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LMIA Labour Market Impact Assessment
Applications

Benefits to your organization:

The world is the Global Market. The best employees can quickly find employment in different countries like the USA, Australia, Gulf Region, Western European countries, or elsewhere. By bringing international flair and diversity to your company, you can get hard-working and motivated employees who are eager to deserve their Canadian Permanent Residency. These employees would receive employer-specific work permits, usually for two-year periods. 

You would get an internationally trained employee with excellent English Language skills, extensive work experience, and a professional work ethic. Moreover, these employees will work hard for you, trying to stay in Canada longer and apply for Permanent Residency. Don’t be confused with the program’s name: ‘Temporary Foreign Program.’ You can extend their work permits indefinitely; most will stay in Canada permanently.

 

Our firm:

We are dedicated, passionate, and fun immigration professionals! Our firm has two Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultants (RCIC), and multiple recruiters in countries such as the USA, Mexico, India, Philippines, Serbia, and more! We are fully licensed in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta to recruit foreign workers and provide professional immigration services! LMIA and Work Permit applications are our specialty!

 

About LMIA Applications:

LMIA applicants require approval by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). That is a verification process whereby ESDC assesses an offer of employment to ensure that a foreign worker’s employment will not negatively impact the Canadian labor market.

There are multiple types of LMIA such as: 

  • High-wage or Low-wage LMIA
  • LMIA for Agricultural Worker
  • Dual Intent LMIA (PR LMIA)
  • LMIA for Caregiver
  • Temporary Foreign Academic
  • Temporary Foreign worker through Global Talent Stream     

 

Steps in the International Recruitment Process:

Step 1:

Posting advertisements: you complete a brief Premier Immigration Services Questionnaire, create a Job Bank account, and add our company as a third-party representative following our instructions. We will take it from there!

Step 2:

We post and run your ads on your behalf for 28 days on four different websites in accordance with strict ESDC policy. We will send you a list of several business documents necessary for the process!

Step 3:

The international recruitment process commences! We start pre-screening international candidates by interviewing them and performing employment reference checks. We would save you time by sending you only the very best resumes!  

Step 4:

We arrange video interviews for you on MS Teams with candidates we have pre-screened.

Step 5:

LMIA submission: we create the LMIA rationale, Submission Letter, and all other relevant documents necessary to file the LMIA application. We submit the LMIA application. Processing time is between 10 business days – 3 months depending on the stream: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/labour-market-impact-assessment-processing-times.html

Step 6:

We will prepare you for a quick interview with the ESDC Officer once you receive an email or a phone call from them. LMIA is approved!

Step 7:

Work Permit submission: even before the LMIA approval, we would assist nominated workers with their Work Permit applications to avoid delays. We aim to file the complete Work Permit application once the LMIA is approved! Processing time is out of our control and entirely in the hands of the IRCC. The processing time ranges from the same day to several months:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

Step 8:

The work permit is approved and there is time to celebrate! After the celebration process is done, we will start preparing applicants for arrival by providing them with information regarding flights, housing, health care, SIN number applications, and more! You are not obligated to pay for housing. However, it would be great if you could ask all your existing employees, friends, or co-workers if they know anyone renting!

Step 10:

An employee arrives! A Work Permit is a 2-year employer-specific work permit and that 2 years will start from the date of arrival. An employee would have a 1-year time frame to come to Canada and activate their 2 years work permit. In other words, you can agree with an employee on the best mutual date of arrival!

