Who Needs a Labour Market Impact Assessment

Find out if the employer needs a Labour Market Impact Assessment

When applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment, you may be overwhelmed or confused on whether you need one before hiring a temporary worker. An Labour Market Impact Assessment, better known as a LMIA, is a document from Employment and Social Development Canada that permits the employer to hire a temporary worker. There are many things to consider and steps to take prior to hiring a temporary worker. In this article, I will address how to find out if the employer needs an LMIA, how to get an LMIA, and more.

What is an LMIA?

As aforementioned, an LMIA is a document from Employment and Social Development Canada that a Canadian employer may need in order to hire a temporary worker. The employer may or may not need this particular document; however, if they do need it, this document must be obtained prior to hiring the temporary worker. Specifically, an LMIA document is required to show that the Canadian government approves the hiring of a foreign worker prior to a Canadian employer hiring them. If the Canadian employer receives a positive LMIA, then this will indicate that there is a need for a foreign temporary worker to fill the particular job. Keep in mind, a positive LMIA is also sometimes referred to as a confirmation letter. This verifies that the hiring of a foreign worker will have a positive or neutral outcome on the Canadian Labour market and that, thankfully, hiring the foreign worker will not cause a negative effect.

Additionally, it will also show that there is a lack of or no Canadian worker available to do the specified job. This is extremely important to note as it must be clear that any Canadian worker was considered prior to offering the job to a foreign worker. The Canadian employer must provide sufficient evidence to show that they have done so. After the employee starts working in Canada, the employer may also be inspected for compliance to the government regulations. Apart from the employer, the foreign worker must abide by the federal and provincial standards for their salary and benefits.

How to Apply for an LMIA

There are several steps in order to apply for an LMIA; these steps are usually taken prior to submitting the LMIA application. These steps must also be considered prior to hiring the foreign temporary worker. First and foremost, you must determine the skill level of the occupation you are trying to fill. In order to do this, you must refer to the National Occupational Classification, better known as the NOC system. The NOC system was established to organize job titles into occupational group descriptions which fall into four-digit codes. Luckily, these four-digit codes are used to classify the occupations into their designated skill type and skill level. For instance, the skill type would be determined by the nature of the performed work and the skill level would be determined by the education or training required for the intended job.

The next step prior to submitting an application for an LMIA is to determine if the employer has met the minimum advertising requirements. Most of the time, Employment and Social Development Canada/Service Canada (ESDC) will request additional advertising, apart from the required advertising, in order to adequately find qualified Canadians or permanent residents to fill the job. If this is done and as a result no Canadians or permanent residents apply for the intended job, then the chances of a positive LMIA are much higher.

The following step prior to submitting an application for an LMIA is to adequately meet or exceed the prevailing wage rate for the intended job. The prevailing wage rate is described as the average hourly wage for the position. The geographical location of the position must also be taken into consideration when assessing the prevailing wage rate.

Additionally, this step may or may not apply to certain occupations; however, there can be special conditions that may apply if the employer hires a foreign worker in these specific industries: seasonal agriculture, live-in caregivers, and occupations that require lower levels of formal training. The occupations that require lower levels of formal training are usually classified under NOC C & D of the NOC system.

The next step prior to submitting an application for an LMIA is to determine and demonstrate that the foreign worker will not have a negative effect on the Canadian Labour Market and that there are no available Canadians or permanent residents that can fill the intended job. Therefore, if the employer can demonstrate this successfully, then the eligible foreign worker may be able to work in Canada for an authorized period.

If the employer has taken all of the aforementioned steps into consideration and they have abided by the requirements, then at this point, they can apply for an LMIA and submit their application to Service Canada. This can be done prior to identifying the temporary foreign worker. Moreover, if Service Canada approves the job offer and approves the LMIA, then the employer may send the confirmation letter to the intended temporary foreign worker. After this is done, the foreign worker may apply for a work permit from IRCC. Once the temporary foreign worker has applied for a work permit, IRCC must then be satisfied that the worker is qualified and meets the certification and licensing requirements prior to being allowed to work in Canada.

Contact Akrami & Associates

If you are a Canadian employer and would like to apply for an LMIA, we can help you with this process. Applying for an LMIA can be confusing if you are unfamiliar with how Immigration applications work. Moreover, any Immigration application can become overwhelming if done alone; therefore, it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to apply. Additionally, it is extremely important that you take into consideration the aforementioned steps prior to submitting your application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our clients acquire temporary foreign workers for their business. If you believe that you might be eligible for an LMIA, please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advise.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!