is offering employment that's consistent with the reasonable needs of your business
  • can fulfill all of the terms of the job offer
  • has no compliance issues

A job offer must meet all 4 factors above to be considered genuine and legitimate. If you don’t meet 1 or more factors, the LMIA decision will be negative.

Find out if you need to provide supporting documents

To support our business legitimacy assessment, you may need to submit supporting documents depending on:

  • your history with the TFWP, and
  • the type of LMIA application you’re submitting

Consult the sections on the 4 different factors below to find out if you need to submit supporting documents and what documents to submit.

Note: At any time, Service Canada reserves the right to request additional documents to complete a business legitimacy assessment.

Proof of providing a good or service

All employers, except private household employers

Based on your history with the TFWP, you don’t need to submit any of the documents below if:

  • your most recent LMIA decision was positive, and
  • this positive LMIA was issued in the past 2 years

If you don’t meet the above conditions, you need to submit at least 1 of the following documents:

  • A valid municipal/provincial/territorial business license
  • Your most recent T4 Summary of remuneration paid
  • Your most recent PD7A Statement of account for current source deductions
  • An attestation confirming that you're engaged in a legal business that provides a good or a service in Canada where an employee could work and a description of the main business activity. You can use this sample attestation as an example
    • The attestation must be prepared by either:
      • a lawyer or any other member in good standing with a law society (lawyers, notaries in Quebec and independent paralegals in Ontario)
      • a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) in good standing with the respective professional body (attestations from Chartered Accountants in Quebec aren't authorized by the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec), or
      • an official (account manager, branch manager or above with delegated signing authority) from a federally or provincially regulated financial institution
    • The attestation should generally include the following:
      • the official/corporate letterhead (if applicable)
      • the date and the signature of the individual with appropriate qualification (lawyer or CPA) or delegated signing authority (official in a financial institution)
      • the signee’s contact information, such as phone number, email address, job title, professional designation (if applicable), membership ID (if applicable)
      • clear and specific attestation on whether the employer is operating a legal business that provides a good or service in Canada
  • Foreign-based employers: If you're a foreign-based employer without a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) business number and your business address and operation are outside of Canada, submit your contract or invoice for the goods or services that you're providing in Canada
  • Permanent residency applications: Submit proof that the business has been in operation for a minimum of 1 year. This doesn’t apply to positions in Quebec
Trucking applications

You must always submit the following documents with every single trucking application:

  • Copy of your current carrier profile/public profile report or document
  • Copy of your current National Safety Code (NSC) certificate, and
  • Copy of your current fleet insurance

Note: These documents may have different names depending on the province or territory. Check with the department in charge of transportation and trucking in your province or territory.

These documents will also be used to assess other factors of business and job offer legitimacy.

Foreign vessel applications

You must always submit a copy of the Coasting Trade Act letter of authority issued by the Canada Border Services Agency with every single application for positions onboard a foreign vessel undertaking coastal trade in Canadian waters.

This document will also be used to assess other factors of business and job offer legitimacy.

Private household employers

You may need to provide proof of address with every single application. This address is the work location where the foreign national will perform their duties.

Caregiver positions

If you and the care recipient reside at different addresses, provide proof of the care recipient's address.

If you reside at the same address as the care recipient, you don't need to provide proof of address.

Non-caregiver positions

If you're hiring a foreign worker to work out of your home and you don't provide a good or service, provide proof of address.

Examples of proof of address
  • A driver's license
  • A utility bill
  • A provincial/territorial identification card
  • A bank statement
  • A notice of assessment from the CRA, or
  • A statement of other government benefits, such as the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security or the Guaranteed Income Supplement

Reasonable employment need

Your LMIA application will be used to assess whether the job offer is consistent with the reasonable needs of the business.

However, if you submit the following applications, you must also provide the supporting documents listed below.

In-home caregiver applications

You must always provide proof of individual requiring care, such as:

  • proof of age if the person receiving care is:
    • younger than 18 years of age
    • 65 years of age or older
  • proof of disability, chronic or terminal illness if the person receiving care has high medical needs

Trucking applications

You must always submit the following documents with every single trucking application:

  • Copy of your current carrier profile/public profile report or document
  • Copy of your current NSC certificate, and
  • Copy of your current fleet insurance

Note: These documents may have different names depending on the province or territory. Check with the department in charge of transportation and trucking in your province or territory.

These documents will also be used to assess other factors of business and job offer legitimacy.

