LMIA Advertising Exemptions
LMIA Advertising Exemptions
The LMIA (Labor Market Impact Assessment) is an assessment from the Economic and Social Development Canada (ESDC) that must show the presence or absence of professionals among Canadians who are capable of performing work offered to foreigners, or that hiring a foreigner is a necessity. LMIA is closely related to Temporary Work Permits. Applying for an LMIA is the employer's responsibility and if approved, he or she will be able to use this document to hire a foreigner. A confirmation letter is what a positive LMIA is referred to as. The process for obtaining a labour market opinion differs depending on whether an employee is classified as high-wage or low-wage. Temporary foreign workers who are paid according to provincial or territorial average wages are considered low paid, and those who are paid above average are considered high paid. Depending on which of these categories the foreign employee belongs to, certain provisions apply. In addition, there is another requirement for employers - they must prove that they have made attempts to find Canadians or permanent residents for the declared position before hiring foreign workers. Once the employer has a positive LMIA, the employee can apply for a work permit. This article will discuss certain situations when advertising is not necessary.
For each Labor Market Impact Assessment request, employers who recruit a temporary foreign worker in Canada must pay a charge of CAD 1,000. In addition, Employment and Social Development Canada imposes a $ 100 commission on businesses. For high-wage employment, an employer is often required to advertise in at least three (3) sources, and for low-wage ones, at least five (5) sources. An employment advertisement must run for four (4) weeks in a row, and an LMIA application must be submitted within three (3) months of the ad's beginning. Certain roles, however, may be subject to different advertisements. In particular situations, it makes LMIA application easier, while in others, the government makes it more difficult. If there are no LMIA exemptions, businesses must show that the print medium and website used to promote target an audience with the requisite education, professional experience, and skill level. Corporations must show proof of advertisement as well as the outcomes of their efforts to hire Canadian citizens (e.g. copy of the advertisement to support where, when and for how long the position was posted). The hiring parties seeking higher-skilled employees in regions where the Job Bank or its regional counterparts are not regarded as an efficient means of recruitment must include a written justification with their LMIA application. Each advertisement must include the following information: Name of the company that runs it, an address for a business, position title, contact details, work conditions and workplace location. For compliance with the advertisement requirements, a pay range can be utilized; however, the minimum wage in the range must equal the prevailing wage. Except for classic means of communication and recruitment, employers may try to attend job fairs, collaborate with educational institutions, work together with recruiting agencies or consult with unions to determine the availability of labour.
There are cases when the Canadian government can eliminate the necessity for advertising by introducing exemptions. For example, the Quebec government released the current year's list of professions for Simplified Labor Market Application Processing (LMIA) on February 24, 2020. Quebec's Ministry of Immigration provides an annually updated list of occupations where employers do not need to advertise an open position before hiring a foreign worker. In 2020, Quebec presented regional vocational lists that could be simplified. This year, the government has returned to the provincial list, which takes into account labour needs in all regions of Quebec. While many of the occupations that were on the previous year's list are included in the new list, 116 new occupations have been added and 9 have been removed. HR and investment managers, architects, dentists, and bakers are just a few of the newly added occupations. Job positions in high demand and industrial sectors with labour shortages in Quebec are included in the streamlined LMIA evaluation procedure. The full list is available on the official website of Quebec's government. Employers who use the simplified LMIA method do not have to present any proof of recruitment efforts, exemptions apply. Before making a job offer to a foreign national, they shall continue to make every attempt to attract Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
All high-wage LMIA applications require transition plans, however, the exemption only applies to the first LMIA application request for the same occupation and work location in Quebec under the Facilitated Process. From the second LMIA application request for the same employer in the same workplace, a transition plan is only necessary.
To employ a temporary foreign worker in Quebec under the LMIA Facilitated Program, a hiring party must sign the documents provided by the Service Canada Processing Centre which are application form, business and recruitment proofs. The next step will be to submit files on confirmations of fee payments, LMIA application and declaration by the employer to the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI). The essential point to note is that the documents must be submitted locally depending on the location of the job position (e.e Montreal or any other province of Quebec). After a positive LMIA is issued, employers send it to the MIFI or ESDC and to the candidate who can further apply for a work permit. A company representative should make sure they wish to use the assisted LMIA procedure to submit their application. If they decide after they apply that an employer wishes to apply through a different procedure, they must cancel the previous application and resubmit through the new process. Processing costs are non-refundable and are not transferable to a new application. Also, there are other ways to hire people in Quebec, the detailed information on all the possible streams is available here.
Also, on August 6, 2021, The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec have reached an agreement that will allow Quebec companies to take advantage of greater flexibility under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. The new policy will provide the employers with an increase in the minimum number of foreigners and an exemption from advertising for a big number of occupations. Under the terms of the agreement, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will adopt new procedures under the International Mobility Program, allowing for the issuance of an additional 7,000 work permits yearly to holders of a Certificat de sélection du Québec. This will allow the Quebec government to provide additional chances for new immigrants to contribute and establish themselves, therefore helping to ease the labour deficit.
Another LMIA Advertising Exemptions are for specialized service technicians. A business must show that the work to be conducted is highly specialized and that the employee possesses unique knowledge and expertise relating to the job to be undertaken in Canada to qualify for this advertising exemption. There must be no possibility for Canadians to be trained, and the job must be restricted in length (usually six months or less). The job may include equipment installation or maintenance, and the warranty specifies that the work is completed by skilled employees designated by the manufacturer. Servicing equipment made outside of Canada and installing sophisticated equipment needing proprietary expertise are just a few examples. When filing an LMIA application for a replacement worker, employers in the Agriculture stream are not obliged to re-advertise a vacant post either. This only applies if the position is in the same economic region as the prior positive LMIA and is in the same occupation as the previous positive LMIA.
Besides, employers may be exempt from the minimum advertising requirements for short-term jobs in extremely restricted situations. This variation can be used if the employers can show that they urgently need to hire a temporary foreign worker, or if the company has a position available for a short time (30 days or less); and there is no way to train a permanent resident or Canadian because the position requires specialized and proprietary knowledge to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the business.
In addition, there are no special requirements for the jobs in the entertainment industry for some temporary positions. Some sportsmen, bar musicians, DJs, bands, singers, film directors and first assistant directors for feature films and commercials, key actors, artists, film or television crew for short productions and commercials, and so on are examples of occupations in the entertainment industry where an employee is frequently hired for a very specific number of days, in a particular location, and on very short notice.
LMIA advertisement is not necessary if a temporary overseas worker is employed for a post with an international organization or a foreign government's mission. The foreign national will have been chosen by the international organization or foreign government based on its procedures and standards. The job position, however, is not exempt under Section 186 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (work permit not required) or Section 204 (business visitor under GATS or NAFTA).
The rules of LMIA exemptions for specialized service technicians and workers in the entertainment sector and foreign governmental or international organizations are applicable in all Canadian territories and provinces.
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