Hire a Foreign Worker 

Are you a Canadian company looking to hire a foreign worker to work for your company? Before you can hire the foreign worker, you may need to have a Labour Market Impact Assessment – which is a document that allows you to extend an offer of employment to a foreign worker. In this blog, we will provide some useful information about the Labour Market Impact Assessment process, when it is required and how to get one.

What is a Labour Market Impact Assessment

The government of Canada understands Canadian companies may sometimes experience temporary labour or skill shortages. In cases where a Canadian company cannot find qualified Canadian workers to fill these shortages, the company may need to hire a foreign worker. The Labour Market Impact Assessment Process is required to show that hiring the temporary foreign worker will not have a negative impact on the Canadian job market by ensuring that qualified Canadians are not bypassed for a foreign worker.

High Wage Earners

Canadian employers looking to hire foreign workers will first need to determine whether they require a Labour Market Impact Assessment. Employers requiring a Labour Market Impact Assessment can only hire the foreign worker through the government of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). There are two streams under this program – the low-wage stream and the high-wage stream. The stream under which the employer may apply will be determined by the wage being offered and the location of the position. In this blog, we will focus on the high-wage stream, its requirements, the application process and the do’s and don’ts for employers looking to hire foreign workers through this stream.

What is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program’s High Wage Position Stream

Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, employers may use the provincial and territorial hourly wage as a guideline for setting the wages for the temporary foreign worker they are looking to hire. If the wage being offered will be at or above the provincial or territorial median hourly wage, then the employer must apply under the stream for high-wage positions.

Introducing the Global Skill Strategy

Hiring a foreign worker may be beneficial for a Canadian company to acquire a wide variety of talents and skills. If you are an employer who wants to attract top talent to work for your company, and wants a fast and predictable process to do this, the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada has introduced Global Skills Strategy to help employers get highly-skilled workers faster. The benefit of Global Skills Strategy is that it features faster application processing times, work permit exemptions and enhanced customer service. The average processing time for the Global Skill Strategy is two weeks. If you want to know more about the Global Skill Strategy, please continue and read this blog.

Who is Eligible for the Two-Week Processing

Generally speaking, Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exempt workers, LMIA-required workers, and the spouses and dependents are eligible for the two-week processing. However, eligible applicants should take some more specific details into consideration.

Understand Work Permits

If you are a foreign national who wants to legally work in Canada, it is essential for you obtain a work permit. A work permit is intended for foreign nationals who wish to come to Canada to pursue a career or a job opportunity. It was created to give foreign nationals an opportunity to further their careers or be given the opportunity of a job that they would not have in their home country. However, there are different types of work permit, and they are often confusing to applicants. In order for you to further understand what a work permit entails, it is highly recommended that you consult with an immigration expert. In this blog, you will learn about common questions that applicants have for work permits.

Hiring a Foreign Worker Temporarily

If you are a Canadian employer who is looking to hire a foreign national to fill a position temporarily, the government does not want to prevent you from doing this, though, they do want to prevent foreign nationals from taking positions from Canadians who need them. It is important to the Canadian government, that Canadian have access to jobs in Canada, before those positions are filled by an individual visiting the country temporarily. To do this, there is the requirement that foreign nationals and their employers obtain a labor market impact assessment, prior to being able to obtain a work permit. In other words, before you will be able to apply for an LMIA successfully, you must have your application supported by a positive LMIA. Because this is such an important step, and most work permits require an LMIA, we will take the time to break down the application process, to help you prepare an application for an LMIA.

What is an LMIA?

Well, as mentioned, it is a document which confirms a position was available to Canadians, and that no Canadian can be found to fill the position, so a foreign national is needed to serve the needs of the company, and the company is permitted to hire a foreign national because no Canadian is available.