Some applications for Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) are eligible for priority 10 day processing.
Some applications for Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) are eligible for priority 10 day processing.
This condition serves to help expedite the applications for the highest paid workers or the most specialized positions or critical employees to help them come to Canada.
If your application falls under any of the three following categories, you will benefit from priority 10 day processing:
- Highly paid workers: those whose wages are in the top 10 percent of wages paid in the province or territory to which they are applying.
- Short term workers: if the term of employment is equal to or less than 120 calendar days. However, the salary must also be considered a high wage (equal to or greater than the provincial or territorial median).
- Skilled trades workers: those with designated positions from the list from Employment and Social Development Canada. These must also have high wage salaries.
If an applicant falls under any of these three categories, the applicant will automatically be marked for priority 10 day processing within the Foreign Worker System. Unfortunately, none of this priority processing applies to individuals applying to the province of Quebec.
However, priority processing can be removed if one of the following violations occurs. If the LMIA application is missing information, if additional time is required for consultation or clarification with the employer, or if the LMIA has triggered an inspection, processing will return to regular wait times.
An LMIA, or Labour Market Impact Assessment, is a document that some Canadian employers may need to acquire before hiring foreign workers. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, “a positive LMIA will show that there is a need for the foreign worker to fill the job you offer and that there is no Canadian worker available to do the job.”
LMIAs help to protect jobs for Canadian workers but also serve as pathways to work in Canada if, for instance, a job is highly specialized, or if there are large numbers of workers needed.
Certain categories of workers are LMIA exempt but may still require work permits. These include the following: workers under international agreements, people taking part in exchange programs, spouses, workers eligible for provincial or territorial work programs, workers nominated for permanent residency through a province or territory , individuals already working in Canada who applied for permanent residency through a different Canadian immigration program, repair personnel for industrial or commercial equipment, workers transferred within a company, academics, co-op students, religious workers, and others (generally those who need to support themselves while in Canada such as those waiting on a refugee claim).
For more information about LMIAs or coming to Canada as a foreign worker, please visit here. If you are an employer looking to hire foreign workers and are unsure whether you will require an LMIA, please fill out our free online assessment form or contact us at 1-855-316-3555.
FWCanada is a Montreal-based immigration law firm that provides professional legal services on Canadian immigration. For more tips and updates on Canadian immigration follow FWCanada on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.
