Temporary Foreign Worker Program changes
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is designed to be responsive to changes in the labor market and assists Canadian employers fill labor and skills shortages temporarily when Canadians and permanent residents are not available.
Effective May 1, 2024:
- New Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) will be valid for six months (a decrease from 12 months) to ensure accurate labor market needs.
Effect on the work permit applications: as long as the work permits are submitted within that 6-month time frame, the LMIA will be valid throughout the process. Even if the work permit application process takes longer than 6 months, LMIA will be valid and work permits will be processed. This change will mostly have an affect on open and pre-approved LMIAs.
- All employers identified in the 2022 Workforce Solutions Road Map will have a reduction from 30% to 20% of their total workforce that can come in through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, under the low wage stream, with an exception for the construction and health care sectors.
Effect on the work permit applications: reduction of all low-skilled positions. However, employers can still access the PR LMIA stream reserved for skilled occupations. If the applicants are eligible to apply for high-skilled positions under the PR LMIA streams that have dual work permits and PR intent, there is no change here regarding the cap.
In addition, as of January 1, 2024, employers are required to annually review the wages of temporary foreign workers to ensure they reflect increases to prevailing wage rates for their given occupation and region of work.
Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) changes
New Job Offer and Employer Requirements:
Similarly, with the BC PNP program, employers in Alberta must:
- Be incorporated provincially or federally and have a physical office in Alberta.
- Prove continuous and active operation in Alberta for a minimum of 2 complete fiscal years (the year used for tax or accounting purposes) prior to application submission.
- Have a minimum gross income of $400,000 and 3 full-time employees (2 part-time employees can be counted as 1 full-time)
- There are some exceptions and please contact our office for more details.
Employers will need to submit certain documents to prove 2 years in business such as:
- (CRA) T2 schedules 100, 125 and 141 for the past 2 fiscal years
- T4 Summary of Remuneration paid for the past 2 years
- Business License
- Lease Agreement
Tourism and Hospitality Stream:
Employers will need to obtain the following:
- WCB clearance letter https://www.wcb.ab.ca/insurance-and-premiums/clearance-letters/
- Membership proof:
Sector | Sector association |
Accommodations | |
Accommodations | |
Food and Beverage | |
Indigenous Tourism | |
Recreation and Entertainment | |
Recreation and Entertainment | |
Recreation and Entertainment | |
Recreation and Entertainment | |
Meetings, Conventions, and Incentive Tourism | |
Tourism and Hospitality | |
Tourism and Hospitality | |
Tourism and Hospitality | |
Tourism and Hospitality |