 

Requirements of the LMIA program:                                                  

  • Processing fee: there is a mandatory $1,000 Government processing fee per application.                  
  • Language requirements: French or English language are the only languages that can be identified as job requirements. Occasionally, we can request no language requirements only under special circumstances.                       
  • Business legitimacy: this is an essential part of the application. Employers must prove that they will fulfill the terms of the employment offer. The most common documents used for this are:
  • T2 Schedule 100 Balance sheet information and T2 Schedule 125 Income Statement information. An Attestation letter can be used to supplement these It can be drafted by a Lawyer or CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant).
  • Business Licence, T4 Summary of remuneration paid or PD7A statement of account.
  • One year in business (for PR LMIA only): Proof that the business has been operational for one year. Unlike other LMIA streams, this is a must for this type of application.
  • Prevailing wage: The advertised rate of pay and offered rate of pay needs to be at least the median rate of pay for that occupation and that region of Canada or in the wage range paid to Canadians and Permanent Residents, whichever is higher. To determine the median rate of pay, we use Job Bank: Search wages – Job Bank

You will need to prove that your business is legal and is offering goods and services in Canada. In addition, the business needs to be in good financial standing and maintain all employment obligations for the entirety of the period of employment. There are some documents that Service Canada wants to see once you start using the Temporary Foreign Worker program (TFW) such as T2 Schedule 100 & 125, Business Licence, PD7A, and T4 Summary. We will also ask you to fill in a brief questionnaire.

Job Bank is Canada’s national employment service and website where you need to register in order to post your advertisement. We will send you full instructions on what is necessary to create your profile and how to add us as a third party so we can post on your behalf. We will save you time by posting advertisements in accordance with your direction, performing job matching and re-posting on our platforms.

The minimum length is 28 days. In addition, a minimum of 1 platform needs to be active at the time of LMIA processing. Our goal is to have all 4 platforms we use in the process, active and up to date.

The processing time is from 10-35 business days depending on the stream. Always start the recruitment process well in advance so you don’t have to struggle with your staffing. 

Your employee can apply for the work permit application. If we are processing an employee that retained our services, we would start the process well in advance- we don’t waist any time. Our goal is to start preparing applicants for this step during the LMIA process. Once LMIA gets approved, we usually file a work permit the same week. After this step, there is a wait time from 2-6 months depending on the country of residency. Visa-free applicants can apply at the port of entry on the same day. Current processing times are here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

Temporary Foreign workers have the same rights and responsibilities as Canadians and PRs. You need to provide the same working conditions such as holiday pay, overtime, etc to all employees equally. During the process, you will sign an employment contract stating the most important obligations but almost all of them are as per your provincial labor standards. For all TFWs under the Low-wage LMIA stream, you will need to pay the transportation cost. You will need to purchase private health insurance for all TFWs until provincial insurance becomes available.

Employer specific work permit will be valid for 2 years. 

Less likely. They will need another ‘sponsor’ willing to go through the LMIA and Work Permit process. A work permit is employer-specific, location-specific and occupation-specific. Our company provides 18 months ‘free replacement guarantee’. Please ask us for details.

Wages offered to temporary foreign workers should be similar to wages paid to Canadian and permanent resident employees hired for the same job and work location and with similar skills and years of experience. For this program, employers must pay the prevailing wage, which is defined as higher of 

  1. Median wage on the Job Bank: https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis/search-wages
  2. The average wage you are paying your current employees 

Consequently, you will need to adjust foreign workers’ rate of pay once every 12 months.

Temporary Foreign Workers have the same rights and responsibilities as Canadians and PRs.
Therefore, you don’t have to treat them differently. All Provincial Labour Laws applicable to other employees are also applicable to them.
Your offer of employment must stay full time, min of 30h per week or more.

There is a probation period in the unlikely case they don’t work out. 

 

 

PR LMIA Stream supporting skilled occupations doesn’t require an employer to pay for accommodation or transportation. In the case of Low-wage LMIAs, you would need to pay those expenses. No need to pay accommodation costs. 

We see this as an investment with a high rate of return rather than expenses. There is a mandatory $1,000 government fee per applicant. Please contact us for our fees.  

If your TWF does not meet your standards, please keep written records of any training, verbal warnings, primarily written warnings or similar. Do not terminate their employment without two written signs for the exact cause and precise records of re-training. Let us and Service Canada know regarding termination.

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