Foreign vessel applications

You must always submit a copy of the Coasting Trade Act letter of authority issued by the Canada Border Services Agency with every single application for positions onboard a foreign vessel undertaking coastal trade in Canadian waters.

This document will also be used to assess other factors of business and job offer legitimacy.

Foreign-based employers

If you're a foreign-based employer without a CRA business number and your business address and operation are outside of Canada, you must always submit your contract or invoice for the goods or services that you're providing in Canada with every single LMIA application.

This document will also be used to assess other factors of business and job offer legitimacy.

Ability to fulfill terms of the job offer

All employers, except private household employers

Based on your history with the TFWP, you don’t need to submit any of these documents if:

  • your most recent LMIA decision was positive, and
  • this positive LMIA was issued in the past 2 years

If you don’t meet the above conditions, you need to submit at least 1 of the following documents:

  • Your most recent T2 Schedule 100 Balance sheet information and T2 Schedule 125 Income statement information
  • Your most recent T2042 Statement of farming activities
  • Your most recent T2125 Statement of business or professional activities
  • Your most recent T3010 Registered charity information return
  • Your most recent T4 or payroll records for a minimum of 6 weeks immediately prior to the submission of this LMIA application, if the temporary foreign worker (TFW) already works for you
  • An attestation confirming that your business is in good financial standing and will be able to meet all financial obligations to any TFW you hire for the entire duration of their employment. You can use this sample attestation as an example
    • The attestation must be prepared by either:
      • a lawyer or any other member in good standing with a law society (lawyers, notaries in Quebec and independent paralegals in Ontario)
      • a CPA in good standing with the respective professional body (attestations from Chartered Accountants in Quebec aren’t authorized by the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec), or
      • an official (account manager, branch manager or above with delegated signing authority) from a federally or provincially regulated financial institution
    • The attestation should generally include the following:
      • the official/corporate letterhead (if applicable)
      • the date and the signature of the individual with appropriate qualification (lawyer or CPA) or delegated signing authority (official in a financial institution)
      • the signee’s contact information, such as phone number, email address, job title, professional designation (if applicable), membership ID (if applicable)
      • clear and specific attestation on whether the employer has the financial ability to meet the TFW Program requirements
Trucking applications

You must always submit the following documents with every single trucking application:

  • Copy of your current carrier profile/public profile report or document
  • Copy of your current NSC certificate, and
  • Copy of your current fleet insurance

Note: These documents may have different names depending on the province or territory. Check with the department in charge of transportation and trucking in your province or territory.

These documents will also be used to assess other factors of business and job offer legitimacy.

Foreign-based employers

If you're a foreign-based employer without a CRA business number and your business address and operation are outside of Canada, you must always submit your contract or invoice for the goods or services that you're providing in Canada with every single LMIA application.

This document will also be used to assess other factors of business and job offer legitimacy.

Private household employers

You must always provide the following documents with every single application to show your income exceeds Statistics Canada's low income cut-off:

  • your most recent notice of assessment (NOA) from the CRA
    • If you submit your LMIA application after July 1, you must submit the NOA from the past year. NOAs from previous years won’t be accepted, or
  • in extraordinary cases, copies of pay stubs, bank statements, personal work contracts or other official documents, along with an acceptable rationale

Compliance with federal or provincial/territorial laws

You must comply with federal or provincial/territorial laws that regulate employment or the recruitment of employees in the province or territory in which the foreign national works.

During the LMIA assessment, we'll check to see if you've had any compliance issues. Any issues may impact your application.

In the event of inspections, Service Canada may request relevant proof or documentation to demonstrate or corroborate your compliance.

Hiring workers in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan

If you’re hiring TFWs in British Columbia, Manitoba or Saskatchewan, you must include the following with your LMIA application:

  • A copy of your provincial employer registration certificate, or
  • Proof of exemption

Your LMIA application will be considered incomplete if submitted without the required documentation. Be sure to consider provincial processing times before you submit your LMIA applications.

For more information on provincial laws on the employer registration requirement and possible exemptions in the province, visit the following websites:

Important notes when submitting documents

Personal information

Employers must protect personal information, especially social insurance numbers, from theft and misuse. Redact or black out any personal information when submitting supporting documents.

Language of documents

Any supporting document submitted in a language other than an official language must be accompanied by an English or French translation and an affidavit from the person who completed the translation. This affidavit must attest to the accuracy of the translation and to the name of the person who translated the document.

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