Hiring Foreign Workers through LMIA in Saskatchewan

Canadian and Saskatchewan-based businesses often face worker shortages across industries and hire foreign workers through LMIA. The lack of workers has a net negative effect on Canadian businesses. Hiring foreign workers can address the challenges of worker shortages. As a business owner, you will also need to understand what is LMIA. 

Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a government-approved document that authorizes an employer to hire a foreign worker. The condition being, the worker is hired temporarily to address the short term employment concerns. 

An employer is also required to search and exhaust all options to hire a worker from within Canada before applying for an LMIA. An employer is also required to continue to explore and hire candidates once there is the availability of workers. 

Here are the 10 things you need to know about hiring temporary foreign workers through LMIA

Not all jobs require LMIA. 

Most jobs in Canada will require an LMIA when hiring a foreign worker. However, there are some jobs where you do not need LMIA. These are called LMIA exempt jobs. You can check out thelist of jobs here that do not require an LMIA.

You will need to find the code that best matches your job requirements and use that in the offer of employment. 

LMIA for High Wage jobs

To get an LMIA, you will need to apply to Employment and social development in Canada. As an employer, you must comply with the program requirements for LMIA. Requirements for jobs will vary based on the jobs that you are applying to. There is a processing fee of $1000 to cover the cost of applying for the LMIA. You will also need to provide a transition plan for the worker you are hiring unless you are hiring caregivers in personal households and health care institutions. 

ESDC also requires employers to advertise and make efforts to hire workers locally and should have proof of advertisements using mediums that are consistent with the job search. More details can be found here. 

LMIA for Low-wage jobs

If you are hiring for low wage positions such as food server, waiter, dishwasher, etc. you will still need to try and find workers locally before applying for LMIA. A successful LMIA application will be based on several factors including:

• Business legitimacy
• Cap on the proportion of low wage workers

Some exemptions to the cap are for jobs such as farm managers, supervisors, and workers, caregiver positions, seasonal jobs, etc.