Make a job offer

If you’re a Canadian employer who can’t find Canadians or permanent residents to fill job vacancies, you can hire Express Entry candidates to meet your labour needs. To do this, you must make a valid job offer through Express Entry.

To hire an Express Entry candidate, you must:

1. Check your eligibility

   1. Check that the type of job qualifies

      Skilled work includes jobs classified under training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER) category 0, 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

      The NOC is a system we use to classify jobs (occupations). Jobs are grouped based on the work a person does and the types of job duties.

      Find out more about the NOC

   2. Show that you can’t fill the job locally

      To be eligible to hire a skilled foreign worker through Express Entry, you’ll need to first show that your position can’t be filled by a Canadian citizen or permanent resident in Canada. To do this, you must:

      1. Find a Canadian or permanent resident to fill the job.
      2. Post your job ad on the Government of Canada’s Job Bank website.
      3. Advertise the job in 2 other places.

2. Get a labour market impact assessment (if you need one)

   If you can’t fill your job with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you’ll need to  through Employment and Social Development Canada and Service Canada. If they agree there’s a need for a foreign worker to fill the job, you’ll get a positive LMIA.

   Reasons you don’t need an LMIA

   1. the candidate is already working temporarily in Canada in a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job for you or your company, and you
      • supported their work permit application with an LMIA and
      • now want to extend a 1 - year job offer to them after they get their permanent resident visa
   2. the candidate
      • is currently working temporarily in Canada
      • has a valid work permit for a TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 job with your name or your company’s name on it, and was exempt from an LMIA under
        • an international agreement (such as the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement)
        • a federal-provincial agreement or
        • the “Canadian interests” category and
      • has 1 year of full-time work experience (or an equal amount of part-time work) for you or your company

   If recruiting from within Canada

   If you already have a positive LMIA for an employee with a temporary work permit, and you want to make them a job offer, the LMIA may still be valid under Express Entry.

   Find out if you need to apply for an LMIA

3. Have your candidate create an Express Entry profile

   Once you have your positive LMIA, your job candidate must create an Express Entry profile (if they haven’t already) or update the existing one in their account with the:

   • employer name and address
   • start date of the job
   • LMIA number (if this applies) and
   • NOC code related to the job

4. Have your candidate apply for a temporary work permit

   Most foreign workers can work temporarily in Canada while we process their application for permanent residence. To do this, they need to submit a separate temporary work permit application and processing fee. If they’re already working here, they can keep doing so.

   Employers may also need to pay the regular LMIA processing fee to support a temporary work permit application. If the job is LMIA-exempt and the worker needs to extend their employer-specific work permit, the employer may have to pay the employer compliance fee. There are no fees for an LMIA supporting an application for permanent residence.

   If you need a worker to start before their visa is processed, you can apply for a “dual intent” LMIA. In this case, you would need to pay the LMIA fee.

   Express Entry candidates who have a job offer and have been invited to apply will not automatically get a work permit or temporary resident visa while we process their application.

5. Make a valid job offer

   A job offer (supported by an LMIA, if needed) has different requirements depending on the program the candidate is eligible for.

   For the Federal Skilled Worker Program

   A valid job offer must be:

   • for at least 1 year (after we issue the permanent resident visa) of full-time, continuous work and
   • category TEER 0 (managerial occupations), TEER 1 (professional occupations), or TEER 2 or 3 (technical occupations and skilled trades) in the NOC
   For the Federal Skilled Trades Program

   A valid job offer must be:

   • for at least 1 year of full-time, continuous work
   • category TEER 2 or 3 (technical occupations and skilled trades) in 1 of the eligible occupations and
   • have wages and working conditions comparable to those offered to Canadians working in the occupation

   For the Federal Skilled Trades Program, the job offer can be made by up to 2 employers.

   For skilled trade jobs

   Skilled trade jobs are those with 2021 NOC codes that start with the following numbers: 72, 73, 82, 83, 92, 93, 622 and 632

   The job offer can be made by up to 2 employers. The 1 year of work experience must be with the employer(s) making the job offer.

   For the Canadian Experience Class

   A job offer is not required.