Refusal to process a Labour Market Impact Assessment application

New measures for low-wage positions

Starting September 26, 2024, certain LMIA applications submitted for low-wage positions will be affected by the following measures:

  • certain LMIA applications for low-wage positions in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher won't be processed
  • in some sectors, the current 20% cap on the proportion of low-wage positions is being reduced to 10%
  • in the construction and healthcare sectors, the cap on the proportion of low-wage positions is being reduced to 20%
  • the maximum employment duration for low-wage positions is being reduced from 2 years to 1 year

There are certain conditions that may justify why we cannot process a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application. These conditions include:

Regulatory authority

We do not have the authority to process applications from ineligible employers for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program who:

Ministerial instructions

As a result of public policy considerations as determined in Ministerial instructions, we may refuse to process your LMIA application for:

Positions above the cap on the proportion of low-wage positions

Low-wage positions above the 10% cap

Your LMIA application won’t be processed if you’re above the 10% cap on the proportion of low-wage TFWs at the same work location.

Low-wage positions above the 20% cap

For the sectors, subsectors and occupations below, your LMIA application won’t be processed if you're above the 20% cap on the proportion of low-wage TFWs at the same work location, in the following:

Low-wage positions in CMAs with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher

Certain LMIA applications submitted as of September 26, 2024 won't be processed. Those with:

Applications exempted from the refusal to process measure

Applications submitted to fill certain occupations in the following sectors and subsectors will continue to be eligible for processing:

  • occupations under primary agriculture
  • NAICS 23 – Positions in construction
  • NAICS 311 – Positions in food manufacturing
  • NAICS 622 – Positions in hospitals
  • NAICS 623 – Positions in nursing and residential care facilities
  • specific in-home caregiver positions under:
    • NOC 31301 – Registered nurse or registered psychiatric nurse
    • NOC 32101 – Licensed practical nurse
    • NOC 44100 – Home childcare providers
    • NOC 44101 – Attendant for persons with disabilities, home support worker, live-in caregiver, personal care attendant
    • this exemption applies to all in-home caregivers; ESDC and IRCC are evaluating the impact of the inclusion in future measures
  • positions in support of permanent residency only (no application for work permit)

The occupation classification code is determined by the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

The classification code for the sectors is determined by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada.

How to determine the current unemployment rate

If your LMIA application includes positions with different work locations, you must determine the unemployment rate for each location. If any of the work locations falls within a CMA with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher, your application may not be processed.

  1. Enter the complete postal code at Census of population
  2. On the results page, under the third geographic level, your "Census metropolitan area" or "Census agglomeration" will be listed. If the result is:
    • Census agglomeration: Your LMIA application will be processed
    • Census metropolitan area: Find the unemployment rate of your CMA by referring to the table below. If the unemployment rate is 6% or higher, your application may not be processed

If no information appears for the searched postal code, your LMIA application will be processed.

Table: Unemployment rates by CMA and period
Census metropolitan area Unemployment rate (%) for applications submitted from September 26 to October 10, 2024 Unemployment rate (%) for applications submitted from October 11, 2024, to January 9, 2025
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (map) 7.2 6.6
Halifax, Nova Scotia (map) 6.1 5.7
Moncton, New Brunswick (map) 5.8 5.2
Saint John, New Brunswick (map) 6.8 5.7
Saguenay, Quebec (map) 3.6 3.4
Québec, Quebec (map) 3.9 4.2
Sherbrooke, Quebec (map) 5.3 5.6
Trois-Rivières, Quebec (map) 6.5 6.7
Montréal, Quebec (map) 7.3 6.8
Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario/Quebec (map) 7.1 6.9
Kingston, Ontario (map) 6.6 6.9
Belleville, Ontario (map) 5.9 3.6
Peterborough, Ontario (map) 5.6 5.2
Oshawa, Ontario (map) 8.5 8.5
Toronto, Ontario (map) 8.6 8.6
Hamilton, Ontario (map) 7.4 6.7
St. Catharines-Niagara, Ontario (map) 7.5 6.9
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario (map) 7.6 8.0
Brantford, Ontario (map) 6.3 6.4
Guelph, Ontario (map) 5.3 5.9
London, Ontario (map) 7.5 7.4
Windsor, Ontario (map) 9.8 9.7
Barrie, Ontario (map) 6.2 5.7
Greater Sudbury, Ontario (map) 6.2 5.6
Thunder Bay, Ontario (map) 3.8 4.4
Winnipeg, Manitoba (map) 6.3 6.6
Regina, Saskatchewan (map) 6.8 6.7
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (map) 5.5 5.6
Lethbridge, Alberta (map) 5.1 5.2
Calgary, Alberta (map) 7.6 7.5
Edmonton, Alberta (map) 8.5 8.7
Kelowna, British Columbia (map) 5.2 4.9
Abbotsford-Mission, British Columbia (map) 6.7 6.5
Vancouver, British Columbia (map) 6.2 6.5
Victoria, British Columbia (map) 3.5 3.9

In-home caregiver positions with live-in requirements

In-home caregiver positions, where there is a live-in requirement, that:

Exceptions to this refusal to process for in-home caregiver positions

High medical needs clients

If you are seeking to hire an in-home caregiver with a mandatory live-in requirement for high medical needs clients (for example, people with disabilities, seniors, individuals with chronic or terminal illnesses), you must submit either:

Exceptional circumstances to in-home caregiver positions

You must submit a written rationale for possible exemption for exceptional circumstances as part of the Housing section of the LMIA application form. The rationale must include:

  • a clear explanation of why live-in care is required
  • how frequently the situation necessitating live-in care occurs
  • to what degree you can influence this frequency
  • a description of what other options were explored in order to meet the need for care and why they were deemed not viable
  • how you will ensure fair working conditions for the in-home caregiver, despite the live-in requirement

Previous revocation

We may refuse to process your LMIA application for any position if you have had an application revoked in the past 2 years for having provided false, misleading or inaccurate information.

Temporary refusal to process LMIA applications for low-wage positions in Montréal

For more information, including the municipalities located in the economic region of Montréal, consult Hiring in the province of Quebec.

Processing fee

You won’t be charged the processing fee if we had to refuse to process your LMIA application or if you’re an ineligible employer. In addition, a letter will be sent to you with the reason why your application was not processed.

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