Some foreign workers in Canada can have their LMIA processed in 10 business days

When there are no eligible and accessible Canadians or permanent residents (PR), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) runs the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to assist Canadian employers in filling labour and skills shortfalls in their organizations (TFWP).

Employers who hire foreign talent must submit a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to show that the hire will either have a positive or neutral effect on the Canadian labour market as a condition of the work permits given to foreign workers through this programme.

Processing LMIAs across the seven streams that IRCC tracked took more than 21 business days on average in the month of December 2022. The Global Talent Stream, the Agricultural Stream, the Permanent Residence Stream, the High-wage Stream, the Low-wage Stream, the In-home carers Stream, and the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program are among these streams.