Applying for an unnamed Labour Market Impact Assessment
Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, employers can apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) before a temporary foreign worker (TFW) has been identified. LMIA applications that do not contain the names of the TFWs will be assessed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada and employers who meet the requirements will receive a positive “Unnamed LMIA”, valid for 12 months.
Exceptions
This unnamed LMIA option does not apply to all program streams and is not offered in all provinces/territories.
All provinces and territories
An unnamed LMIA application can currently be submitted for positions in the following streams:
- Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (including in Quebec)
- Agricultural stream (not currently available for positions in Quebec)
- In-home caregiver positions (not currently available for positions in Quebec)
- Low-wage stream
- High-wage stream
Positions in Quebec
As of December 11, 2023, employers can submit unnamed LMIA applications for positions in Quebec, with some exceptions. The Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration (MIFI) has announced that TFWP applications can be submitted through their ARRIMA platform. One of the advantages of this is the ability to submit unnamed LMIA applications. Consult the Government of Quebec website for more details on the ARRIMA platform.
As soon as the employer chooses the candidate for the position for which they’ve received a positive unnamed LMIA, they must notify Service Canada and the MIFI. For more information on the Government of Quebec's temporary selection application, visit the MIFI website (French only).
Note: In Quebec, employment offers of 30 days or less do not require approval from the MIFI (French only).
How to apply
The process for an unnamed LMIA application consists of:
- the employer submits an LMIA application without completing the "Foreign Worker Information" section or by indicating "Unnamed" in that section
- the application must be accompanied by all supporting documentation as the assessment is the same as a standard LMIA application
- the employer must continue to make efforts to recruit Canadians and permanent residents until the names of the TFWs have been provided
- ESDC/Service Canada verifies that the LMIA application meets the criteria for an unnamed LMIA, and assesses the application according to the Program requirements
- if the result of the assessment is positive, a positive LMIA letter labelled "Unnamed LMIA" will be sent to the employer for a given number of positions, and a specific period of employment
- as soon as the TFWs have been identified, the employer must complete and submit the form "Request to Add or Remove a name on an LMIA (EMP5661)" to the appropriate Service Canada processing centre. When the request is to add 10 names or less, employers can also call the Employer Contact Centre for assistance (except in Quebec). Note the names cannot be added after the expiry date on the positive LMIA
- ESDC/Service Canada will add the names of the TFWs into the system and issue an official positive LMIA letter to the employer within 5 to 10 business days. The official positive LMIA letter will include the same expiry date as the unnamed positive LMIA letter
TFWs must apply for a work permit from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) before the expiry date of the positive LMIA. Their applications for a work permit must include a copy of the official positive LMIA letter, the annexes, and the employment contract.
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