The latest update from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) shows that processing times for Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) have risen for the high‑wage and low‑wage streams, while the permanent‑resident stream has shortened.
LMIA processing times: May vs. June 2026
| TFWP stream | May 2026 | June 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global talent | 10 days | 9 days | –1 day |
| Agricultural | 22 days | 22 days | – |
| Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program | 11 days | 9 days | –2 days |
| High‑wage | 64 days | 79 days | +15 days |
| Low‑wage | 61 days | 71 days | +10 days |
| Permanent‑resident | 114 days | 99 days | –15 days |
- The high‑wage stream now averages 79 days, an increase of over two weeks after remaining at 64 days since April 2026.
- The low‑wage stream, which excludes census metropolitan areas with unemployment ≥ 6 %, has risen to 71 days (about 10 weeks).
- The permanent‑resident stream dropped to 99 days (just over 14 weeks), a notable improvement from the 38‑week wait in November 2025.
These figures do not include the mandatory advertising period, which ranges from 14 days to eight weeks depending on the stream.
How LMIA fits into the TFWP hiring process
- Employer requirement – Before a foreign national can apply for an employer‑specific work permit, the Canadian employer must obtain a positive or neutral LMIA from ESDC.
- Purpose of the LMIA – The assessment confirms that no Canadian citizen or permanent resident is available for the position and that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect the labour market.
- Application steps – After receiving the LMIA decision letter, the employer provides the worker with the LMIA letter and a job offer. The worker then submits a work‑permit application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
- Validity – An LMIA is generally valid for up to six months; the work‑permit application must be filed before the LMIA expires.
- Job listings – The Canada Job Bank lists over 5,700 positions that have an LMIA or are in the application stage.
- Concurrent processing – In some cases, IRCC allows a work‑permit application to proceed before the LMIA is finalized under its concurrent‑processing measures.
Temporary foreign worker admissions trends
- 2026 target: 60,000 TFWP admissions, down from a 2025 target of 142,000.
- January–April 2026: 14,655 workers entered Canada, a 25.6 % decline from the same period in 2025 and a 53.6 % drop from 2024.
- The reduction aligns with the government’s goal to keep temporary residents under 5 % of Canada’s total population by 2027.
The International Mobility Program (IMP), which issues LMIA‑exempt work permits, also saw admissions cut from 285,750 in 2025 to 170,000 in 2026. IMP admissions fell 15.3 % (Jan–Apr 2026 vs. 2025) and 69.4 % versus the same period in 2024.
These lower admission numbers may gradually ease LMIA processing pressures by reducing the volume of applications submitted for review.
Source article: www.cicnews.com
